There are some diseases that we know little about, and that we can only stem but not cure definitively (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 on which the most hypotheses have been made, is theAlzheimer.
Science is making great strides in identifying and treating this degenerative brain disease, e a new answer could come from an unexpected drug: Viagra.
The researchers’ study
In the United States, scientists from the Cleveland clinic have created a huge genetic tracing map to understand which of the 1,600 FDA-approved drugs could help treat Alzheimer’s. Medicines that contained both amyloid and tau protein, two markers of the disease, received twice as many points as those that contained only one.
Among these drugs, the one that received the highest score was Sildenafil, scientific name of Viagra.
As we all know, Viagra is a medicine, in pill form, that helps men with erectile dysfunction.
Once this was achieved, the scientists used a database of 7 million Americans to examine this relationship between Viagra and Alzheimer’s, comparing who has used Viagra before and who hasn’t. And here is the discovery: Viagra users 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 did increases the growth of brain cells e targets tau proteins. The studies were then 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 the chances of getting sick? We must proceed with caution. First of all, Viagra remains a drug, which must be taken as needed and carefully.
Even the scientists who conducted the study invite you to calm down. “The study does not demonstrate a causal relationship between Viagra and Alzheimer’s,” said Feixiong Cheng, director of research. “Randomized clinical trials are needed with a placebo control, and facts about both sexes. “And possibly even on a large scale.
But it still remains an important discovery, because Viagra is a well-known drug, whose composition we know and which we can analyze more easily. Although new technologies have recently been studied and tested for the well-being of patients with this type of degenerative disease.
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