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Year
2007
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Viagra could be beneficial in treating heart failure
October 24, 2005
The erectile dysfunction
(ED) drug Viagra appears to cut the effects of stress on the heart
by 50 percent, according to a report by researchers at Johns Hopkins
University. The drug, also called sildenafil citrate, is normally
used to treat impotence.
The report shows that Viagra blunts the strengthened heartbeat caused
by chemically induced stress. According to Dr. David Kass, lead
author of the study, it effectively puts a brake on chemical stimulation
of the heart. Kass added that the study also shows that Viagra helps
control heart function only when the heart is under stress, and
has little impact under normal conditions.
In this study, 35 healthy men and women with no signs of heart disease
received two separate injections of dobutamine over three hours.
Dobutamine increases heart rate and pumping strength. Between injections,
the patients were given Viagra or
a placebo. Then they all were given a second dobutamine injection.
After the first injection of dobutamine, the force of heart contraction
increased 150 percent in all the patients. However, in the group
treated with Viagra, the increased heartbeat was slowed by 50 percent.
It shows that Viagra puts a brake on the effect of dobutamine and
as a result could be beneficial for heart.
To read more, visit… http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2005/10/24/hscout528707.html
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