Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
12/03/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Survey of 216 patients showed inefficiency in use of the drug.
Viagra caused adverse reactions in some subjects, such as suffocation.
Viagra, a remedy used to treat impotence in men, is ineffective against heart failure, according to a survey conducted by American scientists and published on Monday (11).
The results contradict previous studies, which have suggested that the drug could be beneficial for people with diastolic heart failure, as it can raise blood flow to other parts of the body, informed the news agency AFP.
The diastolic heart failure causes the lower chambers of the heart harden, impairing the function of pumping blood from the body and causing weakness and despondency.
The research was reported at the annual congress of the American Society of Cardiology (ACC, its acronym in English), in San Francisco. She has also been published in the journal "Journal of the American Medical Association" (JAMA).
Made with 216 patients at 26 locations in the United States, the analysis showed that the drug, whose active ingredient is sildenafil, is as effective as a placebo at improving symptoms of heart failure.
Furthermore, many patients who took Viagra had adverse reactions, compared to those who ate only placebo. This led researchers to recommend that doctors stop prescribing the drug to people with heart disease.
Disappointing results
"The results of our study were surprising and disappointing," said Margaret Redfield, lead author and professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, USA, according to AFP.
"There was much anticipation surrounding this study, based on other research, and we hope to find something that would help patients," said Redfield. There are currently few treatment options for diastolic heart failure, said the researcher.
The patients studied had a mean age of 69 years. Almost half (48%) were women. After 24 weeks, there was no proven cardiovascular improvement in volunteers. During the study period, adverse effects such as low blood pressure and suffocation, were more frequent in patients taking Viagra than those taking placebo.
In addition, six people who took sildenafil group died before the end of the study, while there were no deaths among those who ingested placebo, according to AFP.
"There were more (but not many more) patients who withdrew consent, died or were too sick to make the cardiopulmonary stress test in the group treated with sildenafil, which could accentuate the lack of observed benefits," said the article.
Viagra and other similar drugs - known as phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5) - are used to treat erection problems and pulmonary hypertension. Some physicians, however, the prescribing to patients with heart failure because some studies in animals and humans, mostly preliminary, have suggested benefit from this treatment, according to AFP.
The latest results released "should discourage this practice, especially considering the high cost of the drug," Redfield said in a statement.
Source: G1
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.