Investigating the Role of Polypharmacy in Brain Ageing, and Cognitive, Physical and Emotional Impairment in Three Well Characterised Cohort Studies in Aberdeen

The prevalence of polypharmacy in people aged over 60 has increased markedly in recent years (Guthrie, Makubate et al. 2015). Brain ageing through accelerated accumulation of brain pathology plays a central role in the age related impairment in cognitive, physical and emotional function, known as the triad of impairment (TOI) (Murray, McNeil et al. 2016). Polypharmacy can cause harm through drug-drug interactions, adverse drug events and poor compliance, particularly in older populations. However, little research has addressed the chronic consequences of polypharmacy on brain ageing and the TOI (Maher, Hanlon et al. 2014).

This PhD project will utilise highly characterised birth cohort datasets of Aberdeen (ABC1921 and ABC1936) and the more recent Aberdeen Children of the Nineteen Fifties study (ACONF), and will link these research datasets to community prescription and health data, within the University of Aberdeen’s Data Safe Haven. This innovative hybrid approach will allow a unique insight into polypharmacy, and long term health outcomes.

To investigate the hypothesis that polypharmacy may accelerate brain ageing, the influence of polypharmacy on abundance and rate of accumulation of brain pathology, measured by MRI, will be assessed. These will include hippocampal volume (Alzheimer’s pathology) and cerebral small vessel disease.