When it comes to erectile dysfunction, Viagra’s reputation is well established. What is less known is that this drug is of great interest to researchers in the fight against Alzheimer’s: recent studies have shown that the “happy pill” reduces the risk of developing the disease!
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Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, with 1 million patients. 225,000 new cases are reported every year. And including relatives and caregivers, there are 3 million people who are directly affected by the pathology.
To eradicate this neurodegenerative disease, work is increasing, but not all are moving in the same direction. Some want to remove Amyloid plaquesAmyloid plaques in the brainthe brain People are in the early stages of the disease, while others are trying to uncover treatments capable of stopping or delaying its development. The study, conducted by scientists at University College London and published in the journal, is the second in the series. Neurology. Their aim: to observe the possible effect of drugs used against erectile dysfunction.
Did you know ? Certain foods can promote the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Get to know them with Julie Kern in La Santé sur Listen. © Futura
Why is this type of medication okay? “Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (Found in commonly used drugs like Viagra®Editor’s Note) have proven to be promising avenues against Alzheimer’s disease, at least in animal models.Explain to the authors in a press release. However, the work in humans remains inconclusive. So we conducted a study to assess the association.”
Today, nearly one million people are affected by Alzheimer’s. © Oravan, Adobe Stock
18% reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s
Their work focused on 269,725 men, with an average age of 59, who had recently been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction. None had memory problems at the start of follow-up which lasted five years. The scientists thus compared 55% of participants who took drugs for erectile dysfunction with 45% of those who did not.
During the study, 1,119 people developed Alzheimer’s disease. “Those who took the drugs were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease – 18% less likely”Estimation The authors
“Further research is needed to confirm these results, learn more about the mechanisms and study them dosedose the bestExplain researchers. a A randomized trialA randomized trial and controlled with both male and female participants to determine whether these findings would apply to women as well.”
