New Use Pops Up For Viagra

Canadian researchers have found a whole new use for Viagra. It’s for affairs of the heart, but not the bedroom kind.

A study released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday by the University of Montreal and the Montreal Heart Institute showed that sildenafil, also known as Pfizer’s Viagra, protected against some of the cardiac complications in mice with muscular dystrophy.

Muscular dystrophy, which affects one in 6,000 people, is a disease that causes the progressive breakdown of muscle tissue, including the heart.

“Research on this disease used to focus on the degeneration of skeletal muscles,” said Dr. Christine Des Rosiers, lead researcher on the study, “but it is important to take into account all muscular problems, including cardiac problems, when treating these patients so that we can improve their quality of life.”

The study as done independently of Pfizer. The company said that it has not conducted studies of its own concerning heart protection for muscular dystrophy patients and has no current plans to try to market Viagra for that use.

The researchers were able to decrease the levels of a molecule that breaks down the tissue by giving the dystrophic mice the drug. Sildenafil is currently prescribed for erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension.

“These experimental results give us hope that one day it will be possible to treat with this approach cardiac problems in patients with muscular dystrophy, and perhaps even treat other heart diseases,” said Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, director of the Montreal Heart Institute Research Center.

via the source

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