Scientists have discovered that those who take Viagra are much less at risk of getting sick: from this unexpected drug a possible new cure for Alzheimer's
There are some diseases of which we know little, and that we can only curb but not cure permanently (not yet, at least). Many of these diseases are being studied and treated in the laboratory, and often with very interesting discoveries.
The best known, and the one about which the most speculation has been made, is Alzheimer's.
Science is making great strides in identifying and treating this degenerative brain disease, and a new answer may come from an unexpected drug: Viagra.
The Researchers' Study
In the United States, scientists at the Cleveland clinic created a massive genetic tracking map to figure out which of the 1,600 FDA-approved drugs might help in treating Alzheimer's. Drugs that contained both amyloid and tau protein, two markers of the disease, received twice as many points as those that contained only one.
Of those drugs, the one that received the highest score was Sildenafil, Viagra's scientific name.
As we all know, Viagra is a medicine, in pill form, that helps men with erectile dysfunction.
Once they got this result, scientists used a database of 7 million Americans to examine this relationship between Viagra and Alzheimer's, comparing those who used Viagra previously and those who didn't. And here's the discovery: those who used Viagra were 69% less likely to get Alzheimer's.
To get more evidence, the researchers studied the effects of Viagra on the brain in the lab, and found that it actually increases the growth of brain cells and targets tau proteins. The studies then were published in the scientific journal Nature Aging.
The relationship between Viagra and Alzheimer's
So does Viagra cure Alzheimer's? Or does having it as a drug reduce your chances of getting sick? One must proceed with caution. First of all, Viagra remains a drug, which must be taken as needed and carefully.
The scientists who conducted the study also urge calm. "The study does not demonstrate a causal relationship between Viagra and Alzheimer's," explains Feixiong Cheng, director of the research. "Randomized clinical trials with a placebo control are needed, and done on both sexes." And possibly even on a large scale.
But it still remains an important finding, because Viagra is a known drug, whose composition we know and can analyze more easily. Even if recently new technologies have been studied and tested for the well-being of patients with this type of degenerative diseases.