# From Psoriasis to Alcohol Use Disorder: How Drug Side Effects Lead to Unexpected Uses %% - [[a pill for skin disease may also curb excessive drinking]] - [[viagra was originally created to treat heart-disease]] %% Apremilast is an anti-inflammatory medication used to treat psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. But it also includes compounds that are likely to counteract the expression of genes linked to heavy alcohol use. Hence the drug may be used for reasons other than the one it was first designed for.[^1] This would be great if it could help to reduce alcohol-related deaths. And yet I couldn't help but think about all the different drugs designed for one use but marketed for others. Something which usually comes about due to their side effects. Take viagra. A drug initially created to treat heart disease. But turned out [[Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez|not to be great at that]]. But the one side effect the participants did report was an increase in erections. ^[And yes, all the trial participants were men. But that's for a different post.] Hence the drug became the go-to for erectile dysfunction. I guess not all side effects are bad then! [^1]: [[(Oregon Health & Science University, 2023)]] Oregon Health & Science University, 2023. Pill for skin disease may also curb excessive drinking, study shows [WWW Document]. ScienceDaily. URL [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230221132118.htm](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230221132118.htm)