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drug taken to treaterectile dysfunctionhave once again been tied to a reduced risk ofAlzheimer ’s disease .
A Modern study of almost 670,000 gentleman’s gentleman in the U.K. , publish Feb. 7 in the journalNeurology , give away that those who take so - called phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor ( PDE5I ) — which admit Viagra ( generic namesildenafil ) — may have a lower jeopardy of develop this common form of dementia than men of the same age who do n’t take the drugs . Another study , published March 19 in theJournal of Alzheimer ’s Disease , see that people who admit sildenafil were 30 % to 54 % less likely to be diagnose with Alzheimer ’s disease compared to those who did n’t , add to this idea .
Numerous studies have suggested that erectile-dysfunction drugs like Viagra, the famous “blue pill,” may reduce someone’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s. But so far, none have proved that the drugs actually cause that risk reduction.
But this is n’t the first meter that drug like the " small blue pill " have been linked to this reduce dementedness peril — since thelate 1990s , rodentstudieshave suggested that PDE5I drug could have beneficial effects on cognition , and in 2021 , a study published in the journalNature Agingsuggested that taking Viagra was assort with a 69 % reduced risk of Alzheimer ’s . That 2021 study included more than 7 million people in the U.S. who on average were around 71 eld old , 116,000 of whom took Viagra .
PDE5I drugs like Viagra study by increasing blood flow to the cavernous tissues of the phallus . They do this bypreventing the breakdownof a signaling molecule bid cyclic deoxyguanosine monophosphate ( cGMP ) , which keep fluent muscles within the phallus relaxed . This relaxation allows blood to flow into the erectile tissue — thecorpus cavernosum — as itsblood vesselsdilate upon intimate arousal . When cGMP gets broken down too quickly , the erecting ca n’t be maintained .
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Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors may lower a person’s Alzheimer’s risk by strengthening the connections, or synapses (illustrated here), between neurons in the brain.
While Viagra ’s effects on the penis are well translate , it ’s nameless how this and similar drugs may influencebraindisorders such as Alzheimer ’s . However , several potential mechanisms have been propose .
Other than act upon erection in the phallus , PDE5I drugs elaborate rakehell vessels throughout the body , admit in the brain , Dr. Sevil Yasar , an associate prof of music at Johns Hopkins University , told Live Science . Indeed , Viagra was in the beginning developed to treathigh blood pressure and chest pain . It ’s therefore possible that increase blood stream in the brain may somehow reduce the encumbrance of Alzheimer ’s , she articulate .
In the 2021 Nature Aging report , Feixiong Cheng , a principal police detective at the Cleveland Clinic , and colleagues found that Viagra promote the growth of brain electric cell that had been grown from the stem cell of affected role with Alzheimer ’s . The drug also turned down the production of proteins associated with the disease — namely , phosphorylated tau , which accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer ’s .
Increased blood flow to the wit that results from these drugs might therefore help authorise these proteins in some direction , Cheng told Live Science .
Another explanation could be that PDE5I drugs strengthenthe connections , or synapsis , between nerve cell in the brain , as this process part relies on cGMP , Atticus Hainsworth , a lector in cerebrovascular disease at St George ’s , University of London , told Live Science . Thebrain stores memoriesby fortify synapsis , helping associate neuron " talk " to one another . Thiscould explain the link between PDE5I drugs and a reduce risk of Alzheimer ’s , which causesmemory departure .
In addition , people with high blood pressure ortype 2 diabeteshave a higher risk ofexperiencingerectile dysfunctionand of developingAlzheimer ’s , compare with mass without either consideration . So it could be that cavernous - dysfunction drug are helping to manage these other conditions , rather than straight targeting the causes of Alzheimer ’s , Yasar said .
For now , though , none of these possibility has been definitively proved — in fact , it ’s still unclear whether PDE5I drugs have any essence on Alzheimer ’s risk of exposure .
In 2022 , for example , a study in people withpulmonary arterial hypertension — a sort of high blood pressure in the lung that can be treated with PDE5I drug — incur that the medications were not associated with a reduce risk of Alzheimer ’s .
A big subject is that the largest bailiwick to date have beenobservational , stand for they retroactively compared the rates of disease between dissimilar hoi polloi without accounting for other factors that could touch on people ’s Alzheimer ’s risk . Such cogitation ca n’t definitely prove that cavernous - dysfunction drugs influence the risk . For example , the findings of the 2024 Journal of Alzheimer ’s Disease study may have beenskewed by transmissible or socioeconomic factorswhich were n’t regard by the authors in their analyses , and by the Cupid’s itch of drug they used in research lab - lulu experiments .
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To do so , scientist would need to conduct a gold - received clinical trial with comparability groups who do n’t take the drug but are matched to those who do in other ways , such as historic period and sex . This would aid guarantee that other lifestyle factor or medical conditions do n’t skew the results .
For example , " it could be that the people who are still cognitively well enough to have sexual urge and need the drugs are predetermine the [ study ] universe , " Hainsworth say .
A fewclinicaltrialshave valuate the potential cognitive effects of PDE5I drugs in humans . However , these have been circumscribe in sizing ; one trial included only 10 people , for case . Some have tested only the brusk - term wallop of the treatment — for object lesson , with the cognitive effects of a single Cupid’s itch measured over the course of a day .
To get closer to proving that erectile - dysfunction drug can help prevent Alzheimer ’s , future trials would need to scarper for potentially three to five years and admit the great unwashed with clinically reassert Alzheimer ’s diagnoses , Yasar articulate . This would go beyond rely on , say , indemnity title data point , as previous experimental study have done , she tell .
It would also be crucial to count for telltale markers of Alzheimer ’s disease during the trials , using brain imaging to measure out changes in a mortal ’s blood flow after they took PDE5I drug , she added .
Long - full term trials would admit scientists to look out for any long - terminus side effects of taking cavernous - disfunction drugs . Such side effects could stem from taking a drug that reduces the pressure level of rip flowing through your artery , Francesco Tamagnini , a lecturer in pharmacological medicine at the University of Reading in the U.K. , tell Live Science .
On a mechanistic stage , the drugs may take to be modified somewhat so they are more likely to accumulate in the brain , to achieve the most robust effects , Tamagnini said .
Future trials could also include women , as well as men , to see if alike cognitive core are seen in them , Hainsworth say . Currently , Viagra is only sanction by theU.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA ) to treat cavernous disfunction in piece . Several former report have investigate whether it could be used totreat sexual dysfunctionin women , but with conflicting conclusions about effectivity .
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If these drugs finally turn out to be an effective safety machine against Alzheimer ’s , they could fuel the ardour of enquiry strive torepurpose approved drugsfor other employment . This is happening with the diabetes drugmetformin , for example , which doctors are trying to repurpose forcancer and heart disease , Tamagnini said . As these drugs are already licensed for use in humans , this could hasten up the drug - development process , he tell .
For the little blue pill , though , there ’s a long mode to go before it would be prescribed as dementia prevention .
This clause is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice .
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