Inpharma 1414 - 22 Nov 2003

Losartan improves memoryfunction in the elderly

Losartan improves memory function in elderlypatients with hypertension, report researchers fromItaly.

This double-blind study included 111 patients aged75–89 (mean 81) years with mild-to-moderatehypertension. Patients were randomised to receiveatenolol or losartan for 24 weeks. The starting dose was50mg for both drugs. After 6 weeks, the dose wasincreased to 100mg if the diastolic BP remained> 90mm Hg.

Atenolol and losartan had similar antihypertensiveefficacy, with a mean decrease in diastolic BP of10.3mm Hg with atenolol and 11.2mm Hg withlosartan. The mean decrease in systolic BP was22.1mm Hg and 23.1mm Hg, respectively. However,only losartan improved memory function significantly.The word list memory score improved by 2.2 and theword list recall score by 2.1 among losartan recipients.In contrast, atenolol did not affect cognitiveperformance. The score of the word fluency test, whichassesses verbal production, semantic memory andlanguage, was not significantly modified by either drug.Fogari R, et al. Influence of losartan and atenolol on memory function in veryelderly hypertensive patients. Journal of Human Hypertension 17: 781-785, No. 11,Nov 2003 800964645

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Inpharma 22 Nov 2003 No. 14141173-8324/10/1414-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved