A common heart drug has shown promise to delay the onset of Huntington's disease -- a progressive and inherited brain disorder that causes nerve cells in the brain to break down, according to a new study.
Common
symptoms of Huntington's include uncontrolled movements like jerking and
twitching, loss of coordination, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, and
trouble walking.
Researchers
from the University of Iowa in the US found that using beta-blocker drugs --
commonly used to treat heart and blood pressure issues -- can lead to a
significantly later onset of Huntington's symptoms for people in the
pre-symptomatic stages.
Among
those diagnosed, the beta-blocker also slowed the rate of worsening of the
symptoms.
"Given
that there are no disease-modifying agents for Huntington's disease, the
possibility that beta-blockers, which are cheap and have a known safety
profile, may provide benefit to patients at various stages of the disease is
very exciting," said lead author Jordan Schultz, assistant professor of
psychiatry at the varsity.
Previous
research has shown that patients with Huntington's disease seem to have a
stronger "fight or flight" reflex, even when they are resting.
The
team targeted beta-blockers as they are known to block the action of
norepinephrine -- a neurotransmitter and hormone involved in the "fight or
flight" response.
For
the study, published in the JAMA Neurology, the team focussed on two distinct
groups of Huntington's patients; those with the genetic mutation that causes
the disease but who have not yet started showing significant clinical symptoms
(pre-group), and patients who have already received a clinical diagnosis --
referred to as motor-manifest patients (mm group).
Within
each group, the team identified patients who were taking a beta-blocker for at
least one year.
Next,
the team matched 174 pre and 149 mm beta-blocker users to the same number of
similar non-beta-blocker users.
The
analysis showed that pre-beta-blocker users had a significantly lower yearly
risk of receiving a clinical diagnosis of Huntington's. This signalled that
beta-blocker use was associated with a later onset of the disease.
Among
the mm group, the patients taking beta-blockers had a significant slowing of
the gradual worsening of motor, cognitive, and functional symptoms.
Meanwhile,
Schultz cautioned that the study only reports associations between beta-blocker
use in Huntington's patients, "the data does not prove cause and
effect".
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