2022 Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity (AARG-D)

Repurposing Antihypertensive Drugs in Routine Care to Reduce Dementia Risk

How might health disparities impact the use of antihypertensive drugs to reduce dementia risk?

Kevin Lu, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC - United States

Background

A growing number of studies show that hypertension (high blood pressure) is associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Some studies suggest that reducing hypertension with antihypertensive drugs can decrease this risk. However, research findings also indicate that antihypertensive drugs may have various effects on Alzheimer’s prevention, which may be influenced by pre-existing health disparities. 

According to the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association Facts and Figures report, older Black/African American individuals are twice as likely and older Hispanic/Latino individuals about one and one-half times as likely to develop dementia as older white individuals. Further noted in the 2022 report, health and socioeconomic disparities and systemic racism could contribute to increased Alzheimer’s and dementia risk in communities of color. These factors may also impact the effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs for Alzheimer’s prevention.

Research Plan

Dr. Kevin Lu and colleagues will use South Carolina Alzheimer’s registry data to identify how racial/ethnic factors, physical health, and frailty impact the use of repurposed antihypertensive drugs in preventing dementia. The research team will also expand the patient data used by linking five databases: South Carolina Alzheimer’s disease registry, Medicare, Medicaid, Area Health Resources File data, and Social Determinants of Health data. Combining these datasets will allow the researchers to also investigate environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors influencing the use of hypertensive drugs.
 
Dr. Lu and colleagues will first identify racial disparities in the use of and adherence to antihypertensive medications and how they are associated with race/ethnicity and frailty levels. Next, the researchers will study the effects of race/ethnicity, physical health, and frailty levels on the impact of antihypertensive medications on the risk for Alzheimer’s and death.

Impact

If successful, this study will result in one of the most comprehensive health datasets dedicated to Alzheimer’s disparities in the United States. Such a tool may allow researchers to identify and study risk factors for dementia at environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological levels.