(Press-News.org) Drugs that are used for treating Alzheimer's disease in its early stages are linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks and death, according to a large study of over 7,000 people with Alzheimer's disease in Sweden.
The research, which is published online today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal [1], looked at cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs), such as donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine, which are used for treating mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease [2]. Side-effects of ChEIs include a beneficial effect on the vagus nerve, which controls the rate at which the heart beats, and some experimental studies have suggested that ChEIs could also have anti-inflammatory properties.
Professor Peter Nordström, of Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden, and colleagues followed 7073 people with Alzheimer's disease, who were on the Swedish Dementia Registry from May 2007 to December 2010. They found that those who were on ChEIs had a 36% reduced risk of death from any cause, a 38% reduced risk of a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and a 26% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular causes such as stroke compared to people not taking ChEIs. These results included adjustments for various confounding factors such as age, sex, whether the diagnosis was for Alzheimer's dementia or Alzheimer's mixed dementia (where more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously), level of care, and medical history including medications for other conditions.
Prof Nordström said: "If you translate these reductions in risk into absolute figures, it means that for every 100,000 people with Alzheimer's disease, there would be 180 fewer heart attacks – 295 as opposed to 475 – and 1125 fewer deaths from all causes – 2000 versus 3125 – every year among those taking ChEIs compared to those not using them."
Patients taking the highest recommended doses of ChEIs had the lowest risk of heart attack or death: 65% and 46% lower respectively compared with those who had never used ChEIs.
The researchers also checked whether the reduction in risk applied only to the use of ChEIs or was seen in other drug treatments for dementia. Memantine is a drug indicated for use in moderate to advanced Alzheimer's disease and works in a different way to ChEIs [3]. The researchers found it made no difference to the risk of heart attack or death from any cause.
Prof Nordström said: "As far as we know, this is the first time that the use of ChEIs has been linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease in general or from any cause. As this is an observational study, we cannot say that ChEI use is causing the reduction in risk, only that it is associated with a reduction. However, the strengths of the associations make them very interesting from the clinical point of view, although no clinical recommendations should be made on the basis of the results from our study. It would be of great value if a meta-analysis of previous, randomised controlled trials could be performed, as this might produce answers on which clinical recommendations could be based."
As the study was based on a nationwide group of patients, Prof Nordström said it should be possible to extrapolate the findings to other countries.
###
Notes:
[1] "The use of cholinesterase inhibitors and the risk of myocardial infarction and death: a nationwide cohort study in subjects with Alzheimer's disease", by Peter Nordström, Dorota Religa, Anders Wimo, Bengt Winblad, and Maria Eriksdotter. European Heart Journal. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/eht182
[2] Donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine are also known by the trade names Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl respectively.
[3] Memantine is known by the trade name Ebixa.
Alzheimer's disease drugs linked to reduced risk of heart attacks
2013-06-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Helicopter takes to the skies with the power of thought
2013-06-05
A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota.
It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat…the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.
The experiments have been performed by researchers hoping to develop future robots that can help restore the autonomy of paralysed victims or those suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.
Their study has been published today, 4 June 2013, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Neural Engineering and is accompanied by a video ...
Personality is the result of nurture, not nature, suggests study on birds
2013-06-05
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Hamburg investigated how personality is transferred between generations. They found that foster parents have a greater influence on the personalities of fostered offspring than the genes inherited from birth parents.
Dr Nick Royle from the University of Exeter said: "This is one of the first experiments to show that behaviour can be non-genetically transmitted from parents to offspring. Our study shows that in zebra finches, personality traits can be transmitted from one generation to another through behaviour ...
Research teams find genetic variant that could improve warfarin dosing in African-Americans
2013-06-05
In the first genome-wide association study to focus on warfarin dose requirement in African-Americans, a multi-institutional team of researchers has identified a common genetic variation that can help physicians estimate the correct dose of the widely used blood-thinning drug warfarin.
The discovery, reported online first in The Lancet, suggests that people of African ancestry who carry this variant—more than 40 percent of the patients enrolled in this study—need significantly less warfarin to obtain optimal benefits compared to those who lack this variant.
"Adding ...
Sexual selection in the sea
2013-06-05
Biologists have uncovered new insights into how the male sexual behaviour of the peculiar southern bottletail squid is primed to produce the greatest number of offspring.
Recent studies published in the journals Biology Letters and Behavioral Ecology, have revealed the female squid ingest the ejaculates of their mates, a trait never before associated with any species of cephalopod – a group including squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus.
The studies, led by PhD student Benjamin Wegener and Dr Bob Wong from Monash University's School of Biological Sciences, in collaboration ...
Jury still out on bariatric surgery for patients with moderate obesity and diabetes
2013-06-05
Bariatric surgery such as gastric bypass is associated with better short-term control of abnormal blood sugar and more weight loss than conventional nonsurgical therapy in diabetic patients who are moderately obese, but there is not enough evidence to more widely recommend the procedure, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
A review of more than 30 studies found that diabetic people with moderate obesity lost more weight and had better glucose control over two years if they were treated with bariatric surgery rather than non-surgical alternatives like dieting and ...
Little telescope discovers metal-poor cousin of famous planet
2013-06-05
A scientific team led by University of Louisville doctoral student Karen Collins has discovered a hot Saturn-like planet in another solar system 700 light-years away.
Collins announced the discovery of exoplanet KELT-6b Tuesday, June 4, during the American Astronomical Society's national meeting in Indianapolis.
Astronomers caught sight of the planet when it passed in front of, or "transited," its host star—and they've since discovered that the planet resembles one of the most famous and well-studied transiting planets, HD 209458b.
The discovery was made using inexpensive ...
Neuronal regeneration and the 2-part design of nerves
2013-06-05
ANN ARBOR—Researchers at the University of Michigan have evidence that a single gene controls both halves of nerve cells, and their research demonstrates the need to consider that design in the development of new treatments for regeneration of nerve cells.
A paper published online in PLOS Biology by U-M Life Sciences Institute faculty member Bing Ye and colleagues shows that manipulating genes of the fruit fly Drosophila to promote the growth of one part of the neuron simultaneously stunts the growth of the other part.
Understanding this bimodal nature of neurons ...
USF researchers: Life-producing phosphorus carried to Earth by meteorites
2013-06-05
TAMPA, Fla. (June 4, 2013) – Scientists may not know for certain whether life exists in outer space, but new research from a team of scientists led by a University of South Florida astrobiologist now shows that one key element that produced life on Earth was carried here on meteorites.
In an article published in the new edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, USF Assistant Professor of Geology Matthew Pasek and researchers from the University of Washington and the Edinburg Centre for Carbon Innovation, revealed new findings that explain how the ...
Candidate drug provides benefit in SMA animal models
2013-06-05
In a new publication that appears in Human Molecular Genetics, the laboratory of Christine DiDonato, PhD reports on their pharmacological characterization of the drug RG3039, demonstrating that it can extend survival and improve function in two spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) mouse models. They have determined the minimum effective dose and drug action, thus contributing to dose selection and exposure estimates for the first studies with RG3039 in humans. As in cellular assays, the animal studies have shown that drug treatment leads to improvement in nuclear gem/Cajal body ...
Fires in eastern China
2013-06-05
NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple plumes of smoke from agricultural fires and industrial pollution in China. The smoke and haze stretches from Inner Mongolia, located north of Beijing, south and west including the provinces of Hebei, Shedong, Henan, Shanxi, Hubai, Hunan, and Chongqing.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared capabilities that can detect heat from the various wildfires. This image was captured on June 2, 2013 5:55 UTC (1:55 a.m. EDT/2:05 p.m. MT). In the MODIS images, fires, or ...