Antiandrogen treatments against prostate cancer would promote the development of Alzheimer’s diseaseaccording to the findings of a study published in the medical journal Journal of Clinical Oncology. They would double the risk of developing this neurodegenerative disease.
“The longer men take this treatment, which blocks the functioning of testosterone and prevents its action, the greater their risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,” explains Nigam Shah, assistant professor of biometric informatics dicale at Stanford University (California), the principal author.
The researchers analyzed the medical records of approximately five million patients, of whom 16,888 were diagnosed with Prostate cancer of which some 2,400 were treated with antiandrogens. They compared them to patients also suffering from prostate cancer, but who had not been treated with this type of drug.
We already knew that a deficiency in androgens, in particular in testosterone favored theobesityimpotence, adult diabetes,high blood pressurecardiovascular disease and depression. The results of this new study tell us that men subjected to hormone treatment, therefore with a deficiency of this hormone, had an 88% increased risk of having Alzheimer’s disease during the period follow-up compared to the group that did not receive this hormonal therapy.
Results to be confirmed
“Based on the results of our study, an increased risk of Alzheimer’s is a potential effect of antiandrogen therapy, but more research is needed before considering a change in medical practice. essential for the treatment of prostate cancer,” recalls Nigam Shah.
Prostate cancer in numbers
Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer in men. In France, 71,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and this disease is the cause of nearly 8,870 deaths. This cancer affects a total of 300,000 men in France.
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