A study has found that Viagra—commonly prescribed to men with erectile dysfunction—could be a potential candidate for treating the degenerative disease.
The disease, which slowly destroys memory and cognitive skills, is thought to be caused by a complex mixture of genetic and environmental factors.at the biological level are abnormal clumps of misfolded beta-amyloid proteins in the brain—called amyloid plaques—and tangled bundles of another protein known as tau. Another feature is the loss of connection between nerve cells in the brain.
This finding remained statistically significant even when accounting for other factors that have an influence on Alzheimer's risk, such as sex, ethnic group, and certain medical conditions. Dr. Richard Killick, a lecturer in the Department of Old Age Psychiatry at King's College London, said in a statement:"Given the urgent need for an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease, the observation from Fang et al—that Viagra appears to give protection from this form of dementia—is very intriguing."
In addition,"women are at greater risk of Alzheimer's than men and as this drug, sildenafil, is most commonly used for erectile dysfunction, there were fewer women taking sildenafil in this study and the effect on women taking the drug was not as strong. Sildenafil is more often prescribed to wealthy people and low socioeconomic status is associated with higher risk of Alzheimer's.
Dr. Jack Auty, a medical sciences lecture at the University of Tasmania in Australia, described the paper as"fantastic" saying it is an"excellent example of the future of medical research." "These are sneaky things we can't measure that may explain the effect we are seeing," Auty said."In this case there are many potential hidden variables. For example, walking slower has been associated with increased risk of a dementia diagnosis. Not because walking faster prevents dementia, it is because walking speed correlates with health.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Seaweed Extract Stops COVID in Early TestingAs scientists hunt for alternatives for people who can't access vaccines for COVID-19, they are searching underwater in unexpected places to study the therapeutic potential of edible marine algae.
Read more »
Vir, GSK's COVID-19 antibody treatment works against omicron in a lab study, and WHO no longer recommends convalescent plasmaThe emergence of omicron in recent weeks has set off a chain reaction among COVID-19 drug and vaccine makers, which are now conducting laboratory studies evaluating how well their therapies and shots work against omicron.
Read more »
Glaxo Says Its Covid-19 Antibody Drug Works Against OmicronGlaxoSmithKline and Vir said their Covid-19 antibody treatment retained effectiveness against the Omicron variant in laboratory studies, even as early data suggests that similar treatments work less well against the strain.
Read more »
'Magic Mushroom' Drug Edges Toward Mainstream TherapyHe was depressed and fearing death from stage 4 prostate cancer when he took a large dose of psilocybin as part of a supervised scientific trial. Here's what happened to Tony Head next:
Read more »
GlaxoSmithKline Says Preclinical Studies Confirm Sotrovimab's Potential Effectiveness Against OmicronBy Jaime Llinares Taboada GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday that new preclinical studies demonstrated that its sotrovimab antibody retains activity against...
Read more »