Statins. A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society studied 2,292 people age 65 and older for more than six years. Those who took statins reduced their risk of developing dementia by 38 percent. A study at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, found that in addition to lowering cholesterol, the statin drug Lovastatin protected nerve cells against the type of brain damage found in the victims of Alzheimer’s disease.
An additional study, published in Neurology, compared the brain tissues of 110 people who had taken statins with those who hadn’t and found that there were significantly fewer plaques — the tell-tale characteristic of Alzheimer’s — in the brains of those who had taken statins.
Insulin. Researchers discovered that patients with early Alzheimer’s who were given squirts of insulin up their noses twice a day for four months improved their memories. Dr. Suzanne Craft and colleagues at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington in Seattle studied 109 patients. All had either mild cognitive impairment, a precursor of Alzheimer’s, or Alzheimer’s but did not have diabetes.
Two-thirds of the patients got varying doses of insulin, while one-third got a placebo. Patients who got the insulin showed significant improvements in memory that lasted for two months.
Lithium. While not as commonly prescribed as insulin, NSAIDs, statins, and high blood pressure medications, the antidepressant lithium costs less than a nickel a pill and could keep Alzheimer's at bay. According to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, lithium, which has been used for years to treat bipolar disorder and mood swings, can slow memory loss. Researchers found that elderly people who took lithium for a year had much better memories than those who took a placebo. In addition, they had a significant reduction in the increase of damaging proteins in the brain that are one of the markers for Alzheimer's.
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