Safely stopping heart-prevention medicines for nursing home residents with and without Alzheimer's
Official title: Deprescribing Cardiovascular Medications among Persons with and without Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias in Long-Term Care
Funded at Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research · NIH-11337496 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will see if stopping common heart-prevention medicines like aspirin and statins is safer and more helpful for nursing home residents aged 65 and older with and without Alzheimer's disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Palo Alto, United States) |
| Project start | May 15, 2019 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $690,409 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG062568-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11337496 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans aged 65 years or older who live in VA nursing homes and are taking preventive cardiovascular medicines such as aspirin or statins, including those with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias.
✕Less likely to help
People under 65, non-VA nursing home residents, or patients who are not taking preventive heart medicines (or who have a clear recent need for them after a heart attack or stroke) are unlikely to be included or benefit directly.
What this research studies
If you are a VA nursing home resident aged 65 or older, researchers will use health records from about 150,000 residents to compare what happens when preventive heart medicines are stopped versus continued. The team will focus on medicines such as aspirin and statins and look for outcomes like medication harms, hospital stays, and survival. They will compare people with and without Alzheimer's disease or related dementias to find who is most likely to benefit or be harmed. This work builds on a prior group of nursing home residents and uses Veterans Affairs nursing home data across the U.S.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help doctors and families decide when stopping preventive heart medicines is safer or better for older adults, especially those with dementia.
How similar studies have gone: Only a small number of trials have tested deprescribing for cardiovascular prevention, so this approach is relatively new and the evidence base is limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
Palo Alto, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Liu, Christine Kee — Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
- Study coordinator: Liu, Christine Kee
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.