Viagra related images. /Photo = Hankyung DB
A study found that the sildenafil component of Viagra, an erectile dysfunction treatment, could help prevent Alzheimer’s dementia.
UPI News reported on the 6th that this fact was found as a result of analyzing the medical records of more than 7 million people’s medical insurance benefit data by Professor Feixiong Cheng’s research team at the Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Research Institute in the US.
The researchers found that those who took Viagra had a 69% lower risk of dementia. In particular, the use of Viagra was found to lower the risk of dementia in people with underlying conditions linked to dementia risk, such as coronary artery disease (heart disease), high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
In addition to Viagra, the research team compared and analyzed the incidence of dementia among users and non-users of blood pressure drugs losartan, diltiazem, diabetes drugs metformin, and glimeripide, but did not expect to be as effective as Viagra sildenafil.
As a result of the experiment using stem cell cultured brain cells from dementia patients, the research team observed that brain cell growth was promoted and the abnormal protein tau in brain neurons related to dementia decreased. However, he said the company is preparing for a clinical trial, saying that the overall results only show a link between Viagra and a reduced risk of dementia.
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the international scientific journal ‘Nature Aging.
Shin Yong-hyun, reporter at Hankyung.com yonghyun@hankyung.com
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