i get notifications on my email from the nih whenever
there is a new study on alzheimers disease
this week i was notified that a new study on ht-0712 was going
to start soon
its a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor (pde4) that may increase memory
and also reduce inflammation in the brain
pde4 hum let see
i remember something about that in the past
there was a recent study done on mice with a pde5 inhibitor
that increased memory in mice and lowered that sucky sticky substance
beta amyloid in the brain that causes alzheimers disease
with hopes to start studies in humans in the future
then there was this pde5 inhibitor that was tested years ago
in england for high blood pressure and for angina
angina is heart pain when the blood flow is decreased to the heart
thinking was that this new medication would increase the
blood flow by inhibiting this pde5 enzyme
if it worked it would prevent or help angina
well it didnt work well for either so the study was discontinued
many of you know nitrogylcerin thats used for angina
it works great for that
this pde5 inhibitor didnt though
then a researcher a few years later was reviewing the side effects
for some reasons and noticed the men would seem to get
boners or erections when they took this pde5 inhibitor
so a few weeks ago when we were at the alzheimers conference
in dallas for those of us who have volunteered for research
a professor the one who stuck me for my spinal tap and made
my right leg burn
ouch i said i feel that one
the next week is when i ruptured my disk in my back
i jokingly blamed it on him
no that wasnt the cause of my rupture
i digressed some didnt i
he told us about this new study that was going to be started
at the alzheimers research study soon
using this pde5 ihibitor called sildenafil
of course being a doctor i instantly knew what that was
i had written a lot of prescriptions for that one
many times at the request of wives and girlfriends
and sometimes they requested i not order the medication
this sidenafil would
like the pde5 inhibitor above used in mice
would increase the blood flow to the brain by opening up
narrow vessels and also would decrease the production of
that sticky gooey substance called beta amyloid that may
cause alzheimers disease
the result would be improved memory
then he told everyone the name of the pill
and the snickering and smiling started
its viagra
the little blue pill
my wife she isnt quite sure though if she wants me on
that sildenafil study
but
honey i said
blue is my favorite color
the organicgreen doctor
