Viagra for Alzheimer’s?

Joydean

Did anyone else see the report on using viagra to treat Alzheimer’s? I was totally shocked. Sorry I didn’t record the article, because again I was thinking it was crazy! Just wondering if anyone else saw it.

loveskitties

The generic name is sildenafil and is suspected to help reduce the risk of getting Alzheimers.

Has been tried on mice only.

May move into clinical trials.

Not seen as a cure, but possibly an inhibitor.

DJnAZ

There are several articles online about Viagra. It appears the one with the the higher level of credibility is from The Cleveland Clinic:

Cleveland Clinic Research Identifies Sildenafil as Candidate Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease

A new Cleveland Clinic-led study has identified sildenafil – an FDA-approved therapy for erectile dysfunction (Viagra) and pulmonary hypertension (Revatio) – as a promising drug candidate to help prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease.

https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2021/12/06/cleveland-clinic-research-identifies-sildenafil-as-candidate-drug-for-alzheimers-disease/

Crushed

The science is acceptable but the methdology is controversial.  It is essentially "data mining"
so the correlation causation issue is huge on the other hand  

OTOH  Sildenafil was developed to treat pulmonary hypertension.  So there is a credible biological pathway for some benefit in Alzheimer's 

"It’s important to note the study did not find sildenafil actually reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. It was only associated with it. Cheng admitted there were limiting factors that indicate a need for more research. “Although we adjusted many confounding factors in our patient data analysis based on our sizeable efforts, possible confounding factors may exist by our limited clinical knowledge of this complex disease,” he said. Cheng emphasized that the findings must be confirmed in clinical trials before sildenafil can be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. “We are working hard to pursue a RCT (randomized control trial) in the next step,” said Cheng.

 

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/can-viagra-cut-risk-of-alzheimers-disease-what-we-know#Participants-were-nearly-70%-less-likely-to-develop-Alzheimers-disease

Lane Simonian

I tend to agree with Crushed on this one.

Viagra/sildenafil is a superoxide inhibitor.  The combination of superoxides and inducible nitric oxide results in the formation of peroxynitrite that contributes to the loss of memory and the death of neurons in Alzheimer's disease.  Inhibiting inducible nitric oxide appears to be more important as it may be the rate limiting factor in the formation of peroxynitrite.  However, there are limits in this approach as well.

Protection from Alzheimer's-like disease in the mouse by genetic ablation of inducible nitric oxide synthase

 Brains from subjects who have Alzheimer's disease (AD) express inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). We tested the hypothesis that iNOS contributes to AD pathogenesis. Immunoreactive iNOS was detected in brains of mice with AD-like disease resulting from transgenic expression of mutant human β-amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) and presenilin-1 (hPS1). We bred hAPP-, hPS1-double transgenic mice to be iNOS+/+ or iNOS−/−, and compared them with a congenic WT strain. Deficiency of iNOS substantially protected the AD-like mice from premature mortality, cerebral plaque formation, increased β-amyloid levels, protein tyrosine nitration, astrocytosis, and microgliosis. Thus, iNOS seems to be a major instigator of β-amyloid deposition and disease progression. Inhibition of iNOS may be a therapeutic option in AD.

Larrytherunner

I have a lot of problems with this study. You would assume that men who take Viagra late in life are sexually active. From what I have read, men who are sexually active late in life, when compared to men who are not sexually active, are on average, less likely to be overweight or obese, more likely to exercise regularly and be physically fit, and less likely to have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Men with these same attributes are also less likely on average to develop Alzheimers. So what you can infer from this study is that men who are sexually active late in life are less likely to develop Alzheimers. It doesn't provide evidence that Viagra had something to do with it. 

Crushed

Its even more complicated than that They actually can control for some of the factors you mention.  But there were completely uncontrolled socioeconomic factors. 

It is a worthwhile hypothesis for proper study  
 

feudman

An unclinically researched benefit of partial Viagra doses in elderly males is that it helps them "clear the rim" when peeing.  ;cD

aannaa

I've never heard that

sophirolr

This is something new for me haha. My husband takes https://www.canadapharmacy.com/products/cialis because he has ED and it is a good treatment because there is progress. I have read a lot about these drugs, but I have not come across an article related to Alzheimer's. You got me interested and now I have to find it and read it

Cathy123

After our experience with that little blue pill I reported our experience with our Primary Care Doctor.  Long story shortened… took half, waited, nothing happened. Took the other half twenty minutes later and little head stood alert. Big head’s eyes were open and alert. Vocal sounds were clearer in annunciation of words, definitely showed motions and emotions of days long ago

All I know is blood had to have moved to his brain and for a short few minutes, made some sparks spark. 

Can’t explain clinically…but that’s what happened. 

Rennbird

I’m still stuck on clearing the rim.