Viagra could soon be used for heart disease patients: researchers.
6:00AM BST 20 Oct 2014.
A daily dose of Viagra could become a safe treatment for heart disease, researchers have said, after finding it improved blood flow.
The drug, normally used to treat erectile dysfunction, was found to prevent changes to the heart associated with disease.
Because it is already on the market and known to be safe, the researchers said there was no reason it could not be used immediately but said larger trials would be beneficial.
A team from Sapienza University of Rome analysed animal studies involving Viagra and conducted new research using 1,622 people with heart disease.
Lead author of the study, Andrea Isidori said: “We found that the main ingredient in Viagra can be used as an effective, safe treatment for several patients with heart disease. Large clinical trials are now urgently needed to build on these encouraging findings.”
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The results were published in the journal BioMed Central Medicine.
Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i) is the main ingredient in Viagra and other drugs commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction. The inhibitor blocks the enzyme PDE5, which prevents relaxation of smooth muscle tissue.
The analysis shows that PDE5i prevented the heart increasing in size and changing shape in patients suffering from left ventricular hypertrophy, a condition which causes thickening of the muscles in the left ventricle.
It also improved heart performance in all patients with different heart conditions without dangerous side effects such as raising blood pressure.
The study concludes that the inhibitor could be reasonably administered to men who suffer from heart muscle thickening and early-stage heart failure, a condition where the heart fails to beat with sufficient force.
Maureen Talbot, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Often in medicine, drugs which are used to treat one ailment can have side effects that make it an effective treatment for other conditions.
“Viagra is already a prime example of this. But this study suggests it has the potential to be put to another use – treating early stage heart failure and cardiac hypertrophy.
“But we shouldn’t get too excited too quickly. Large randomised controlled trials are needed on both men and women to support this study’s findings before it could be recommended to heart patients.”
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Viagra could soon be used for heart disease patients: researchers
