- Sildenafil, a compound in drugs that treat erectile dysfunction and one type of hypertension, could be used to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease, the results of a new study suggest.
- Among people who already take sildenafil, the main ingredient in Viagra, the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease was significantly less than in people who did not.
- At least one expert warned that an observational study such as this may not be telling the whole story, and should be approached with caution.
The compound sildenafil is a main ingredient in Viagra, and it forms the basis of Revatio, a medication for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Now, a new study suggests sildenafil may also help in treating Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers, led by the Cleveland Clinic, observed a 30% to 54% reduction in the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease among people who were taking sildenafil for erectile dysfunction or pulmonary arterial hypertension, compared to those who did not.
The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association
According to the Alzheimer’s Association between 2000 and 2019, deaths from stroke, heart disease, and HIV decreased, whereas reported deaths from Alzheimer’s increased more than 145%.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, getting worse over time, typically beginning with memory loss and ultimately leading to difficulties communicating with others, or responding appropriately to the environment in which one finds themselves.
The authors of the new study utilized computational models to parse the data for millions of patients in two medical databases, MarketScan Medicare Supplemental and Clinformatics. In the MarketScan database, the reduction in Alzheimer’s was 54%. In the…
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