On December 6, 2021, Cheng Feixiong's team at Cleveland Medical Center published a new study in the journal Nature Aging, a sub-journal of Nature.
The study states that after a large-scale analysis of a database of more than 7 million patients, they determined that the new use of sildenafil (Viagra) old drugs could reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease by 69%.
The study was published in the journal Nature Aging on December 6, 2021
Forgetting is a terrible thing. However, Alzheimer's disease (commonly known as Alzheimer's disease), which inadvertently "steals" a person's memory.
The light ones lose three or four and can't recognize people; the heavy ones have a big change of personality, manic and violent.
Currently, about 50 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease. As the aging society intensifies, it is expected that by 2050, the number of Alzheimer's disease patients will increase to more than 150 million.
There are two markers of brain lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease: β-amyloid and tau. The brains of Alzheimer's disease patients have β - amyloid and tau protein accumulation leading to amyloid plaques and tau nerve fiber tangles.
Major pharmaceutical companies and research institutions are eager to develop a drug for Alzheimer's disease. However, there are currently no FDA-approved treatments against amyloid or tau small molecules for Alzheimer's disease, and many clinical trials of such treatments have failed over the past decade.
Using a large network of genetic mappings, integrating genetic and other biological data, the Feixiong team found that sildenafil can target both amyloid and tau proteins and significantly improve cognition and memory in preclinical models, making it the best drug candidate for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The team then used a large database of claims data from more than 7 million people in the United States to compare sildenafil users with non-users, and after 6 years of follow-up, they found that sildenafil takers were 69% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than non-sildenafil takers.
To further explore the effects of sildenafil on Alzheimer's disease, the researchers used stem cells to develop a brain cell model for Alzheimer's patients. In the model, they found that sildenafil promotes the growth of brain cells and reduces hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein, which provides biological insights into how sildenafil affects disease-related brain changes.
First, cancer
In January 2020, a study was published in the foreign academic journal Carcinogenesis on "sildenafil exerts a tumor killing effect by altering the expression of the HSP90 protein and degrading PKD2".
The article explains that through experiments, researchers have found that sildenafil, when used alone or in combination with other anti-tumor compounds, can promote tumor cell apoptosis, inhibit tumor proliferation, and have potential anti-tumor activity.
In layman's terms, when sildenafil is used in combination with anti-cancer drugs, it can enhance its anti-cancer effect and improve anti-cancer efficiency.
2. Altitude sickness
The Stanford research team asked professional athletes to do an experiment: exercise under rare oxygen conditions and take Viagra in moderation. After some time, the researchers found that the blood oxygen concentrations in the subjects increased, which made people feel more comfortable at high altitudes.
At the same time, Viagra has pulmonary vasodilation effect, which can effectively prevent high-altitude pulmonary edema, and it is generally recommended to use it during the climbing process, and continue to use it for 4 to 7 days according to the situation after reaching the target altitude; if it starts to drop from the target height, it will be discontinued.
3. Pulmonary hypertension
Sildenafil was originally expected to treat angina, but in clinical trials unexpectedly found an effect on improving erectile dysfunction in men.
When everyone thought that it would always struggle on the front line of "aphrodisiac", it turned back to the cardiovascular field to fight pulmonary hypertension!
European and American guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension have long recommended sildenafil for the drug treatment of pulmonary hypertension. The Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in China (2021 Edition) also clearly identified sildenafil as one of the specific treatments for pulmonary hypertension.
In our country, sildenafil is a lifesaver for more than 5 million patients with pulmonary hypertension!
Fourth, female infertility
Abnormal endometrial thickness is one of the factors of female infertility, and the intima is too thin and too thick to be conducive to implantation of the fertilized egg.
The Reproductive Center of the Third Hospital of Peking University found that the combined application of estrogen and sildenafil has significantly improved the state of the endometrium and can improve the chance of pregnancy in women.
Therefore, this drug is not a male-specific drug, and it can also be eaten for infertile women, but when eating, it must be reasonably taken under the attention of the doctor, and do not use it indiscriminately.
【References】 1. Sildenafil can be used as a drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease | Nature-Aging Paper. Nature Portfolio .2021-12-07 2. "Treatment of hair loss is just a side effect of it| 6 "Miracle Drugs" that are popular for side effects. Dietitian Gu Zhongyi .2021-08-09 3. "Jingo, is not only the Viagra of men, it can also treat cancer?" 》. tumor. 2020-05-30 4. "Why do many mountaineers love to eat Viagra?" 》. Beebee Planet.2019-05-28