The Latest Medical News

A Summary of The Latest Medical News: # HIV Drugs Show Promise in Protecting Against Alzheimer's Disease In a groundbreaking development for Alzheimer's prevention, researchers at UVA Health have discovered that HIV drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) may offer substantial protection against Alzheimer's disease. Led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, founding director of UVA's Center for Advanced Vision Science, the research team analyzed two of the nation's largest health insurance databases to evaluate Alzheimer's risk among patients prescribed these medications. The findings are remarkable – patients taking NRTIs were substantially less likely to develop the memory-robbing condition compared to those who didn't take the drugs. In one database analysis, the risk of developing Alzheimer's decreased by 6% every year patients were taking the drugs. Even more impressive, in the other database, the annual decrease in Alzheimer's risk was 13%. The research team examined more than 24 years of data from the Veterans Health Administration Database and 14 years of data from the MarketScan database, covering over 270,000 patients aged 50 and older who had taken NRTIs for either HIV or hepatitis B and had no prior Alzheimer's diagnosis. Dr. Ambati noted, "It's estimated that over 10 million people around the world develop Alzheimer's disease annually. Our results suggest that taking these drugs could prevent approximately 1 million new cases of Alzheimer's disease every year." The study showed a consistent, time-dependent reduction in Alzheimer's disease risk, demonstrating that the protective effect grows with continued use of the medication. This association remained significant and substantial even after adjusting for a range of demographic and clinical variables, including pre-existing health conditions. The promising findings have prompted researchers to call for clinical trials testing the potential of NRTIs to prevent Alzheimer's disease. These medications, already approved for treating HIV and hepatitis B, could represent a significant breakthrough in the ongoing battle against a condition that affects millions worldwide. The detailed research has been published in both Science Translational Medicine and Alzheimer's and Dementia, providing strong evidence for this potentially game-changing approach to Alzheimer's prevention. Help with your insurance? https://tally.so/r/n012P9