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Study: Erectile dysfunction drug relieves symptoms of Raynaud’s

MEDPAGE TODAY

Little Blue Pill May Put Brakes on Some Heart Disease

Many men use Viagra (sildenafil) to speed up their sex lives. Now it seems that if some research pans out the little blue pill may also wind up slowing down some forms of heart disease.

NEW YORK - Viagra (sildenafil) relieves the symptoms and improves the circulation of patients with Raynaud’s phenomenon that does no response to conventional therapy, German investigators report. In patients with ulcers on their fingers or toes, the treatment leads to healing.

Viagra, developed to treat of male erectile dysfunction, is a phosphodiesterase (PDE)-5 inhibitor that affects very small blood vessels. Studies have shown it improves circulation in other conditions, such as coronary artery disease.

Imagine a new drug that could restore some lost physical ability, at least for a few hours. Then imagine that this new drug costs $10 a dose, and could be used by millions of people. Viagra fits this description, of course, and its magic is to restore virility to impotent men-albeit for a few hours at a time. Viagra is predicted to be a billion-dollar seller for Pfizer in its first year of sales, and that means someone is paying for all those $10 pills.