Alzheimer's: The three drugs that could be repurposed including Shingles vaccine

Credit: Getty Images/FredFroese

By Emma Wilkinson

The shingles vaccine is among one of three existing medicines with promising potential to be repurposed to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, UK researchers have concluded.

From a list of 80 existing drugs with potential for use in Alzheimer’s, researchers identified three that were the most promising –the newer shingles vaccine Zostavax, sildenafil (Viagra) and riluzole which is usually used in motor neurone disease.