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Dacks PA, Armstrong JJ, Brannan SK, Carman AJ, Green AM, Kirkman MS, Krakoff LR, Kuller LH, Launer LJ, Lovestone S, Merikle E, Neumann PJ, Rockwood K, Shineman DW, Stefanacci RG, Velentgas P, Viswanathan A, Whitmer RA, Williamson JD, Fillit HM. A call for comparative effectiveness research to learn whether routine clinical care decisions can protect from dementia and cognitive decline. ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY 2016; 8:33. [PMID: 27543171 PMCID: PMC4992192 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-016-0200-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Common diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation are probable risk factors for dementia, suggesting that their treatments may influence the risk and rate of cognitive and functional decline. Moreover, specific therapies and medications may affect long-term brain health through mechanisms that are independent of their primary indication. While surgery, benzodiazepines, and anti-cholinergic drugs may accelerate decline or even raise the risk of dementia, other medications act directly on the brain to potentially slow the pathology that underlies Alzheimer’s and other dementia. In other words, the functional and cognitive decline in vulnerable patients may be influenced by the choice of treatments for other medical conditions. Despite the importance of these questions, very little research is available. The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation convened an advisory panel to discuss the existing evidence and to recommend strategies to accelerate the development of comparative effectiveness research on how choices in the clinical care of common chronic diseases may protect from cognitive decline and dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penny A Dacks
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 West 57th St. Suite 901, New York, NY, 10019, USA.
| | - Joshua J Armstrong
- Geriatric Medicine Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | | | - Aaron J Carman
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 West 57th St. Suite 901, New York, NY, 10019, USA
| | | | - M Sue Kirkman
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | - Lewis H Kuller
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Lenore J Launer
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Peter J Neumann
- Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kenneth Rockwood
- Geriatric Medicine Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.,DGI Clinical, Halifax, NS, Canada.,Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Diana W Shineman
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 West 57th St. Suite 901, New York, NY, 10019, USA
| | - Richard G Stefanacci
- Thomas Jefferson College of Population Health, The Access Group, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Priscilla Velentgas
- Scientific Affairs, Quintiles Real World Late Phase Research, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Anand Viswanathan
- Representative for the American Heart Association; Hemorrhagic Stroke Research Program, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital Stroke Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rachel A Whitmer
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Population Science and Brain Aging, Oakland, CA, USA
| | | | - Howard M Fillit
- Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 West 57th St. Suite 901, New York, NY, 10019, USA
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