Jordan News

A new study shows that a blood pressure medication can treat or stop vascular dementia completely.

Initial studies in mice showed that the drug amlodipine increases blood flow to the brain, and now successful human trials can give patients “hope of prevention” from the disease.

Experts hope that cheap blood pressure pills will one day help treat dementia. Amlodipine improved the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain when tested on mice.

Vascular dementia affects millions of people worldwide and is caused by damage to blood vessels, which deprives the brain of nutrients and kills nerve cells.

Vascular dementia causes mental problems and a variety of other difficulties. Symptoms can start suddenly or gradually. They tend to get worse over time, although treatment can help slow this.

Early signs of vascular dementia may include:

slow to think

Difficulty planning

Understanding the problems

At first, these problems may be subtle or mistaken for something else, such as depression. But they do suggest that some kind of brain damage has occurred and that treatment is required.

Symptoms often get worse over time. It can happen slowly or suddenly every few months or years. Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected, but may include:

Feeling confused and disoriented

Memory loss and difficulty concentrating

Serious personality changes, such as aggressiveness

Depression, mood swings, lack of interest or enthusiasm

Difficulty walking and balancing, often falling

Loss of bladder control (urinary incontinence)

Researchers at the University of Manchester hope to combat these symptoms by conducting human trials after the success of the initial results published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.