Research has found that users of erectile dysfunction drug, Sildenafil, known commonly under the brand name 'Viagra', have a 70% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life.
The study was led by the Cleveland clinic in the United States and used data involving a massive 7.2 million people, which showed Viagra users over a 6-year period were much less likely to develop the brain disease that damages memory and cognitive function, leading eventually to death. Alzheimer's is one of the leading causes of death in the Western world and the leading cause of dementia.
While the cause and effect relation between Viagra use and Alzheimer's prevention cannot yet be determined, it could be a major breakthrough.
Feixiong Cheng of the Cleveland clinic, who was involved in the study said:
"Notably, we found that sildenafil use reduced the likelihood of Alzheimer's in individuals with coronary artery disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, all of which are comorbidities significantly associated with risk of the disease, as well as in those without."
"Recent studies show that the interplay between amyloid and tau is a greater contributor to Alzheimer's than either by itself. We hypothesized that drugs targeting the molecular network intersection of amyloid and tau endophenotypes should have the greatest potential for success… Sildenafil, which has been shown to significantly improve cognition and memory in preclinical models, presented as the best drug candidate. We are now planning a mechanistic trial and a phase II randomized clinical trial to test causality and confirm sildenafil's clinical benefits for Alzheimer's patients. We also foresee our approach being applied to other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, to accelerate the drug discovery process."
One possible explanation for the use of Viagra in the fight against the degenerative disease is that Viagra increases blow flow around the body and widens arteries. It could be the case that this is causing increased blood flow to the brain and that this is in some way combating the crippling onset of Alzheimer's.
Viagra has already shown potential beneficial effects against a range of diseases, including cancer and malaria. Further research will examine exactly how the drug interplays with these diseases.
[Based on reporting by: science alert]
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