Bonn, 21. Mai 2012. An increasing number of older people are suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson‘s and Alzheimer‘s: by 2050 the number of dementia patients in Germany will double from 1.3 million now to about 2.6 million. This means that the use of drugs in this field will rise accordingly. A new research programme located at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte - BfArM) is therefore focussing on the safety of drug therapies for older patients. It is collaborating with the DZNE and Bonn University Clinic (Universitätsklinikum Bonn - UKB). During the programme entitled „Pharmacoepidemiology in Neurodegenerative Diseases“ various preparations and treatment strategies are to be examined for their effectiveness and side-effects on older people.
The aim of the researchers to group leader Dr. Britta Hänisch is to be able to assess safety and efficacy of drug therapies to better treat neurodegenerative diseases. Elderly people often suffer from several diseases (multimorbidity). This leads to the intake of many different drugs. One focus of the research is now concentrating on identifying risk factors of medications as well as the improvement of the usual prescription patterns. An important basis of this so-called pharmacoepidemiological research is data from large cohort studies. After an initial examination, patients are tested regularly over several years for their memory and other cognitive skills. There is also an analysis of diseases, potential risk factors and the drugs taken.
The additional consideration of biomarkers and information on genetic variability serve the purpose of finding individualised treatment. A further source of data is provided by the analysis of prescription data from insurance companies as well as pharmacovigilance information from the BfArM.