ACE inhibitor drugs, a class of drugs that treat high blood pressure, may help protect against dementia.
The meds could protect senior citizens against deteriorating cognitive functions, including memory decline, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
“High blood pressure is an important risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia,” said Dr. Kaycee Sink, lead author of the study. “Our study found that all blood pressure medications may not be equal when it comes to reducing the risk of dementia in patients with hypertension.”
Sink’s study found that some drugs classified as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, specifically those classified as “centrally active,” cross the blood-brain barrier and affect the brain. They may reduce the inflammation that is connected to the development of Alzheimer’s, a major cause of dementia.
Researchers analyzed data of 1,074 patients who were being treated for hypertension but showed no signs of dementia when they began the study. They looked at whether or not exposure to the general class of drugs known as ACE inhibitors was related to the development of dementia. Compared with other classes of blood pressure drugs, they found know difference. But when they looked at individuals treated with “centrally active” ACE inhibitors, they found a significant cognitive benefit when compared to those who were treated with the non-centrally active drugs.
In addition, the researchers found that patients treated with non-centrally active ACE inhibitor drugs had an increased risk of dementia — a 73 percent increase when compared with those taking other drugs for high blood pressure.
“ACE inhibitors have been shown to be beneficial to the heart and kidneys, and this study gives evidence that they may also be beneficial to the brain — at least those that are able to get into the brain,” Sink said. “We already know it is important to treat high blood pressure and keep it under good control. But our study finds that some blood pressure medications, such as the ACE inhibitors that cross the blood brain barrier, may offer benefits to the brain that others do not. If a patient has an indication for an ACE inhibitor, it makes sense to choose one that crosses the blood brain barrier. This is quite different from the typical recommendations for physicians to avoid medications in older adults that get into the brain.”
Centrally acting ACE inhibitors include captropril (Capoten®), fosinopril (Monopril®), lisinopril (Priniliv® or Zestri®), perindopril (Aceon®), ramipril (Altace®) and trandolapril (Mavik®).
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