Posted on 06/22/2021 6:02:53 AM PDT by blam
Older adults who use certain blood pressure drugs may retain more of their memory skills as they age, a new study suggests.
Researchers found the benefit among older people taking medications that are allowed past the "blood-brain barrier," which is a border of specialized cells that prevents toxic substances from crossing into the brain.
Those drugs include certain ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) — two major classes of blood pressure medication.
Among nearly 12,900 study patients, those taking the brain-penetrating medications showed less memory loss over three years, versus people on blood pressure drugs that cannot cross the blood-brain barrier.
The findings add another layer to the connection between blood pressure and brain health.
High blood pressure is considered a risk factor for dementia, and there is evidence that tight blood pressure control lowers the risk of cognitive impairment — declines in memory and thinking skills — as people age.
The new study was published June 21 in the journal Hypertension.
It suggests that brain-penetrating medications may bring an "added benefit" beyond that of lowering blood pressure, said senior researcher Daniel Nation.
"I think this effect is independent of blood pressure control," said Nation, an associate professor at the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders at the University of California, Irvine.
Both ACE inhibitors and ARBs act on the body's renin-angiotensin system, which is key in blood pressure regulation.
But the brain, Nation explained, has its own renin-angiotensin system, separate from the body's. Research suggests that this system is involved in learning and memory — and that it's "altered" in Alzheimer's disease.
No one is discounting that blood-pressure lowering benefits the brain, Nation stressed.
A 2018 trial called SPRINT-MIND found that "intensive" control of high blood pressure lowered older adults' risk of mild cognitive impairment...
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(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
“Those drugs include certain ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) — two major classes of blood pressure medication.”
Well, I am allergic to both after receiving the shingles vaccine in a study some years ago...
Who spilled the beans? ;-)
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I take 1,000 mg of Metmormin for well-controlled type 2 diabetes. It has also been shown to significantly slow the progress of prostate cancer.
Didn't know that thanks.
High testosterone accelerates the growth of prostate cancer. Had a friend who was put on estrogen during his prostate cancer chemo treatment...he beat it.
Prostate cancer is the leading cause of death in men
I found that taking calcium-magnesium, plus melatonin, helps reduce the number of times I wake-up at night.
My don’t take magnesium or calcium because Lan numbers indicate I don’t need them, and they negatively affect my creatinine and BUN numbers.
Your friend was actually placed on androgen deprivation therapy; not estrogen.
I have metastatic prostate cancer. Mine had spread to my skeleton in eight places.
There is no curing it, for the time being. It is a death sentence for most men. I was diagnosed almost seven years ago, but I am doing extremely well with the second level ADT. PSA is undetectable, which is great.
I’ve been on the current drug for almost 3 years, and it only works for about six months with most men. My oncologist tells me I’m an “outlier”.
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