Scientists to explore effectiveness of tadalafil in tackling dementia
The drug could help prevent vascular dementia by increasing blood flow to the brain
Scientists are to explore whether drugs normally used to treat erectile problems by expanding blood vessels could become the next major way to tackle dementia.
Researchers led by Atticus Hainsworth at St George’s, University of London, will explore whether tadalafil, a drug in the same class as viagra, could help prevent vascular dementia by increasing blood flow to the brain.
There are around 110,000 cases of vascular dementia in the UK. It is often caused by damage to the small blood vessels of the brain leading to reduced blood flow to brain tissue. This blood vessel damage – known as small vessel disease – is seen in the brains of 50–70% of elderly people. The researchers hope that tadalafil’s blood-flow boosting properties can prevent the damage that leads to vascular dementia.
A major trans-Atlantic research partnership is to be launched to investigate this potential treatment, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
Hainsworth, the lead researcher, said: 'The drug tadalafil is widely used to increase blood flow in penile tissue. Now we’re asking whether it can do the same for another vital organ, the brain.
'As there are very few drugs for the management of dementia, we want to know whether a well-known, well-tolerated drug can be used to help patients with this particular type of dementia.'
