Viagra's Other Uses
02.08.08 (2:11 am) [edit]
Viagra is now being used to treat not only erectile dysfunction (ED) but also pulmonary hypertension. And the drug may have potential for treating several other conditions, according to a recent report. The three ED medications currently on the market—Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis—all work by the same means, and they have similar side effects.
The most common are headaches and facial flushing, which occur in 15% of men. Other reactions include nasal congestion, indigestion, and back pain. These side effects are mild and temporary. The most important worry about ED pills is their ability to widen arteries enough to lower blood pressure. And men who are taking nitrates should never use any of the ED pills.
Although some of the drugs’ side effects may be troublesome, others may be helpful, and scientists are studying whether ED pills might help treat a variety of nonsexual problems. Viagra (sildenafil) has been on the market longest and is most studied. It’s yet not clear if the other ED pills offer similar benefits, but Viagra, at least, may prove useful for some other conditions, including these:
Pulmonary hypertension
Viagra is now marketed under the name Revatio for this uncommon but serious disorder of high pressure in the blood vessels leading to the lungs.
Mountain sickness
Viagra can reduce pulmonary artery pressure at high altitude and improve the ability to exercise in low oxygen conditions.
Raynaud’s phenomenon
In affected individuals, exposure to the cold triggers spasm of the small arteries that supply blood to the fingers, toes, or both, which become pale, cold, and painful. Both Viagra and Levitra have been helpful in clinical trials.
Heart disease
Studies suggest Viagra might help patients with congestive heart failure or diastolic dysfunction.
Further details are published in the August 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
The most common are headaches and facial flushing, which occur in 15% of men. Other reactions include nasal congestion, indigestion, and back pain. These side effects are mild and temporary. The most important worry about ED pills is their ability to widen arteries enough to lower blood pressure. And men who are taking nitrates should never use any of the ED pills.
Although some of the drugs’ side effects may be troublesome, others may be helpful, and scientists are studying whether ED pills might help treat a variety of nonsexual problems. Viagra (sildenafil) has been on the market longest and is most studied. It’s yet not clear if the other ED pills offer similar benefits, but Viagra, at least, may prove useful for some other conditions, including these:
Pulmonary hypertension
Viagra is now marketed under the name Revatio for this uncommon but serious disorder of high pressure in the blood vessels leading to the lungs.
Mountain sickness
Viagra can reduce pulmonary artery pressure at high altitude and improve the ability to exercise in low oxygen conditions.
Raynaud’s phenomenon
In affected individuals, exposure to the cold triggers spasm of the small arteries that supply blood to the fingers, toes, or both, which become pale, cold, and painful. Both Viagra and Levitra have been helpful in clinical trials.
Heart disease
Studies suggest Viagra might help patients with congestive heart failure or diastolic dysfunction.
Further details are published in the August 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
Efficacy and Safety of Tadalafil in Men With Erectile Dysfunction Following Spinal Cord Injury.
01.29.08 (1:14 am) [edit]
OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and safety of tadalafil when taken on demand by men with erectile dysfunction (ED) secondary to traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN AND SETTING: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, flexible dose-titration, parallel-group study in clinical practices in Europe.Patients Enrolled patients had ED secondary to SCI (all spinal levels) and sustained 6 months or longer before visit 1. INTERVENTIONS: After a 4-week run-in period, patients were randomly assigned to tadalafil, 10 mg, (n = 142) or placebo (n = 44) for a 12-week, on-demand treatment period with assessments at 4-week intervals. The dose of tadalafil was maintained or titrated (10 or 20 mg) at 4 and 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Efficacy was measured using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP), and Global Assessment Question (GAQ). Treatment-emergent adverse events and vital signs were collected at each visit. RESULTS: Mean age was 38 years. Mean baseline IIEF erectile function domain score was 13.4, and following 12 weeks of treatment, 22.6 for tadalafil and 13.6 for placebo (P < .001). After treatment, the tadalafil group compared with the placebo group was significantly greater (P >
VCU study shows Levitra may protect the heart
01.23.08 (5:34 am) [edit]
First Viagra, now Levitra - Novel class of erectile dysfunction drugs may have new utility
The widely used erectile dysfunction drug Levitra is now the second drug in its class found to protect the heart against tissue damage following acute heart attack, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
"Our findings further support the concept that the novel class of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, or PDE-5 inhibitors, including Levitra and Viagra, may have a new utility in cardiac protection, in addition to their well-known use for the management of erectile dysfunction in men," said Rakesh C. Kukreja, Ph.D., professor of medicine, physiology, biochemistry and emergency medicine at VCU. Kukreja is lead author of the study.
In the study, currently available online and to be published in the March issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Kukreja and his team demonstrated for the first time that pretreatment with a clinically relevant dose of Levitra, generically known as vardenafil, induces a protective effect against heart attack injury by opening the mitochondrial KATP channel in an animal model. The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology is the official publication of the International Society for Heart Research.
According to Kukreja, PDE-5 is an enzyme responsible for the destruction of cGMP, an intracellular messenger molecule, in heart cells. He said that the mitochondrial KATP channel and cGMP play an important role in preconditioning of the heart following a heart attack. The cGMP also has a hand in the dilation of arteries in the body. PDE-5 inhibitor drugs, such as vardenafil, sildenafil, the generic term for Viagra, and tadalafil, the generic name for Cialis, are able to preserve cGMP, and therefore dilation of the arteries by inhibiting PDE-5.
Vardenafil, like sildenafil, stabilizes the mitochondria and protects against damage of the heart by opening the mitochondrial KATP channels in cardiac cells. Mitochondria are cellular organelles critical for converting oxygen into ATP, the key fuel for cellular function.
"This study provides important information about the mechanism by which the PDE-5 inhibitors work. Furthermore, it is proof that the positive findings of prior studies on sildenafil extend to another PDE-5 inhibitor," said George Vetrovec, M.D., chair of cardiology at VCU's School of Medicine, who is internationally recognized for his research on coronary artery disease.
Vetrovec suggested that PDE-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil and vardenafil may one day be given to patients who are at high risk for acute heart attack or prior to undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery to optimize heart protection.
In addition, Kukreja said that the PDE-5 inhibitors may be developed for future use to protect the brain, liver and other organs against ischemic injury – those injuries that are caused by lack of oxygen.
Kukreja and his colleagues began studying sildenafil in 2002 as part of ongoing research into "preconditioning," a way to protect the heart muscle from serious damage in the future by subjecting it to very brief periods of deprivation of blood flow and, therefore, oxygen.
The widely used erectile dysfunction drug Levitra is now the second drug in its class found to protect the heart against tissue damage following acute heart attack, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
"Our findings further support the concept that the novel class of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, or PDE-5 inhibitors, including Levitra and Viagra, may have a new utility in cardiac protection, in addition to their well-known use for the management of erectile dysfunction in men," said Rakesh C. Kukreja, Ph.D., professor of medicine, physiology, biochemistry and emergency medicine at VCU. Kukreja is lead author of the study.
In the study, currently available online and to be published in the March issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Kukreja and his team demonstrated for the first time that pretreatment with a clinically relevant dose of Levitra, generically known as vardenafil, induces a protective effect against heart attack injury by opening the mitochondrial KATP channel in an animal model. The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology is the official publication of the International Society for Heart Research.
According to Kukreja, PDE-5 is an enzyme responsible for the destruction of cGMP, an intracellular messenger molecule, in heart cells. He said that the mitochondrial KATP channel and cGMP play an important role in preconditioning of the heart following a heart attack. The cGMP also has a hand in the dilation of arteries in the body. PDE-5 inhibitor drugs, such as vardenafil, sildenafil, the generic term for Viagra, and tadalafil, the generic name for Cialis, are able to preserve cGMP, and therefore dilation of the arteries by inhibiting PDE-5.
Vardenafil, like sildenafil, stabilizes the mitochondria and protects against damage of the heart by opening the mitochondrial KATP channels in cardiac cells. Mitochondria are cellular organelles critical for converting oxygen into ATP, the key fuel for cellular function.
"This study provides important information about the mechanism by which the PDE-5 inhibitors work. Furthermore, it is proof that the positive findings of prior studies on sildenafil extend to another PDE-5 inhibitor," said George Vetrovec, M.D., chair of cardiology at VCU's School of Medicine, who is internationally recognized for his research on coronary artery disease.
Vetrovec suggested that PDE-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil and vardenafil may one day be given to patients who are at high risk for acute heart attack or prior to undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery to optimize heart protection.
In addition, Kukreja said that the PDE-5 inhibitors may be developed for future use to protect the brain, liver and other organs against ischemic injury – those injuries that are caused by lack of oxygen.
Kukreja and his colleagues began studying sildenafil in 2002 as part of ongoing research into "preconditioning," a way to protect the heart muscle from serious damage in the future by subjecting it to very brief periods of deprivation of blood flow and, therefore, oxygen.