Can Viagra help a man’s heart?

Originally synthesised by a group of pharmaceutical chemists as a treatment for angina pectoris and hypertension, Viagra tablets in the UK were found to produce a startling side effect. Though not effective in the treatment of angina, the drug was found to cause erection in men who took it.

Further clinical tests and studies confirmed the findings of these chemists: The drug was indeed potent in producing erection in men. After getting patent and approval from the FDA as the first oral erectile dysfunction treatment – an epochal development in the ED treatment – the drug became available in the market.

Fast forward eleven years later, after series of endless marketing slogan: buy Viagra cheap online, buy Viagra online next day delivery, etc – fuelled by both the genuine and fake sellers of the drug, the Viagra brand, amongst other things, retains its status as the most popular and most headline-grabbing ED treatment. Recently, the drug was in the news again.

Two studies conducted on the 19th of May in San Francisco showed that Viagra may help a man’s heart, and hypertensive men are at higher risk of having erectile dysfunction.

In fact, Greek researchers declared that not only are blood pressure and ED connected, but the risk of having erectile dysfunction is more than twice as high in men with high blood pressure when compared with men with normal blood pressure.

Michael Doumas of the fourth department of internal medicine at the University of Athens in Greece, added: "The chances that men with high blood pressure may be at risk of having erectile dysfunction is increased dramatically, our research was able to show."

In a study conducted by the researchers, 358 hypertensive men between the ages of 31-65 were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating erectile dysfunction. Comparing the completed questionnaire with that of a group of men without high blood pressure, the researchers compiled their result as follows:

• 35 percent of the hypertensive men had some degree of erectile dysfunction, with approximately 9.2% reporting severe impotence.
• 89 of the hypertensive men had never taken hypertension medication and 20% of this group had erectile dysfunction.
• 36% of 160 hypertensive men on medication to control their blood pressure had erectile dysfunction.
• 47% of the 107 hypertensive men on two or more medications to control their blood pressure had erectile dysfunction.
In comparison, only 14.1% of the men with normal blood pressure had some degree of ED, with 1.5% reported severe cases.

Can Viagra aid blood vessels walls?

Charalambos Vlachopoulos, MD, of the first department of cardiology at Athens Medical School in Greece, in presenting a second study at the meeting, explored Viagra’s lasting effects on stiffness in blood vessels.

It is noteworthy to know that Viagra and high blood pressure medications are both similar in their functions in the body. They both help to facilitate in increasing the flow of blood by widening the blood vessels. Sildenafil citrate opens up the arteries, which carries blood to the corpus cavernosum of the penis and makes the penis erect, and constricts the veins which takes blood away from the penis.

Hypertension drugs, in a similar manner, dilate the blood vessels of patients with high blood pressure to bring down their blood pressure.
In conclusion, several studies have been conducted to establish if erectile dysfunction has any connections to high blood pressure and other cardiac disorders. And a great number of physicians and researchers have posited that apart from the relationship between Viagra and high blood pressure medications, erectile dysfunction could be a sign of an underlying cardiac condition.