I was cheered to read that PDE-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil, tadalafil, might ameliorate cognitive decline because they improve blood perfusion to the brain.
Then began reading The Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue" by Mark Sloan, wherein he proclaims that that it is dangerous:
'any increase in nitrous oxide comes at a price, ad that price is a lower metabolic rate through its inhibition of ezymes involved in cellular metabolism." (p34)…Elevating NO chronically through drugs or supplements can accelerate the formation of every known chronic degenerative disease."
So what to make of this? Is it once again a matter of the dose (small, intermittent versus habitual) making the poison?
On a related note, what do we think of Sloan and of Methylene Blue?
Mark Sloan is neither a scientist nor a doctor.
He should cite scientific studies that prove his hair-brained theory.
He writes “pop science” books.
I have his book and like red light therapy and MB, but I don’t believe everything he says.
I can find no claims even in his self-produced autobiography that he has any medical or scientific background.
“Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. It gives an anti-inflammatory effect under normal physiological conditions. On the other hand, NO is considered as a pro-inflammatory mediator that induces inflammation due to over production in abnormal situations”
He has at least a theoretical reason for making such a claim, but I’ve seen absolutely no evidence that ingestion of NO precursors (inorganic nitrate from beets, greens, supplements, etc) is pro-inflammatory or harmful in any way.
Almost everything is a poison if there is too much of it in the wrong place.
Nitric oxide is both important and very necessary in the human body, but it can also be toxic. Sea divers and mountain climbers can suffer Narcosis (the bends), or Cerebral edema / Pulmonary edema at altitude.
Viagra harnesses the “nitric oxide pathway to promote blood vessel widening and improve blood flow to the penis to enhance erections”. I understand that some pharma companies are investigating the benefits that nitric oxide may provide on other organs and pathways.
There are millions of men taking these drugs for their prostate and ED. Most of them are at an age when other chronic illnesses begin to emerge, otherwise they would have no need for the drug. To assume the drug is causative of the illnesses or even accelerates them is virtually impossible to prove clinically without controls. I take a multivitamin every day, my eyesight is much worse than it used to be, ergo a multivitamin causes poor eyesight.