Viagra had a birthday in 2007. Yes, it's been 20 years since researchers developing Viagra realized that their experimental drug for angina was actually more effective at treating erectile dysfunction.
So maybe it's fitting that Viagra, which began life as something other than an ED treatment, should now be raising hopes across a wide spectrum of medical uses. As if being a blockbuster treatment for erectile dysfunction isn't enough, science has identified 17 different Viagra alternative uses - everything from jet lag to heart disease.
The day may not be far off when mom asks everyone around the breakfast table, including dad, the kids, grandpa and grandma...
"Have You Taken Your Vitamin V Today?"
The list of Viagra alternative uses being explored by researchers is impressive, both in number and in diversity.
Viagra's secret is that it allows blood to flow more easily through a person's arteries and blood vessels by blocking a certain enzyme. So Viagra is now attracting plenty of attention as a very versatile remedy for a wide range of health conditions, especially those involving blood circulation.
Most of the following Viagra alternative uses are in the very early stages of research but a few are already out there in use.
Viagra: Not Just For Erectile Dysfunction Anymore
From the mundane to the truly important, here are 17 Viagra alternative uses that science has so far identified:
Viagra Alternative Use #1: Wilting flowers
A weak solution of Viagra (about 1/50 of the dosage taken for erectile dysfunction) helps cut flowers stay alive twice as long. Researchers think Viagra's effects on nitric oxide affect the staying power of both flowers and the male sex organ.
Viagra Alternative Use #2: Jet lag
According to scientists at a university in Argentina, Viagra may help air travelers get over their jet lag. They found that lab animals injected with Viagra adapted faster to changes in light. That suggests Viagra could also speed up the time it takes human body clocks to adapt to crossing time zones.
Viagra Alternative Use #3: Cold hands from Raynaud's Disease
Raynaud's disease is a common condition that interrupts blood flow to the fingers and toes, leaving them cold, white and dead looking. Patients who got 50 mg of Viagra twice a day improved greatly. Some even had complete relief from their cold hand symptoms. Doctors involved in the studies believe Viagra helps blood circulate to the extremities.
Viagra Alternative Use #4: Heart attack
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University compared Viagra with nitroglycerin, the standard treatment given to heart attack patients. They discovered that Viagra was better at restoring bloodflow and helping heal damaged heart tissue.
Viagra Alternative Use #5: Heart exercise
Patients with heart failure often have trouble exercising. In Italy, researchers found Viagra helped them work out by increasing oxygen flow, decreasing blood pressure in the arteries, and helping the lungs work better. Again, they believe it's because Viagra boosts levels of nitric oxide.
Viagra Alternative Use #6: Crohn's Disease
In England, university researchers found that Viagra can help fight bacteria and build up the amount of blood flowing around the small intestine. That's the area where Crohn's Disease is most active and damaging, usually requiring major surgery.
Viagra Alternative Use #7: Infertility
Some women's uteruses are too thin to sustain a fetus. It's believed that Viagra could increase blood flow to the uterus, stimulate cell growth, and improve these women's chances of successful childbirth.
Viagra Alternative Use #8: Still births
Many fetuses die each year due to pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy disorder in which arteries don't widen enough to deliver sufficient blood to the baby in the womb. But when pregnant mice were given Viagra, their artery muscles relaxed and the number of still births went way down.
Viagra Alternative Use #9: Underweight babies
Doctors used Viagra in a study of pregnant women who had smaller than normal fetuses. They believe Viagra increases blood flow to the womb and placenta, which means the fetus gets more nutrients for growth inside the mother, preventing premature birth. The effect is essentially the same as when Viagra is used for erectile dysfunction: the Viagra allows blood vessels to expand and deliver more blood.
Viagra Alternative Use #10: Diabetes
One unpleasant side effect of diabetes is the stomach empties too slowly, causing loss of appetite and dehydration. Viagra was found to relax the stomach muscles and ease this condition.
Another study found that Viagra also improved glucose control and lowered levels of certain compounds that can cause heart disease in diabetics.
Viagra Alternative Use #11: Lung Disease
The lung disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension has a high fatality rate. Patients rarely live more than 3 or 4 years with it. The disease is marked by dangerously high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. A drug based on Viagra is helping these patients live longer by increasing blood flow to the lungs, which in turn relieves some of the stress on the heart.
Viagra Alternative Use #12: Prostate Problems
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a natural consequence of aging that can lead to frequent urination, bladder stones, disturbed sleep, and depression. 300 men with BPH were given Viagra and it was said to have had a "dramatic effect" on their prostate condition.
Viagra Alternative Use #13: Stroke
So far, only animals and a few humans have been tested with Viagra to see if it could help them regain movement, speech and thinking after a stroke. The animals tested with Viagra showed a "very significant" improvement in their brain functioning.
Viagra Alternative Use #14: Pelvic Pain
About half of all men have pain in the lower back and groin. With its well-known ability to boost bloodflow, Viagra dilates blood vessels in the pelvis and eases the discomfort, according to one US trial.
Viagra Alternative Use #15: Multiple sclerosis
MS is caused when the sheath that protects the nerves is attacked and damaged by one's own immune system. A US university report suggests that Viagra could protect nerves against this damage by increasing grey matter in the brain.
Viagra Alternative Use #16: Breast Cancer
Another US study injected Viagra into mice with breast and colon tumors. Viagra seems to trigger the body's immune system so it can recognize the cancer cells as foreign objects and destroy them. The mice tumors shrank to a third of their original size.
Viagra Alternative Use #17: Memory and learning/Alzheimer's Disease
Researchers aren't sure why, but studies have suggested that Viagra can improve memory and learning skills. It could be the increased blood flow to the brain or some other physiological effect of taking Viagra. But the scientists are highly optimistic in their predictions: "Viagra offers a new strategy for memory improvement and a novel therapy for Alzheimer's disease in the future."
So the next time you joke about erectile dysfunction drugs, stop and think about how some medications are developed for one purpose and end up being better at something else... or in this case, 17 something elses!
Stayed tuned... chances are good this list of Viagra alternative uses won't hold steady at 17 for long.
About the Author
Search Engine Optimization expert, boasting over 7 years of algorithmic search and paid search advertising.
Helping a number of Online Pharmacies like: Online Pharmacy
So maybe it's fitting that Viagra, which began life as something other than an ED treatment, should now be raising hopes across a wide spectrum of medical uses. As if being a blockbuster treatment for erectile dysfunction isn't enough, science has identified 17 different Viagra alternative uses - everything from jet lag to heart disease.
The day may not be far off when mom asks everyone around the breakfast table, including dad, the kids, grandpa and grandma...
"Have You Taken Your Vitamin V Today?"
The list of Viagra alternative uses being explored by researchers is impressive, both in number and in diversity.
Viagra's secret is that it allows blood to flow more easily through a person's arteries and blood vessels by blocking a certain enzyme. So Viagra is now attracting plenty of attention as a very versatile remedy for a wide range of health conditions, especially those involving blood circulation.
Most of the following Viagra alternative uses are in the very early stages of research but a few are already out there in use.
Viagra: Not Just For Erectile Dysfunction Anymore
From the mundane to the truly important, here are 17 Viagra alternative uses that science has so far identified:
Viagra Alternative Use #1: Wilting flowers
A weak solution of Viagra (about 1/50 of the dosage taken for erectile dysfunction) helps cut flowers stay alive twice as long. Researchers think Viagra's effects on nitric oxide affect the staying power of both flowers and the male sex organ.
Viagra Alternative Use #2: Jet lag
According to scientists at a university in Argentina, Viagra may help air travelers get over their jet lag. They found that lab animals injected with Viagra adapted faster to changes in light. That suggests Viagra could also speed up the time it takes human body clocks to adapt to crossing time zones.
Viagra Alternative Use #3: Cold hands from Raynaud's Disease
Raynaud's disease is a common condition that interrupts blood flow to the fingers and toes, leaving them cold, white and dead looking. Patients who got 50 mg of Viagra twice a day improved greatly. Some even had complete relief from their cold hand symptoms. Doctors involved in the studies believe Viagra helps blood circulate to the extremities.
Viagra Alternative Use #4: Heart attack
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University compared Viagra with nitroglycerin, the standard treatment given to heart attack patients. They discovered that Viagra was better at restoring bloodflow and helping heal damaged heart tissue.
Viagra Alternative Use #5: Heart exercise
Patients with heart failure often have trouble exercising. In Italy, researchers found Viagra helped them work out by increasing oxygen flow, decreasing blood pressure in the arteries, and helping the lungs work better. Again, they believe it's because Viagra boosts levels of nitric oxide.
Viagra Alternative Use #6: Crohn's Disease
In England, university researchers found that Viagra can help fight bacteria and build up the amount of blood flowing around the small intestine. That's the area where Crohn's Disease is most active and damaging, usually requiring major surgery.
Viagra Alternative Use #7: Infertility
Some women's uteruses are too thin to sustain a fetus. It's believed that Viagra could increase blood flow to the uterus, stimulate cell growth, and improve these women's chances of successful childbirth.
Viagra Alternative Use #8: Still births
Many fetuses die each year due to pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy disorder in which arteries don't widen enough to deliver sufficient blood to the baby in the womb. But when pregnant mice were given Viagra, their artery muscles relaxed and the number of still births went way down.
Viagra Alternative Use #9: Underweight babies
Doctors used Viagra in a study of pregnant women who had smaller than normal fetuses. They believe Viagra increases blood flow to the womb and placenta, which means the fetus gets more nutrients for growth inside the mother, preventing premature birth. The effect is essentially the same as when Viagra is used for erectile dysfunction: the Viagra allows blood vessels to expand and deliver more blood.
Viagra Alternative Use #10: Diabetes
One unpleasant side effect of diabetes is the stomach empties too slowly, causing loss of appetite and dehydration. Viagra was found to relax the stomach muscles and ease this condition.
Another study found that Viagra also improved glucose control and lowered levels of certain compounds that can cause heart disease in diabetics.
Viagra Alternative Use #11: Lung Disease
The lung disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension has a high fatality rate. Patients rarely live more than 3 or 4 years with it. The disease is marked by dangerously high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. A drug based on Viagra is helping these patients live longer by increasing blood flow to the lungs, which in turn relieves some of the stress on the heart.
Viagra Alternative Use #12: Prostate Problems
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a natural consequence of aging that can lead to frequent urination, bladder stones, disturbed sleep, and depression. 300 men with BPH were given Viagra and it was said to have had a "dramatic effect" on their prostate condition.
Viagra Alternative Use #13: Stroke
So far, only animals and a few humans have been tested with Viagra to see if it could help them regain movement, speech and thinking after a stroke. The animals tested with Viagra showed a "very significant" improvement in their brain functioning.
Viagra Alternative Use #14: Pelvic Pain
About half of all men have pain in the lower back and groin. With its well-known ability to boost bloodflow, Viagra dilates blood vessels in the pelvis and eases the discomfort, according to one US trial.
Viagra Alternative Use #15: Multiple sclerosis
MS is caused when the sheath that protects the nerves is attacked and damaged by one's own immune system. A US university report suggests that Viagra could protect nerves against this damage by increasing grey matter in the brain.
Viagra Alternative Use #16: Breast Cancer
Another US study injected Viagra into mice with breast and colon tumors. Viagra seems to trigger the body's immune system so it can recognize the cancer cells as foreign objects and destroy them. The mice tumors shrank to a third of their original size.
Viagra Alternative Use #17: Memory and learning/Alzheimer's Disease
Researchers aren't sure why, but studies have suggested that Viagra can improve memory and learning skills. It could be the increased blood flow to the brain or some other physiological effect of taking Viagra. But the scientists are highly optimistic in their predictions: "Viagra offers a new strategy for memory improvement and a novel therapy for Alzheimer's disease in the future."
So the next time you joke about erectile dysfunction drugs, stop and think about how some medications are developed for one purpose and end up being better at something else... or in this case, 17 something elses!
Stayed tuned... chances are good this list of Viagra alternative uses won't hold steady at 17 for long.
About the Author
Search Engine Optimization expert, boasting over 7 years of algorithmic search and paid search advertising.
Helping a number of Online Pharmacies like: Online Pharmacy