Effects of Blood Pressure Drug on Alzheimer's Disease Shown in Mouse, National Institute on Aging Study

Physorg.com -- A drug used decades ago to treat high blood pressure has been shown to improve learning and memory in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study found that the drug, diazoxide, acted on nerve cells in the mouse brain in ways that slowed the development of the neurodegenerative disorder. The findings appear in the Nov. 15, 2010, print edition of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.