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Year
2007 |
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Archives
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Erectile dysfunction drugs can help the heart
March 05, 2007
Drugs for erectile
dysfunction protect the heart before and after a heart attack.
During a heart attack, damage to the heart muscle is caused by oxygen
deprivation. There are currently no therapies which can prevent
this damage. However, researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University
now reveal that the erectile dysfunction drugs sildenafil and vardenafil
may have a role to play.
Both drugs can improve blood flow - this is the
basis for their use in erectile dysfunction. In an animal model,
the ability of the drugs to improve blood flow was found to protect
the heart from damage related to oxygen deprivation. In these experiments,
the erectile dysfunction drugs were compared to a standard heart
drug, nitroglycerin and were found to be superior. Further research
is needed, of course, but it may be that sildenafil and vardenafil
have a role to play in protecting the heart. They could be used
for patients undergoing procedures like angioplasty or heart bypass,
where the heart is at risk of oxygen deprivation, or after a heart
attack to limit the damage to the heart muscle
Source : Healthandage
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