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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
There’s currently no cure for dementia. Although some recently developed drugs show promise in slowing the progress of the disease, these are both costly and may have limited benefit for many patients. However, a recent Cambridge-led study has found a link between commonly used prescription drugs – including antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines – and a lower risk of dementia.Given these drugs are already licensed and their safety profiles well established, this could enable faster and more cost-effective clinical trials in the search for a cure.The study analysed health data from 130 million people, including one million people who had been diagnosed with dementia. Having identified possible links with prescription drugs and dementia risk, the researchers conducted a systematic review of 14 studies to explore these links further and understand which prescription drugs might affect dementia outcomes. This led them to the conclusion that antibiotics, antivirals and anti-inflammatory drugs were all associated with reduced dementia risk. The researchers also found a link between the hepatitis A, typhoid and diphtheria vaccines and lower dementia risk.It’s unknown how long participants had been taking any of these prescription drugs or how many times they’d been prescribed them during their lifetime, so it will be important for future studies to investigate these factors.Immune reponse and brain healthBased on their findings, the researchers suggest that the protective effects that these prescription drugs appear to have may be because they reduce inflammation, control infections and improve overall brain health.This supports the theory that common types of dementia could be triggered by viral or bacterial infections. We know that infections that last a few days to several weeks, whether bacterial or viral, can cause great damage to the brain. This is because infections cause an enhanced immune response from the body, which can damage brain cells – disrupting brain connections and accelerating memory decline. Antibiotics and antivirals help to combat infections. Antivirals and antibiotics help combat infections, which in turn may dampen this excessive immune response. Meanwhile, vaccines can prevent these infections from occurring in the first place. In both cases, this can significantly reduce the risk of
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