Search Here

According to a latest study, the common treatment for Prostate Cancer may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, said researchers on Monday. The Androgen deprivation therapy is typically aimed at lowering the testosterone levels, the "male" hormone that is responsible for encouraging certain types of prostate cancer. In this study, medical records of men do not prove conclusively if the treatment causes Alzheimer's disease in men. However, it is enough to prompt the oncologist to consider taking looking closer on the possibility. "This study doesn't definitively tell us that these drugs cause Alzheimer's disease," said the American Cancer Society's Dr. Otis Brawley. "I would say this study justifies a better study," reported NBC News

The study involved more than 16,000 men who have been treated for prostate cancer and revealed that men who received androgen deprivation therapy developed double the Alzheimer's risk in the next 2 ½ years when they started taking other treatments. "We also observed a statistically significant increased risk of Alzheimer's disease with increasing duration of ADT (androgen deprivation therapy)," Dr. Kevin Nead of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues at Stanford University wrote in their study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, as reported by Washington Post

There have been rumors that men who underwent ADT complained about many side effects such as weight gain, mood swings, hot flashes and impotence. Another thing that they complained about was their inability to think clearly or memory loss. The team examined the records of patients that were treated at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and Stanford. Since this type of study is very unusual, it may take a while before scientists can shed more light on its validity. Meanwhile, the doctors, may however, consider discussing the findings with their patients and ask for their opinion about the prostate cancer treatment they want, said NBC News.