Is Viagra a cure for Multiple Sclerosis?

A research team at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain have produced compelling evidence that Sildenafil, the ingrediant in the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, could be used to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The findings of their study have been published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica. They demonstrate, in an animal model of multiple sclerosis, that daily treatment with sildenafil quickly reduces the symptons of the disease, with a near complete recovery in 50% of the cases after eight days of treatment.

MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring.

Symptoms include changes in sensation, muscle weakness, abnormal muscle spasms, difficulties with moving, coordination and balance, and problems in speech, swallowing and vision. The symptoms often appear in episodic acute periods of worsening, known as relapses, or in a gradually progressive deterioration of neurologic function.

MS is one of the main causes of disability in young adults, and while there is currently no cure, some medicines and treatments attempt to return function after attacks or prevent attacks.
In their study, the researchers observed that the medication reduced the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the white matter of the spinal cord, lessening damage to the nerve cell’s axon and facilitating myelin repair.

The researchers are confident that clinical trials with human patients will be soon carried out, given that the drug is widely tolerated and has already been used for treatment of erectile dysfunction in MS sufferers.