A Phase 2 trial testing a Viagra-like drug on people with vascular dementia is nearing an end.
The trial, which is being funded by the Alzheimer’s Society and the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, is testing whether the Viagra-like drug can increase blood flow to the deep vessels in the brain.
Researchers at St. George’s University of London are studying 55 older people who have symptoms of vascular dementia.
Each participant is given either the Viagra-like drug or a placebo and their brains are scanned with an MRI machine before and several hours after their pill is given.
Erectile dysfunction drugs and vascular dementia
“All patients have now been scanned and we are analyzing the scans,” says the study’s lead researcher, neuroscientist Dr. Atticus Hainsworth, who is also the lead of the Vascular Experimental Medicine group within Dementias Platform UK. “After that, we will unlock the trial and find out whether the drug did increase brain blood flow. While the exposure was very brief, we hope it will give us a clear picture of the difference the drug made, and allow us to build on this in future trials.”
According to Dr. Hainsworth, about 850,000 people in the UK are affected by some type of dementia.
Viagra in the United States
The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra is available to men in the United States via prescription. The FDA requires a prescription in order to help ensure that the Viagra is not only effective but safe. Too often, fake Viagra sold on the Black Market has been found to be dangerous—even lethal. Past seizures of fake erectile dysfunction pills have contained such toxins as detergent, road paint, and arsenic.
Requiring men to get a prescription for Viagra gives doctors the opportunity to go over possible side effects of the erectile dysfunction drug and ask questions regarding health issues that could be the cause of the erectile dysfunction. These underlying causes can include obesity, smoking, heart disease and diabetes.
By talking to a doctor when they need Viagra, men are also able to disclose current drug use and medications, some of which can interact with Viagra.
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