I Can Hardly” Believe It Viagra Reduces Alz Risk

[NewRon]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/1 ... ease-says/

Comments (including humourous) welcome...

[ApropoE4]

It worked for Bob Dole!

[NewRon]

Could you expand on that...?

[Julie G]

No surprise; it increases blood flow. So does exercise. Arugula, beet root, and others upregulate nitric oxide — all good.

[Whatnow]

In the article that I read, they seemed to be focused not on the increase in blood flow, but on the effect on Tau or on the interaction between Tau and Amyloid. Also, it is not simply a matter of increased blood flow, but I believe that the increase in NO aids in protection of the endothelium. While on this subject, Malcolm Kendrick wrote that in Manchester a group carried out a long term observational study and found that amongst Diabetics who had already had a heart attack (so an extremely high risk group) Viagra use was associated with a 38% reduction in additional heart attacks and a 15% reduction in all cause mortality. Pretty darned amazing stuff.

[TheresaB]

This raises some interesting....uh thoughts.

[NewRon]

That's hard..ly surprising

[Kenny4/4]

https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/20 ... s-disease/

I could hardly believe it but I read a 70% reduction in Alzheimer’s rates…..that’s the good kind of shrinkage there.

[Whatnow]

Poking around I see the University of Manchester researchers are also investigating viagra's effect on atrial fibrillation (experimenting with cells from sheep hearts I think they wrote). Anyway, it's all very interesting and a reminder that it was originally being investigated as a treatment for heart disease when its side benefit was discovered. I love to see a completely different mechanism available for attacking these diseases.

[SusanJ]

In the model, they found that sildenafil increased brain cell growth and decreased hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins (a hallmark which leads to neurofibrillary tangles), offering biological insights into how sildenafil may influence disease-related brain changes.

https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/20 ... s-disease/