Viagra Enhances Athlete’s Endurance

In 2008, The World Anti-Doping Agency financed an investigation about the ability of Viagra to improve the performance of an athlete during the competition. The Marywood University recruited high school athletes to participate in using Viagra and see if it can create a diluting effect on the blood vessels and increase the capacity to carry more oxygen in the body. If so, the agency will probably ban this diamond shaped blue pill. Viagra or otherwise known as Sildenafil Citrate was first developed in treating pulmonary hypertension by relaxing and widening the blood vessels as it restrains the enzyme regulating the blood flow. This approach is similar in pumping more blood in the penis of the impotent man. When it comes to athletes, this mechanism will increase the cardiac output and the transport of oxygen in the muscles will be more efficient that can improve endurance. Some experts are doubtful about the effect of Viagra to athletes. Director Anthony Butch said that Viagra alone is less likely to have an impact on the athlete’s performance. It is quite difficult to show that Viagra provides an unfair advantage on the athletes since these individuals might combine Viagra with another drug. Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency said that dogs at racetracks used Viagra to lift up their performance several years ago. In 2006, Stanford University conducted a study about the effect of Viagra in improving the performance of almost 40% of the participants in ten kilometer cycling time trials with a height of 12,700 ft. which is far above general in athletic competition. The study did not show that Viagra boosted up their performance at sea level. In 2004, a German study was conducted by climbers when they used Viagra at Mount Everest base camp and revealed that the blue pill relaxes and the blood vessels in the lungs resulting to a better exercise capacity. Mr. Tygart said that there is no concrete evidence of a competitive edge provided by Viagra to athletes. Viagra is used worldwide and it is not prohibited causing it to be more popular day by day. In the University of Miami, researchers were studying the benefits of Viagra to low aerobic capacity at lower altitudes compared in Stanford where height was tested to elite athletes. They were also studying whether Viagra works for both men and women or for men only. Director Kenneth Rundell of Marywood Human Performance Laboratory said that whether this anti-impotence drug is banned or not, it is still illegal to use it without prescription medication given to athletes.