Originally published February 18, 2022
The drug Viagra (sildenafil) has been boosting men’s erections since it was approved for that purpose in March, 1998. Now it may play a role in boosting hope for people at risk of dementia.
The blog below reported a 2021 study of Viagra as possibly preventive of Alzheimer’s disease, recognized as the most common cause of dementia. However, there are several types of dementia, and the second-most common form is called vascular dementia which the Mayo Clinic calls “a general term describing problems with reasoning, planning, judgment, memory and other thought processes caused by brain damage from impaired blood flow to your brain.” Impaired blood flow in the small vessels in the brain can result from aging in general, but people with a history of high blood pressure or stroke may develop dementia due to damage to these blood vessels.
A study on Viagra and blood flow in the brain was published in June 2024 by a multidisciplinary British team. They compared the effects of sildenafil vs. cilostazol (a drug for poor circulation) vs. placebo. They found that sildenafil improved two important aspects of blood flow function in the brain, similar to cilostazol but with fewer side effects. Based on their results, they believe more research is warranted on the impact of sildenafil to improve mental function in those experiencing symptoms of dementia due to damaged small vascular systems in the brain.[i]
Question: What’s the most important sex organ?
Answer: The brain.
Does that surprise you? Yes, your brain is most powerful sexual organ. It’s where desire originates, and where messages to produce testosterone begin. The brain registers pleasurable touch, stores erotic beliefs, and makes sexual sense of stimuli coming in from sensations we perceive. And of course, the brain is the repository for mental health, a precious commodity that plays its own role in the ability to connect intimately with another.
The little blue pill
Viagra is the brand name for a drug called sildenafil, a pharmaceutical used by men to support erectile function. It’s often referred to as “the little blue pill”, a color perhaps chosen because it’s meant to convey calmness—but hey, blue is for boys, right? Regardless of any symbolic connotation, sildenafil affects blood vessels by relaxing their walls. In fact, “Originally, Viagra was researched as a drug meant to lower blood pressure because it relaxes the walls of the blood vessels, making them larger and decreasing resistance to the flow of blood.”[ii]
The ability of sildenafil to relax blood vessels is what affects erections. When arousal begins in the brain, a cascade of reactions encourages blood flow to the penis. However, unless the blood vessels can fill and enlarge to the point where the penis hardens and stays hard, a functional erection (defined as sufficient for penetration) won’t occur. If a man becomes anxious over his ability to perform, it further interferes with his sexuality because of the psychological obstacle in his brain. Thus, the little blue pill not only helps blood flow, it indirectly keeps ideas and imagination flowing as well.
Sildenafil and Alzheimer’s disease
Discovering a connection between an ED medication and potential prevention of a severe form of dementia called Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was no accident. It was the result of a study led by Cleveland Clinic researchers in which over 7 million health insurance records were mined for data.[iii] Specifically, the team was exploring any association between existing FDA-approved drugs and less risk for AD, especially for those with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes—all of which are known to raise chances of AD.
The study was basically a statistical analysis “using computational techniques to map genetic factors that could hypothetically govern the manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease.”[iv] These factors were then correlated with the use of medications previously shown to affect them. Of all the correlations compiled, sildenafil stood out among the more promising. It appears to interact favorably with amyloid and tau protein hallmarks of AD. As noted in a news report, “In separate experiments studying human brain cells in vitro to explore how sildenafil might confer protection against Alzheimer’s cognitive decline, the researchers observed that neurons treated with the drug showed elevated growth and reduced tau accumulation.”[v]
The research team points out that discovering this link does not warrant a quick jump to the conclusion that sildenafil helps prevent AD. There may be other factors at play, that could be common to both sildenafil use and reduced burden of amyloid and tau proteins in the brain. However, this study definitely warrants further clinical research.
It’s always exciting to find that a treatment for one disease condition can be repurposed to treat another. This is the case with a common diabetes drug called metformin, which appears to have value as a weapon against hormonally fueled tumor cancers such as prostate cancer. It might be good reason for scientists around the world to join the great Louis Armstrong in singing, “What a Wonderful World.”
NOTE: This content is solely for purposes of information and does not substitute for diagnostic or medical advice. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing pelvic pain, or have any other health concerns or questions of a personal medical nature.
References
[i] Webb AJS, Birks J, Feakins KA, Lawson A et al. Cerebrovascular Effects of Sildenafil in Small Vessel Disease: The OxHARP Trial. Circ Res. 2024 Jun 4.
[ii] Puiu, Tibi. “Why Viagra makes you see everything blue-tinted.” ZME Science, Aug. 28, 2018. https://www.zmescience.com/science/biology/why-viagra-makes-you-see-blue-0423432/
[iii] Fang, J., Zhang, P., Zhou, Y. et al. Endophenotype-based in silico network medicine discovery combined with insurance record data mining identifies sildenafil as a candidate drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Nat Aging (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00138-z
[iv] Dockrill, Peter. “Giant Study Finds Viagra Is Linked to Almost 70% Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s” Science Alert, Dec. 6, 2021. https://www.sciencealert.com/giant-study-finds-viagra-is-linked-to-almost-70-lower-risk-of-alzheimer-s
[v] Ibid.
About Dr. Dan Sperling
Dan Sperling, MD, DABR, is a board certified radiologist who is globally recognized as a leader in multiparametric MRI for the detection and diagnosis of a range of disease conditions. As Medical Director of the Sperling Prostate Center, Sperling Medical Group and Sperling Neurosurgery Associates, he and his team are on the leading edge of significant change in medical practice. He is the co-author of the new patient book Redefining Prostate Cancer, and is a contributing author on over 25 published studies. For more information, contact the Sperling Prostate Center.
