It's estimated that more than 33 million men have erectile dysfunction (ED), the inability to get or keep an erection firm enough to have sexual intercourse. About three quarters of the guys who take ED medication — PDE5 inhibitors — for their condition say it works.
They may also be getting another benefit from these drugs, a new study suggests — a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
University College London School of Pharmacy researchers analyzed the medical records of nearly 270,000 men who had recently been diagnosed with ED. The medical research data was drawn from the Health Improvement Network and identified men who had been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction.
They compared participants (55 percent) who had prescriptions for erectile dysfunction to those (45 percent) who did not take any medication for the condition. The average age of the men in study was 59.Men who took ED drugs were 18 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those men who didn't. The connection may have something to do with blood flow.
None of the men had any thinking or memory difficulties or other symptoms of Alzheimer's at the start of the study. Men were tracked over the course of five years. During this period, the team took into account smoking status and alcohol consumption, as well as other factors that increase the odds of developing Alzheimer's disease.
During the course of the study, over 1,100 people developed Alzheimer's disease.
What made the findings significant was the fact that participants who took ED drugs were 18 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those men who didn't. The connection may have something to do with blood flow. ED drugs work by dilating blood vessels in order to allow more blood to flow through the body. In fact, these types of drugs were originally developed to treat high blood pressure.
The researchers suggest the connection between Alzheimer's and ED drugs may be amyloid plaques, the broken proteins associated with the development of Alzheimer's.
“Although we're making progress with the new treatments for Alzheimer's disease that work to clear amyloid plaques in the brain for people with early stages of the disease, we desperately need treatments that can prevent or delay the development of Alzheimer's disease,” researcher Ruth Brauer of University College London School of Pharmacy said, in a press release. “These results are encouraging and warrant further research.”
The ED medications included in the study were: Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and Stendra. All work by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide, a chemical the body makes that relaxes muscles in the penis.With their ability to increase blood flow, PDE5 inhibitors also need to be tested on women.
The study has some shortcomings. As Brauer points out, “We can only see who is prescribed drugs. We have no information on who picks up the prescription from a pharmacy, and we don't know who is actually taking it,” she said. “If you are brave enough to go to [your primary care doctor] to ask for PDE5 inhibitors, you're very motivated to take these drugs. So we assume that prescriptions translated into use.”
Also, experts say these drugs, with their ability to increase blood flow, also need to be tested on women.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests the following lifestyle guidelines to help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease:
- Prevent and manage high blood pressure
- Manage blood sugar
- Be physically active
- Quit smoking
- Avoid consuming excessive amounts of alcohol
- Protect your hearing or correct hearing loss
- Get enough sleep
Speak with your healthcare professional if you are dealing with ED or experiencing memory loss or confusion. There are available treatments that may help.
The study is published in Neurology.
