Could Viagra be a cure for DIABETES? Erectile dysfunction pills could be miracle treatment

Viagra may help ward off diabetes, new research has suggested

IT would seem Viagra isn't just a wonder drug for people's sex lives, but it could also help with other health issues.

 

Viagra may help ward off diabetes, new research has suggested. Popping the male fertility pill is also said to lowers heart and kidney disease risk in people with pre-diabetes.

Researchers found the medication sildenafil -  a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension - is sold under Viagra and other trade names. 

 

It's this that's said to improves insulin sensitivity in people with pre-diabetes. 

Insulin resistance precedes the development of Type 2 diabetes, which is characterised by high blood sugar levels and ensues when a person can't produce enough of the hormone insulin or insulin does not work properly to clear sugar from the bloodstream.

 



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Research shows without intervention as many as 30 per cent of people with pre-diabetes are likely to develop Type 2 diabetes within five years.

Doctor Nancy Brown, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the US, said: "We need additional strategies to help slow the progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes.

"Weight loss and exercise regimens can be difficult to maintain, and some current medications have been limited by concerns about adverse effects.

"Sildenafil and related drugs could offer a potential avenue for addressing the rising number of diabetes diagnoses."

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, involved 51 overweight people with pre-diabetes being treated with either Viagra or a matching placebo for three months.

 

Doctor Nancy Brown has looked into the link between Viagra and diabetes

The participants underwent a hyperglycemic clamp prior to and at the end of treatment to assess glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and estimate insulin sensitivity.

Urine samples were also collected for measurement of albumin and creatinine - indicators of heart and renal health.

Among the 42 participants who completed the study, researchers found those who were treated with Viagra were more sensitive to the effects of insulin.

Participants who took Viagra also had lower levels of albumin in the urine than those who took placebo. Elevated levels of albumin in the urine are a marker of risk for kidney and heart disease.

Dr Brown added: "Because existing drug therapies to prevent Type 2 diabetes can have negative effects on the heart or be of limited use in patients with kidney disease, strategies to prevent diabetes without adversely affecting the risk of kidney and heart disease could have a large impact on public health.

"Further studies will be needed to determine whether long-term treatment with drugs like sildenafil can prevent the onset of diabetes in high-risk patients."