A group of Taiwanese researchers found that a common blood pressure drug can reduce one's risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study is the first to link the medication to the risk reduction of ALS.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that targets the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, causing paralysis of the patient's body. The disease affects as many as 30,000 people in the United States, usually those between ages 40 and 70. Unfortunately, there is no cure yet for this disease.
ALS is a rare disease, but it became known because of the "Ice Bucket Challenge," an event that aims to raise funds for research of treatments and cures for the disease. According to the ALS Association, the event led to the approval of the $21.7 million funding for six programs for ALS research.
Researchers from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan, led by Prof. Charles Tzu-Chi Lee, initiated a study associating angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) with the risk reduction of ALS. ACE inhibitors are medications that are commonly prescribed to patients with heart disease, as it helps improve the blood flow to the heart and lower blood pressure.
The study involved 729 patients, who were diagnosed with ALS between January 2002 and December 2008. Researchers also had 14,580 participants as the control group, all of whom do not have the disease.
The results showed that 15 percent of the ALS group who took the blood pressure drug were diagnosed with ALS between two to five years, compared to 18 percent for the control group. The team calculated the risk reduction and concluded that the blood pressure drug effectively reduced ALS risk by as much as 57 percent, if taken in higher doses.
"The findings in this total population-based case-control study revealed that long-term exposure to ACEIs was inversely associated with the risk for developing ALS. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to screen the association between ACEIs and ALS risk in a population-based study," noted the authors in a release.
Researchers failed to explain how the blood pressure drug reduced ALS risk, but they presumed that it protects the nerve cells from damage, according to Healthday News.
The study was published in the Nov. 10 issue of JAMA Neurology.
