'Everyday' drugs could fight Alzheimer's

Existing drugs that could help Alzheimers include certain blood pressure drugs called calcium channel blockers, a diabetes drug called liraglutide, an antibiotic used for acne called minocycline, and acitretin for the skin condition psoriasis.

Clive Ballard, professor of age related diseases at Kings College London and director of research at the Alzheimers Society, said laboratory studies indicated liraglutide protected nerve cells from damage of build up of amyloid proteins, which are thought to cause the brain disease.

Studies also showed that people who took nilvadipine, a blood pressure drug, were less likely to develop Alzheimers. Prof Ballard and others have drawn up the shortlist in an article in the journal Nature.

He said: One of the advantages of this approach is you dont have to start from scratch.

Normally it takes 20 years and about $1 billion to get a drug that works, because so many compounds are dropped in trials due to toxicity and other problems.

Trials testing three of the drug on people with Alzheimers are due to start in Britain next year.

Prof Ballard warned that Alzheimer's sufferers should not try to obtain the drugs to self-medicate, because they had not yet been tested for the purpose.

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'Everyday' drugs could fight Alzheimer's