How Experts Found a Link Between Sildenafil and Alzheimer’s Prevention
Instead of formulating new drugs (which can be time-consuming and costly), researchers often turn to “drug repurposing,” which means finding ways to use existing drugs for new therapeutic purposes. (Fun fact: sildenafil was originally developed to treat high blood pressure, but researchers noticed it was better at inducing erections).
For Alzheimer’s, Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute analyzed about 1,600 drugs to determine which could be the most effective. Using computational methodology, they mapped trends within a database of more than seven million patients. Six years later, the results were in: who took sildenafil were 69% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
“Sildenafil, which has been shown to significantly improve cognition and memory in preclinical models, presented as the best drug candidate,” said lead researcher Feixiong Cheng, PhD. “Notably, we found that sildenafil use reduced the likelihood of Alzheimer’s in individuals with coronary artery disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes, all of which are comorbidities significantly associated with risk of the disease, as well as in those without.”