Makes sense since those drugs improve .. blood .. **flow** TO the
brain.

Anti-Hypertensive Drugs May Help Prevent and Treat Alzheimer's Disease
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Medical News   Keywords
ALZHEIMER'S, DISEASE, MEMORY, DEMENTIA, HYPERTENSION, HIGH, BLOOD
PRESSURE, DRUGS, ANTI-HYPERTENSION, MEDICATION, COGNITIVE, PASINETTI,
MOUNT SINAI

Newswise - A new study has identified commonly prescribed drugs for
the treatment of hypertension may be capable of preventing Alzheimer's
disease and cognitive deterioration.

The new research, published in the November 2007 issue of the The
Journal of Clinical Investigation, conducted by Dr. Giulio Maria
Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience,
Geriatrics and Adult Development and Director of the Center of
Excellence for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in
Alzheimer's disease at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, suggests that a
large number of geriatric patients currently under pharmacological
treatment for high-blood pressure with certain anti-hypertensive drugs
might reap the additional benefits of the drug's cognitive effects.

"If we can deliver certain anti-hypertensive drugs to patients at high
risk to develop Alzheimer's disease, at doses that do not affect blood
pressure, these drugs could be made available for all members of the
geriatric population identified as being at high risk for developing
Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Pasinetti.

Study Results
Over the past two years, investigators directed by Dr. Pasinetti at
Mount Sinai have been screening more than 1,500 drugs that are already
commercially available for treatment of other disorders, to determine
their potential value in treating Alzheimer's disease and cognitive
impairment.

Based on the outcomes from initial drug screening, Dr. Pasinetti and
his collaborators identified 7out of 55 candidate drugs commonly
prescribed for the treatment of hypertension, which are capable of
significantly preventing beta-amyloid production, which is a major
mechanism recently identified as playing a key role in Alzheimer's
disease pathogenesis, particularly in respect to promotion of memory
loss and dementia. In this new study, Dr. Pasinetti reports that mice
genetically determined to develop Alzheimer's disease beta-amyloid
production and subsequent cognitive deterioration, significantly
benefit from the treatment with the anti-hypertensive agent Valsartan,
found to pharmacologically prevent beta-amyloid production in the
brain even when delivered to Alzheimer' disease mice at doses 3-4 fold
lower than the minimal equivalent dose prescribed for the treatment of
hypertension in humans. Other anti-hypertension drugs with beneficial
results included Propranolol HCI, Carvedilol, Losartan, Nicardipine
HCI, Amiloride HCI and Hydralazine HCI.

Showing the use of anti-hypertensive drugs with anti- beta-amyloid
production activities in the brain of Alzheimer' disease mice, will
help in the identification of future, novel disease- modifying
pharmacological treatments for the prevention of cognitive
deterioration and eventually dementia in Alzheimer's disease.

Future Research
Dr. Pasinetti recognizes the limitations of the research, noting that
studies must be immediately verified in human subjects to verify the
effect of the drugs on cognitive deterioration and memory functions
independent of their role as an anti-hypertensive agent.

"The use of these drugs for their potential anti-Alzheimer's disease
role is still highly experimental, and at this stage we have no
clinical data beyond phenomenological observation in humans" said Dr.
Pasinetti. "We need to complete preventive and therapeutic clinical
trials in the near future if we are to identify certain anti-
hypertensive drugs with anti beta-amyloid antioligomeric activities,
which will need to be prescribed at dosages that do not interfere with
blood pressure in normotensive Alzheimer's disease patients."

Dr. Pasinetti's research is part of a growing push to identify and
develop more effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease. This
devastating, degenerative illness is of particular concern for baby
boomers beginning to turn 60, at increased risk of developing
cognitive deterioration and Alzheimer's disease.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses The Mount Sinai Hospital
and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of
the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals.
Founded in 1852, Mount Sinai today is a 1,171-bed tertiary-care
teaching facility that is internationally acclaimed for excellence in
clinical care. Last year, nearly 50,000 people were treated at Mount
Sinai as inpatients, and there were nearly 450,000 outpatient visits
to the Medical Center.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized as a
leader in groundbreaking clinical and basic-science research, as well
as having an innovative approach to medical education. With a faculty
of more than 3,400 in 38 clinical and basic science departments and
centers, Mount Sinai ranks among the top 20 medical schools in receipt
of National Institute of Health (NIH) grants.

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© 2007 Newswise.  All Rights Reserved.

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