Alzheimer’s drugs ‘could help glaucoma’

Drugs which treat Alzheimer’s disease could be used to target glaucoma, a major cause of blindness, scientists claim today.

The link has been suggested after researchers found for the first time that key proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease are also implicated in glaucoma.

Over half a million people suffer from glaucoma in the UK, while almost 700,000 people suffer from dementia.

A team at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology studied nerve cell damage in the retina using a new technology.

They found that the protein beta-amyloid, which causes the so-called “plaque” lesions in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, also leads to cell death in the retina.

With this knowledge the researchers then trialled a combination of new Alzheimer’s drugs to treat glaucoma.

“We are trying a new approach which has never been tried before, not even to treat Alzheimer’s disease,” said UCL’s Dr Francesca Cordeiro.

“Our success in treating glaucoma in the lab by combining different Alzheimer’s treatments represents a brand new treatment strategy.”

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, the researchers argue this new treatment provides an alternative to treating intraocular pressure – which scientists believe could cause glaucoma.

Dr Cordeiro added that the findings suggest the eye could also be used to test potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Since we have shown that drugs for Alzheimer’s disease can tackle glaucoma, then potentially we could use damaged retina to screen Alzheimer’s drugs that target beta-amyloid build up” she concluded.

The researchers reassured that although they found the “clear link” between what causes Alzheimer’s disease and one of the mechanisms for glaucoma, this does not mean that everyone with the disease will develop glaucoma or vice versa.