WORLD / Health
Viagra shown to aid jet-lagged travelers
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-22 14:03
WASHINGTON - The male impotence drug Viagra may be useful for treating
jet lag as well, according to Argentine researchers who gave it to
hamsters made to feel like rodent globe-trotters.
Viagra pills in an undated file photo. The male impotence drug Viagra may
be useful for treating jet lag as well, according to Argentine
researchers who gave it to hamsters made to feel like rodent
globe-trotters. [Reuters]
The researchers manipulated the schedule of turning lights on and off to
induce jet lag in the laboratory animals, they reported on Monday in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Adult male hamsters given Viagra, also called sildenafil, recovered from
jet lag up to 50 percent faster than hamsters that were not given it, the
researchers said.
The scientists stopped giving the hamsters the highest dose they had been
using in the experiment due to a certain side effect.
"However, we used the intermediate dose for the rest of the experiments
because at that dose animals did not manifest the effects of
sildenafil-induced penile erections," they wrote.
Flying across multiple time zones can confuse one's sleep-wake cycle,
resulting in the condition called jet lag, marked by insomnia, sleepiness
and difficulty concentrating.
Researchers Patricia Agostino, Santiago Plano and Diego Golombek of the
Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires gave doses of Viagra to
the hamsters at night, then switched on bright lights six hours early to
simulate eastbound flight.
They judged how well the hamsters adjusted to the changes by observing
when they began running on exercise wheels.
The drug helped the rodents cope with jet lag only when given before the
equivalent of an eastbound flight, not the reverse when they delayed
turning on lights to simulate westbound travel, the study found.
The researchers said the findings suggested that Viagra could be useful
to help people cope with jet lag or shift work. They said the dose needed
for such uses could be lower than the one used for treatment of erectile
dysfunction.
Viagra interferes with an enzyme that lowers levels of a naturally
occurring compound that plays a role in the regulation of the circadian
cycle, the body's internal clock, the researchers said.
Viagra is marketed by Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker. The US Food
and Drug Administration approved it to treat erectile dysfunction in 1998.
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