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Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

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Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#21

Some expert opinions on the article https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-...

Quoting the critical parts of those opinions:

> Sildenafil is more often prescribed to wealthy people and low socioeconomic status is associated with higher risk of Alzheimer’s.

> There are other possible explanations for these findings; for example, we know that brain changes start decades before dementia symptoms and it is possible that these early Alzheimer’s changes reduce sex drive (thus people wouldn’t ask for a prescription for erectile dysfunction). [...] They did try to control for this by looking into patients with pulmonary hypertension, which is sometimes treated with sildenafil. However, this group did not have a statistically significant decreased risk in Alzheimer’s disease.

> people who take sildenafil have less serious cardiovascular damage than those who are taking the other drugs to combat hypertension or diabetes. If cardiovascular damage is a key causal factor in developing Alzheimer’s disease, then these people might anyway be at an advantage compared to people who have to take drugs for hypertension, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The study tried to control for this, but it is not clear if severity of the different conditions controlled for could be taken into account (those with more severe hypertension are presumably more likely to be taking anti-hypertensive medication such as losartan).

Many of the opinions are quite positive though, and praise the high sophistication of the statistical methods.

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#22
post #19

Is it just me or is there a sub text here that says: “maybe it’s not the drug, maybe a good shag every now and then does it, and viagra consumption is a good proxy for knowing that”?

That’s the first thing that came to my mind, immediately followed by “I should tell my wife that it’s her fault if my semen turns to brain plaque” the next time she has a “headache”

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#23
post #19

Is it just me or is there a sub text here that says: “maybe it’s not the drug, maybe a good shag every now and then does it, and viagra consumption is a good proxy for knowing that”?

Well it does get your heart rate up

So does masturbation.... could it be the exchange of molecules, a touch of human warmth or that feeling of contentment/happiness which is more important?

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#24
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or: Developing Alzheimer's makes you less interested in sex, makes your partner less interested in sex with you (possibly via creating problems with the relationship), and/or otherwise creates obstacles to sex.

That was actually my first thought. The link talks about 70% decrease of Alzheimer risk over a 6 year period of Viagra use (vs lack thereof). But early Alzheimer signs have been shown to appear up to 18 years before diagnosis. Memory and thinking tests for these signs from 13 to 18 years before diagnosis show 85% higher risk in those failing. [0] So 6 years is actually a very short window to claim causality, especial…

> So 6 years is actually a very short window to claim causality

They're not claiming causality.

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#25
Would be interesting to see what the effect with tadalafil is. Sildenafil is rather short acting while tadalafil is much longer acting. Tadalafil is also used in smaller but daily doses as a treatment for benign prostrate hyperplasia, so there should be more data on longer durations of use and effect.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30901259/

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#26

A future where Viagra is prophylactically prescribed... that'll have some interesting social effects to be sure.

Viagra/sildenafil no longer requires a prescription in the UK, so I'm now imagining public health advertising campaigns telling older people to remember their Viagra.

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#28
Without reading the article, causality check.

Is it possible that usage of viagra indicates an interest in/ability to participate in sexual activity which also indicates a level of health and mental acuity that would be less common among those with Alzheimer's?

Re: Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer's

#30
post #14

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6036338/ Viagra increases testosterone? I wonder if this relates to other things that increase late-life testosterone like red meat (unprocessed)? https://www.alzdiscovery.org/cognitive-vitality/blog/does-ea... I've always thought about how big of a role testosterone plays in later-life health and I wonder why doctors don't prescribe it to restore testosterone levels to a…

iirc there also might be problems of (slightly) increased cancer risk.

there are some doctors who prescribe test to keep patients test level up later in life, but the increased quality of life might mean a decreased life span and not everyone is willing to take the trade-off.

patients willing to try usually just try a few doctors until they find one who does.

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