The ‘little blue pill’ may be a promising but unexpected weapon in the fight against progressive brain disease.
Viagra – containing the active ingredient Sildenafil – is now commonly prescribed to older men with erection problems. This is because the medicine widens some blood vessels, making it easier for blood to flow through them. But the “little blue pill” may have some other benefits. Because researchers find in a new study interesting evidence that Viagra may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that affects the brain. This makes people forgetful and/or disoriented in time and place. They can also get delusions and completely lose their grip on reality. Alzheimer’s disease is a very nasty disease that can be quite drastic for both the person himself and the environment. In the Netherlands, an estimated 200,000 people have this condition. And worldwide, about 20 million people are living with the disease. While that’s already a significant number, scientists predict that the number of people contracting the disease will explode in the future. In twenty years, the number may even double. That’s because the chance of getting the disease increases with age. And due to the current aging population, the disease could become a costly burden on public health in the coming years.
Scientists have been trying to better understand Alzheimer’s disease for years. And while much remains unclear, some scientists suspect that the accumulation of toxic proteins — so-called amyloid beta proteins — is at the root of the disease that continues to claim more victims. These clump together between the nerve cells in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Experiments
In the hunt for existing drugs that can be used in the fight against Alzheimer’s, researchers came across the erection pill Viagra. Previous studies have already shown that the active ingredient in Viagra, Sildenafil, improved memory and the amount of amyloid plaques in mice with Alzheimer’s-like complaints. The researchers therefore decided to conduct a similar study with human cells. In the experiment, the team exposed human microglial cells – immune cells in the brain – to Sildenafil. Experiments have also been conducted with neurons from an Alzheimer’s patient. And the researchers make an interesting discovery. “Overall, we believe that Sildenafil may have a protective effect in Alzheimer’s disease,” they write.
study
The researchers then analyzed the insurance claims of 7.23 million people. And it shows that men who take Viagra have a whopping 69 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. It means that the erection pill may not only improve your sex life, but it may also be associated with a significantly reduced risk of progressive brain disease.
So it seems that the erection pill is a promising means in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Although the researchers are having a hard time. They warn that a causal relationship has not yet been fully proven. In addition, Viagra is logically still mainly prescribed to men. And so its impact on women is still a question mark. In order to determine the protective effect of Sildenafil in this context as well, more clinical studies with both sexes are needed, according to the team. To be continued…
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