Certain Prostate Drugs May Be Linked To Reduced Risk Of Dementia With Lewy Bodies, Study Finds

A large, US based study published in Neurology, has shown that drugs used to treat urinary symptoms due to an enlarged prostate, could potentially lower the risk of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in men.

Over 600,000 people were included in this observational study. Researchers examined their health records to see if people taking drugs to treat urinary symptoms went on to develop DLB over the next 3 years.

People taking α-1 blockers – a drug for urinary symptoms – were around 40% less likely to develop DLB than people taking other prostate drugs.

Interestingly, these finding are in line with another study suggesting a link between these drugs and a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, which has similar to features to DLB.

Dr Jacob E. Simmering, the study’s lead author from the University of Iowa, said:
“If we can determine that an existing drug can offer protection against this debilitating disease, that has the potential to greatly reduce its effects.”

Commenting on the findings, Dr Julia Dudley, Head of Research Strategy at Alzheimer’s Research UK explained the need to investigate drugs which are used to treat other diseases. “It’s encouraging to see large studies exploring whether drugs already licensed for other medical conditions could have a protective effect for the diseases that cause dementia. As these drugs have already been shown to be safe for use in people, this could potentially speed up the process of testing in clinical trials”.