Viagra can save lives

[Stan]

"It's weird that medicine, as advanced as it is, has completely ignored the right chambers," said Evangelos Michelakis, a University of Alberta Hospital cardiologist and Canada Research Chair in pulmonary hypertension.

When lung arteries constrict in a patient suffering from a lung condition called pulmonary hypertension, it puts a strain on the right ventricle of the heart. It causes shortness of breath, fatigue and shortened life spans.

The discovery could add years to patients' lives, Michelakis said.

"Someone with high blood pressure can live 30 or 40 more years, but someone with pulmonary hypertension, which is the same but in the lungs, can only live three to five years."

The problem was trying find a treatment that could both relax the arteries in the lung and bring the blood pressure down while at the same time strengthening the right chamber of the heart.

A research team at the University of Alberta Hospital's pulmonary hypertension program has found that Viagra may be that treatment.

Their research will appear next week in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Viagra targets a protein, phosphodiesterase type 5, which is found in and constricts arteries in two places in the body - the lungs and penis.

"What we're saying with this work is that it's in a third place in the body and that is the right chamber of the heart, but not the normal ones, only the diseased ones," Michelakis said.

Contrary to what was believed before, the U of A researchers discovered that Viagra can also affect function of the heart - but only when there is high blood pressure in the lungs. Previous studies elsewhere had focused only on healthy hearts.

"In a normal heart (the enzyme) is not there, but all of a sudden it appears once it becomes diseased," said Jayan Nagendran, a cardiac surgery resident at the U of A.

It's not the first major discovery for the local team looking into the benefits of Viagra. In 2002, they published the first evidence that the drug is effective in cases of pulmonary hypertension - high blood pressure in the lungs. Their finding was confirmed by more testing and Viagra, sold under the name Revatio is now used for pulmonary hypertension.

[Neil D]

Um....my understanding here is a bit confused.....Perhaps one of the doctors on here can clarify....

My understanding is that for viagra to work, it allows the blood to flow into the penis.....resulting in an erection...

But this article says-

Quote:

Their research will appear next week in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Viagra targets a protein, phosphodiesterase type 5, which is found in and [color:#990000]constricts arteries in two places in the body - the lungs and penis.

"What we're saying with this work is that it's in a third place in the body and that is the right chamber of the heart, but not the normal ones, only the diseased ones," Michelakis said.

Am I misunderstanding something here?

Robin Williams has always said that there was only enough blood in the human body to only go to ONE head.....at a time....

Now this article states that it constricts blood flow to the penis....

[Dr. Shane]

Robin Williams the crude Hollywood comedian or is that a Robin Williams with an M.D. after his name?