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No, this is NOT a spam e-mail ;D
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=06ff7534-d29c-4cec-83d0-0e5ca03558b0
... but if it's time to fight, they might want a Viagra
Drug could help troops cope with mountain altitudes, study finds
Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, June 23, 2006
''U.S. scientists looking for a way to help soldiers perform in Afghanistan's mountains have found a miracle pill that safely helps the heart and lungs work at high altitudes -- Viagra.
In tests on cyclists in the thin air of high altitudes, the drug helped many men ride taller in the saddle, though it didn't boost the performance of everyone.
The study's next question is: Will it do anything for women?
Viagra was invented as a drug for high blood pressure and works by making some blood vessels relax and carry more blood. It was only while testing it for safety in volunteers that doctors recognized its side-effects -- which went on to become the main reason for prescribing the little blue pills.
Pfizer and its happy investors have never looked back.
But the heart benefits are still there, so researchers from Stanford University Medical Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs tested the theory that, by helping the heart and lungs circulate oxygen-rich blood, Viagra might help athletes or workers at altitudes where the air is thin.
They set cyclists pedalling, comparing the performances of subjects taking the drug and others taking a placebo.
At sea level, Viagra didn't help anyone. But as the researchers made the air thinner in a test chamber that simulates mountain conditions, they found some men using Viagra could circulate oxygen to their muscles so well it raised their ability to work by as much as 45 per cent. Overall, this group improved by 39 per cent, as measured in time trials on a stationary bicycle.
Other men, for unknown reasons, found no benefit at all. Women haven't been tested yet.
And would there be side-effects with Viagra?
"Oh yeah!" affirmed Roger Pierson, a fertility researcher at the University of Saskatchewan.
The drug expands many blood vessels, he said. And if it's helping the lungs, it's creating an erection, too.
"It's also going to leave you with a headache," he said.
The 3,874-metre altitude simulated in the tests is similar to peaks in Afghanistan, or the Swiss Alps.
Viagra only helped four of the 10 men in the study, reports Anne Friedlander, a hormone researcher with Stanford and Veterans' Affairs. (All the men were strong cyclists.) Oddly, the ones it helped most were the ones who had the most trouble with the thin air in the first place, suggesting that the drug could be of great help to people who suffer altitude sickness.
Some of the men took the usual one-pill dose, while others took a double dose. The men weren't told who had the real pills, but it's a safe bet that some figured it out on their own.
Results are now published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
But Dr. Alvaro Morales, a urologist at Queen's University, cautions that the benefits are short-lived, because Viagra doesn't stay long in the body.
The report "doesn't sound out of whack to me," he said. But "for a soldier who has to work not just for an hour or two hours, like having an erection, but maybe has to work for six or eight hours, the effect of the medication may be very short-acting."
DND officials turned down a chance to comment on the study.''
Can't get the full article, but if you can read "medicalese", here's the abstract from the Journal of Applied Physiology:
http://tinyurl.com/mepnt
J Appl Physiol 100: 2031-2040, 2006. First published February 2, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00806.2005
8750-7587/06 $8.00
Sildenafil improves cardiac output and exercise performance during acute hypoxia, but not normoxia
Andrew R. Hsu,1 Kimberly E. Barnholt,1 Nicolas K. Grundmann,1 Joseph H. Lin,2 Stewart W. McCallum,3 and Anne L. Friedlander1,4
1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Clinical Studies Unit, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 2Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Stanford University School of Medicine, 3Department of Urology, Stanford University Medical Center, and 4Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
Submitted 7 July 2005 ; accepted in final form 30 January 2006
Sildenafil causes pulmonary vasodilation, thus potentially reducing impairments of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension on exercise performance at altitude. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of sildenafil during normoxic and hypoxic exercise. We hypothesized that 1) sildenafil would have no significant effects on normoxic exercise, and 2) sildenafil would improve cardiac output, arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), and performance during hypoxic exercise. Ten trained men performed one practice and three experimental trials at sea level (SL) and simulated high altitude (HA) of 3,874 m. Each cycling test consisted of a set-work-rate portion (55% work capacity: 1 h SL, 30 min HA) followed immediately by a time trial (10 km SL, 6 km HA). Double-blinded capsules (placebo, 50, or 100 mg) were taken 1 h before exercise in a randomly counterbalanced order. For HA, subjects also began breathing hypoxic gas (12.8% oxygen) 1 h before exercise. At SL, sildenafil had no effects on any cardiovascular or performance measures. At HA, sildenafil increased stroke volume (measured by impedance cardiography), cardiac output, and SaO2 during set-work-rate exercise. Sildenafil lowered 6-km time-trial time by 15% (P < 0.05). SaO2 was also higher during the time trial (P < 0.05) in response to sildenafil, despite higher work rates. Post hoc analyses revealed two subject groups, sildenafil responders and nonresponders, who improved time-trial performance by 39% (P < 0.05) and 1.0%, respectively. No dose-response effects were observed. During cycling exercise in acute hypoxia, sildenafil can greatly improve cardiovascular function, SaO2, and performance for certain individuals.
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=06ff7534-d29c-4cec-83d0-0e5ca03558b0
... but if it's time to fight, they might want a Viagra
Drug could help troops cope with mountain altitudes, study finds
Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, June 23, 2006
''U.S. scientists looking for a way to help soldiers perform in Afghanistan's mountains have found a miracle pill that safely helps the heart and lungs work at high altitudes -- Viagra.
In tests on cyclists in the thin air of high altitudes, the drug helped many men ride taller in the saddle, though it didn't boost the performance of everyone.
The study's next question is: Will it do anything for women?
Viagra was invented as a drug for high blood pressure and works by making some blood vessels relax and carry more blood. It was only while testing it for safety in volunteers that doctors recognized its side-effects -- which went on to become the main reason for prescribing the little blue pills.
Pfizer and its happy investors have never looked back.
But the heart benefits are still there, so researchers from Stanford University Medical Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs tested the theory that, by helping the heart and lungs circulate oxygen-rich blood, Viagra might help athletes or workers at altitudes where the air is thin.
They set cyclists pedalling, comparing the performances of subjects taking the drug and others taking a placebo.
At sea level, Viagra didn't help anyone. But as the researchers made the air thinner in a test chamber that simulates mountain conditions, they found some men using Viagra could circulate oxygen to their muscles so well it raised their ability to work by as much as 45 per cent. Overall, this group improved by 39 per cent, as measured in time trials on a stationary bicycle.
Other men, for unknown reasons, found no benefit at all. Women haven't been tested yet.
And would there be side-effects with Viagra?
"Oh yeah!" affirmed Roger Pierson, a fertility researcher at the University of Saskatchewan.
The drug expands many blood vessels, he said. And if it's helping the lungs, it's creating an erection, too.
"It's also going to leave you with a headache," he said.
The 3,874-metre altitude simulated in the tests is similar to peaks in Afghanistan, or the Swiss Alps.
Viagra only helped four of the 10 men in the study, reports Anne Friedlander, a hormone researcher with Stanford and Veterans' Affairs. (All the men were strong cyclists.) Oddly, the ones it helped most were the ones who had the most trouble with the thin air in the first place, suggesting that the drug could be of great help to people who suffer altitude sickness.
Some of the men took the usual one-pill dose, while others took a double dose. The men weren't told who had the real pills, but it's a safe bet that some figured it out on their own.
Results are now published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
But Dr. Alvaro Morales, a urologist at Queen's University, cautions that the benefits are short-lived, because Viagra doesn't stay long in the body.
The report "doesn't sound out of whack to me," he said. But "for a soldier who has to work not just for an hour or two hours, like having an erection, but maybe has to work for six or eight hours, the effect of the medication may be very short-acting."
DND officials turned down a chance to comment on the study.''
Can't get the full article, but if you can read "medicalese", here's the abstract from the Journal of Applied Physiology:
http://tinyurl.com/mepnt
J Appl Physiol 100: 2031-2040, 2006. First published February 2, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00806.2005
8750-7587/06 $8.00
Sildenafil improves cardiac output and exercise performance during acute hypoxia, but not normoxia
Andrew R. Hsu,1 Kimberly E. Barnholt,1 Nicolas K. Grundmann,1 Joseph H. Lin,2 Stewart W. McCallum,3 and Anne L. Friedlander1,4
1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Clinical Studies Unit, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 2Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Stanford University School of Medicine, 3Department of Urology, Stanford University Medical Center, and 4Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
Submitted 7 July 2005 ; accepted in final form 30 January 2006
Sildenafil causes pulmonary vasodilation, thus potentially reducing impairments of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension on exercise performance at altitude. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of sildenafil during normoxic and hypoxic exercise. We hypothesized that 1) sildenafil would have no significant effects on normoxic exercise, and 2) sildenafil would improve cardiac output, arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), and performance during hypoxic exercise. Ten trained men performed one practice and three experimental trials at sea level (SL) and simulated high altitude (HA) of 3,874 m. Each cycling test consisted of a set-work-rate portion (55% work capacity: 1 h SL, 30 min HA) followed immediately by a time trial (10 km SL, 6 km HA). Double-blinded capsules (placebo, 50, or 100 mg) were taken 1 h before exercise in a randomly counterbalanced order. For HA, subjects also began breathing hypoxic gas (12.8% oxygen) 1 h before exercise. At SL, sildenafil had no effects on any cardiovascular or performance measures. At HA, sildenafil increased stroke volume (measured by impedance cardiography), cardiac output, and SaO2 during set-work-rate exercise. Sildenafil lowered 6-km time-trial time by 15% (P < 0.05). SaO2 was also higher during the time trial (P < 0.05) in response to sildenafil, despite higher work rates. Post hoc analyses revealed two subject groups, sildenafil responders and nonresponders, who improved time-trial performance by 39% (P < 0.05) and 1.0%, respectively. No dose-response effects were observed. During cycling exercise in acute hypoxia, sildenafil can greatly improve cardiovascular function, SaO2, and performance for certain individuals.
