<Anchor> A
study found that Viagra, an erectile dysfunction drug, could reduce the risk of dementia by nearly 70%.
The clinical trial process is still pending, and the details are reported by reporter Jo Ki-ho.
<Reporter> What a
research team at the University of Cleveland in the United States paid attention to was the health insurance records of more than 7 million Americans.
After tracking their drug use for six years, those who took sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, were 69 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who didn't.
In particular, people with underlying medical conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes, had a lower risk of dementia when taking Viagra.
It is known that Alzheimer's is caused when abnormal proteins that are broken off from cells in the body accumulate in the brain.
The research team said that the sildenafil component in Viagra has been confirmed to grow brain cells and, conversely, prevent the protein in question from accumulating in the brain.
However, its actual use is only possible through clinical trials.
Dementia prevention drugs have been effective in the laboratory, but none have been recognized as breakthrough drugs.
The research team plans to verify how effective it actually is through clinical trials.
(Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, CG: Seo Seung-hyun)