Viagra improves high-altitude exercise
Viagra is a famous drug for erectile dysfunction (or ED, as it's ever-so-discretely called on TV ads). But it acts by widening blood vessels, and that can be handy for other activities as well. Researchers at Stanford and the Palo Alto Veterans Heath Care knew that at high altitude, the oxygen levels are lower and blood flowing through the lungs has a harder time getting fully oxygenated. They tested the effect of the drug on cyclists using air mixes that mimic those at high altitude, and found that in some athletes there was a large improvement in performance.
8 comments:
Brandon Mead 5818
I looked on the class website and saw the title of the article and was intrigued because it is so truly unique. I knew from experience with training for ice hockey that altitude has an inverse effect on an individual's ability to breath. I was fascinated to learn that sildenafil, the main ingredient of Viagara, works by relaxing many of the blood vessels in your body. This is crucial when an individual is performing strenuous physical tasks at high altitudes as it allows them to breath much more easily. I was very encouraged to hear that it could possibly help the soldiers in Afghanistan deal with the extreme altitude that they are dealing with there daily. I'm anxious to see if the sildenafil can be put in a form to help athletes train better but not give them endurance erections.
I found a website that explains the benefits of training at high altitudes for athletes.
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/altitude.html
Vidya 7546
Although not an athlete in any way shape or form due to my asthma, I believe that this article interested me due to the fact that my inhaler, and the nebulizer medicinal procedure functions in a similar way to Viagra in that it opens up the breathing airway a whole lot more, speeds up the heart rate, and allows the lungs to oxygenate more blood quickly so that the person can breathe. This article was thoroughly interesting in that around ice, and during cold weather or early in the morning, the lungs of asthmatics constricts, therefore making it harder to breathe as the asthmatic’s airway fills up with mucus, restricting the flow of oxygen to the lungs, and making the asthmatic sluggish.
Medicine such as the nebulizer treatment allows these passages to be clear after inhaling 10 minutes of medicine (as mist), which expands the blood vessels, and quite truthfully, gives the asthmatic a blood rush to the lungs, as well as the rest of the body in a matter of minutes, making the asthmatic dizzy, etc. Just as the drug that the cyclists used to widen their blood vessels and decrease the constriction, so does the nebulizer or inhaler work on asthmatics so that more oxygen could be delivered to the body and lungs especially. Without such aloepathic medicine, asthmatics would be at a loss and wouldn’t be able to recover from asthma attacks as easily, and bouncing back from a constricted lung problem, and less oxygen would take twice or thrice as long without the nebulizer. An article I found interesting: http://www.virginia.edu/
studenthealth/ailments/asthma.html
My friend use to always talk about his experience as a mountain climber and how difficult it could be. Its not till after reading this article do i realize how right my friend was. It makes me think though if this research is really required. I mean the article does bring up a good point about soldiers having to work at high altitudes ,however, the rest of the reasons seemed to be aimed at athletics. If by chance in an ideal world this drug would work i wonder if would ever be accepted by athletes or would it be considered a form of cheating. In any case i do believe that the research is important for labor sake but not so much for athletes. In the long run any research may well lead to an alternate consequence that may benefit the human body and performance. i looked up the hazards of being at such high altitudes to better understand the situation.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4618
Eduardo 9416
Bryan 4270
When I read this article I first thought of steroids because what prevents athletes from using Sildenafil to try and gain an edge against the competition. Just because your body cannot handle the physical extremes of training does not give you the right to try and alter your body by using drugs such as Sildenafil or steroids. As explained in the article, this drug is best used to understand the physiology of the human body and to help relieve the problems associated with altitude sickness.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/steroids/flash.htm
I am especially pleased by to know they are looking to use Sildenafil for our troops in Afghanistan. According to the site below I am going to assume that our troops are suffering from mountain sickness because of “ascending to rapidly” and “overexertion within 24 hours of ascent.” Having to keep an alert mind is difficult when you are suffering from symptoms such as fatigue, headache, dizziness, nausea, etc; So a drug that assists well fed troops can seriously improve their performance in arduous war conditions. According to the article the responders performed in par to the non-responders, and since a team is only as good as its weakest member, the performance of the military unit will hopefully be elevated.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/mountain_sickness/
The many uses of Viagra never cease to amaze me. From erectile dysfunction, to altitude sickness to balding, what can’t Viagra do. I found this very simple blog entry about the steroids and Viagra and its beginnings.
http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/viagra-and-steroids.html
Adrian Tafoya 4773
In an Article “The Dangers of using and abusing Viagra” David Salyer describes the affects of Viagra (sildenafil). Salyer describes how Viagra was first being developed as a heart disease medication which would lower blood pressure and widen various arteries thus allowing an increase in blood flow. Soon after testing the product they found that it not only increased blood flow around the body but also in the penis which in turn would alleviate the symptoms, but not the causes, of Erectile Dysfunction.
Such affects brought by Viagra have made Pfizer one of the best selling pharmaceutical companies and have also led to the obvious abuse of medication. Salyer points out that as of 2004, 23 million men have happily filled their Viagra prescriptions and have spent roughly one billion dollars on this wonder-libido.
Such abuses are already occurring and with its other uses as shown in Science Today there are now even more reasons to abuse this drug. I fear that Pfizer may use this side-effect as a platform to tap into an additional market. It concerns me that a product such as Viagra would start out with all good intention and gradually fall into a habitual drug.
http://www.thebody.com/content/art32246.html
Julia 3716
When I read this article, I was not surprised at all that researchers were testing Viagra to solve the situation of physical performance like cyclists against different altitudes. This is because it is so often that researchers are seeking the effects of certain drugs to perform the same duties only in a different part of the body. It's amazing how these researchers come up with what drug could possibly solve what problem that people would never imagine to get some relief in. But to counteract these advances that researchers are discovering by these rather random testing of drugs is that there are a huge range of side effects that might occur in the long run and it might be hard to forecast those problems. So if for example, Viagra was confirmed to alleviate these breathing problems in high altitudes and created a huge hype that drove all cyclists to take it, without long term evidence of safety, all these cyclists could possibly be in danger of some health problems.
Here is a website I found right off the uci website that talks about how the abortion pill could prevent breast tumor growth. Its just simply amazing how these drugs can work in different ways for different purposes.
http://www.today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1552
Alejandra Marquez 6734
I found it very interesting that Viagra could be used to improve other maladies besides the infamous "erectile dysfunction". According to studies, Viagra has been successfully used to encourage blood flow at high altitudes which would otherwise have a difficult time becoming oxygenated. This study looks promising in finding a drug that will enable hardcore athletes to take on the rigorous pressures that their workout plans require. But I have to question the safety of this proposed drug. Could this be the next steriod? Could it have possibly serious, even fatal side effects, such as cardiovascular disease. Currently, much research is being done on risk of heart disease and Viagra. Could increasing blood flow to the lungs be dangerous? What could be the side-effects? Here's an article that focuses on the link between heart diease and Viagra
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/09/990902143440.htm
Michael Chon 3702
The only experience I've had with the effects high altitudes have on the body is when I visited the Andes mountains in South America. There, to combat altitude sickness, the native peoples would chew coca leaves or drink tea made from the coca plant. The coca plant is the source of cocaine. The leaves are pretty much harmless and I'll admit that I tried some. Of course I couldn't bring any of the leaves back to the states due to the fact that that's highly illegal. So I guess since coca leaves aren't allowed here, Viagra would be a good substitute. I don't know from experience, but I think Viagra is pretty expensive; not to mention bad for some people's hearts. Hopefully, people will be able to take something a little less embarrassing to help with their training other than Viagra.
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