Post date: Sep 02, 2012 2:32:48 PM
QUILMES AND BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (REUTERS) - Flying across time zones could get easier on the body thanks to Viagra says a team of researchers at the National University of Quilmes in Argentina.
Their study found evidence that a low dosage of sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra could help travelers eliminate - or at least reduce - the effects of jet lag.
Other erectile dysfunction drugs such as Cialis and Levitra had same or similar effects.
In lab tests, the team found that mice exposed to the drug adjusted twice as fast to the shock of time change as mice who were given nothing under the same test conditions..
While the study was limited to mice and other rodents, lead researcher Dr. Diego Golombeck says there is anecdotal evidence that it works on humans too.
UNIVERSITY OF QUILMES MEDICAL RESEARCHER, DOCTOR DIEGO GOLOMBEK, SAYING:
"People who take Viagra for different reasons told us after the publication that it effectively modified, beneficially, the sleep cycle, the alterations of biological rhythms if they fly."
The drug slows the break-down of cyclic guanosine monophosphate or cGMP in the bloodstream, which is responsible for advancing phases in the internal clock.
So the chemical reset button will only work when travelling east and, according to Doctor Patricia Agostino…not only in males.
DOCTOR PATRICIA AGOSTINO OF THE UNIVERSITY OF QUILMES RESEARCH TEAM, SAYING:
"In fact, in our work we have tried in females at the level of resynchronizing the biological clock and it works the same in females as it does in males. Therefore, from this point of view, to accelerate the biological clock it would work the same in men and women."
Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs are not being recommended by their manufacturers as a treatment for jet lag, but Golombek and his team say the drug has great potential - for shift workers as well.
UNIVERSITY OF QUILMES MEDICAL RESEARCHER, DOCTOR DIEGO GOLOMBEK, SAYING:
"A short time ago the World Health Organization put rotating shifts at a high risk factor for nothing less than cancer. So if we find a way for the biological clock to adopt quicker and better it would benefit a large part of the labor force in addition to the people that suffer from jet lag."
The Argentine team have more studies to conduct before the treatment can be tested on humans.
But the promising results could lead to happier travelers and shift-workers popping a version of Pfizer's little blue pill before every flight or work schedule change.
Researchers in Argentina say Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs could be used to help travellers overcome the effects of jet lag. The scientists found that mice given
small doses of Viagra were able to readjust their internal clocks after exposure to conditons mimicking long-distance travel, much faster than mice who were given nothing. Elly Park reports.