Blood pressure drug could double up as first treatment for common form of dementia

A 4p per day drug for high blood pressure could become the first ever treatment for one of the most common forms of dementia within a decade, say two leading charities. The widely prescribed drug amlodipine has shown promising effects in people with vascular dementia, the most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Society and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have announced the beginning of a major new £2.25 million clinical trial to test the drug's effectiveness in people with the condition. Experts based at the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's University Belfast will recruit nearly 600 people with vascular dementia for a groundbreaking two year trial into the drug's potential as a dementia treatment. The researchers, led by Professor Peter Passmore and involving co-investigators, Professor Pat Kehoe and Dr Liz Coulthard from the University of Bristol's School of Clinical Sciences , hope to show that 10 mg a day of the drug can significantly improve memory and cognitive health. As amlodipine is already licensed and known to be safe, the treatment - which costs the NHS just £1.07 a month - could be in use as a treatment within five to ten years. Vascular dementia is caused by problems with the blood supply to the brain and affects about 150,000 people in the UK.