Doctors stunned after discovering prescription drug used by millions 'could prevent up to 1,000,000 cases of dementia' per year

Scientists are calling for clinical trials after discovering a drug already prescribed for a virus affecting millions may also help prevent Alzheimer's disease too.

The University of Virgina Health System (UVA Health) has revealed new research which indicates a prescription drug already being used to help suppress a virus affecting millions could now also be used to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.

"Alzheimer's disease is the biological process that begins with the appearance of a buildup of proteins in the form of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain," Cleveland Clinic explains. "This causes brain cells to die over time and the brain to shrink."

Early symptoms include forgetfulness, and this deteriorates over time, leading to many to experience severe memory loss and be left unable to complete day-to-day tasks unaided.

In the US, there are currently around 6.9 million people aged 65 and older living with the condition.

In the world, over 55 million people have dementia - 60 to 70 percent believed to have Alzheimer's disease specifically.

There is currently no cure for the disease, complications of which can result in death.

However, medicines can help slow the deterioration and also improve symptoms, and it turns out there's a prescription drug being used to help with another virus which may also help Alzheimer's too.

An early symptom of Alzheimer's is forgetfulness (Getty Stock Images)

The drug

Research conducted by UVA - titled Association of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor use with reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease risk, published in the Alzheimer's & Dementia Journal on May 8 - looked into the use of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIS).

NRTIS are currently used in the suppression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a virus that attacks the body's immune system and can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) if not controlled.

The drugs work in blocking an HIV enzyme and subsequently prevents it from replicating, Clinical Info HIV Gov reports. NRTIs also help treat hepatitis B.

The UVA Health team - led by founding director of UVA’s Center for Advanced Vision Science and the DuPont Guerry III Professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology, Jayakrishna Ambati, - previously determined NRTIs also 'inhibit inflammasome activation' - proteins which have been found to be implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

So, they decided to dig deeper...

NRTIs could help prevent Alzheimer's (Getty Stock Images)

The study and its results

The research dived into 14 years of data in the MarketScan database of commercially insured patients alongside 24 years of patient data in the US Veterans Health Administration Database.

It looked at patients aged 50 and over who were taking medication for HIV or hepatitis B , a total of 270,000 patients.

The study then looked at how many went on to develop Alzheimer's, finding those who took NRTIs had a lower risk of developing the disease, even compared to those on different forms of HIV medications.

"In one, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s decreased six percent every year the patients were taking the drugs. In the other, the annual decrease was 13 percent," UVA Health's press release reads.

But how many people could the drug truly help in the long run?

The drug could potentially help prevent around a million cases per year (Getty Stock Images)

How many people the drug could help prevent Alzheimer's for and future plans

Well, as quoted by UVA Health's release: "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 one million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease every year."

Ambati added the team has also developed 'a new inflammasome-blocking drug called K9' which is 'a safer and more effective version of NRTIs'.

While K9 'is already in clinical trials for other diseases,' Ambati revealed hopes to test the drug when it comes to Alzheimer's disease too - the research team also calling for clinical trials of NRTIs as well.

If you've been affected by dementia or Alzheimer's and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact the Alzheimer's Association via 800.272.3900 open 24 hours seven days a week.