"비아그라 복용하면 심장 기능 좋아져" Viagra could be key to treating heart disease, study says VIDEO
이탈리아 연구진, 비아그라 효능 다룬 11년치 논문 조사
"심장병 환자, 오랫동안 비아그라 복용하면 심장 기능 좋아져"
WIKI
[VIDEO]
Viagra could be key to treating heart disease, study says
발기부전 치료제 ‘비아그라’가 심장병 치료제로 사용될 수 있을까. 이탈리아 로마산피엔자대 연구팀은 심장병을 앓는 환자가 오랫동안 매일 비아그라를 복용하면 심장 기능이 좋아진다는 연구 결과를 온라인 의학학술지 ‘BMC 의학’ 19일자에 발표했다. 연구팀은 메드라인(MEDLINE), 스코푸스(SCOPUS) 등 세계적인 논문 데이터베이스(DB)에서 2004년 1월부터 올해 5월까지 등록된 학술지를 무작위로 뽑아 여기에 실린 비아그라의 효능을 조사했다. 이들 학술지에 관련된 실험대상자는 총 1622명에 이른다. 연구진의 분석 결과 비아그라를 꾸준히 복용하면 심비대증을 막을 수 있는 것으로 나타났다. 심비대증은 심혈관 내벽이 두꺼워져 심장의 크기가 커지고 구조가 변하는 질환이다. 또 비아그라를 복용한 환자는 심장 기능이 향상됐으며, 혈압도 악화되지 않았다. 비아그라의 주 성분인 포스포다이에스터레이즈5 저해제(PDE5i)는 사실 심장혈관의 지름을 넓혀 심장병을 치료하기 위한 목적으로 개발됐다. 하지만 동물실험 결과 심장병 증상을 완화시키는 기능이 있는지 확실히 밝혀지지 않았고, 오히려 PDE5i가 일부 근육 조직의 완화를 막는 데 탁월한 효과가 있어 발기부전 치료제로 사용돼 왔다. 안드레아 이시도리 박사는 “이번 분석을 통해 PDE5i 성분이 심장병에 효과가 있다고 판단했다”며 “이 성분과 관련해 투약 대상과 기간 등을 더 자세히 알아볼 수 있는 연구가 진행돼야 한다”고 말했다.
동아사이언스 신선미 기자 vamie@donga.com
Viagra could be key to treating heart
disease, study says
|
Erectile dysfunction drug encourages blood flow and improves heart performance. The next phase of the study will involve female patients.
By: Tara Deschamps Staff Reporter, Published on Mon Oct 20 2014 The erectile dysfunction drug could be a key treatment for heart disease because it improves blood flow and prevents the heart from enlarging or changing shape, reveals the study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Medicine.
It is the first time the effects of Viagra in relation to the human heart’s size, shape and performance have been looked at.
“We found that the main ingredient in Viagra can be used as an effective, safe treatment for several patients with heart disease,” said the study’s lead author, Andrea Isidori. “Some people think these drugs can harm the cardiac function, but they can benefit our cardiovascular health so patients can be relieved in taking these drugs.”
The study showed those who benefited most from Viagra usage suffered from heart failure or left ventricular hypertrophy, a condition involving the enlargement of tissue near the walls of the heart muscles that pump blood.
Isidori and fellow scientists at Sapienza University in Rome discovered the little blue pill’s effects on the heart by testing the effectiveness of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i), an ingredient in Viagra that prevents muscle tissue from relaxing.
 AFP/GETTY IMAGES "The main ingredient in Viagra can be used as an effective, safe treatment for several patients with heart disease,” said Andrea Isidori, lead author of a new study.
Their research, based on previous studies conducted on animals, involved 1,622 male patients taking Viagra or a placebo.
Most of those analyzed experienced improved heart performance with no negative effects on their blood pressure levels.
Isidori says those results weren’t a shocker to the research team.
“We were not surprised because we have seen these positive effects without major effects on blood pressure in the animal studies,” he told the Star.
Though the study found the drug’s effects on the heart to be promising, it noted that long-term, daily use of PDE5i can cause headaches, flushing, nosebleeds and other gastric symptoms. Despite those effects, researchers say Viagra is already a safe drug for men coping with heart muscle thickening and early-stage heart failure because Viagra is widely prescribed in Canada. Over the next year, Isidori says he will continue to study the area through broad clinical trials focusing on sex-specific responses to cardiovascular disorders.
Because the current study proved the drug’s safety, Isidori says, the next round of research will involve female patients for the first time. Within a year, he expects to release the results, which he hopes will continue to show Viagra’s positive effects on cardiovascular health. thestar |
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