Viagra: What else is Sildenafil used for besides ED?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension, another condition treated by sildenafil, is the name for a specific form of high blood pressure — one that occurs in the arteries of your lungs. But there’s a reason why Viagra is also linked with high blood pressure, even though it’s not licensed to treat it.

Inventing a medication takes a lot of trial and error. Sometimes, a pharmaceutical company will develop a treatment and discover that it doesn’t work… on that condition. This is what happened with sildenafil. When it was originally developed by Pfizer, sildenafil was supposed to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) and a type of chest pain called angina. During clinical trials, though, the researchers noticed that a lot of the test subjects were reporting erections as a side effect. The rest, as they say, is history.

There have been some studies done on patients with heart problems, but the results aren’t conclusive enough for another condition to be added to the list of things sildenafil can be prescribed for. With more studies, it’s possible this will change.

The reasoning behind taking Viagra for heart problems is the medication’s ability to dilate blood vessels. And there’s some evidence behind this theory. One study suggested sildenafil might be useful for patients with hypertension or pulmonary stenosis, and another that the use of PDE5 inhibitors (the class of drugs sildenafil and Viagra belong to) by men with coronary artery disease was “intriguing” but “insufficient to support any change in clinical practice.”

Although Viagra isn’t prescribed to treat premature ejaculation, several studies have shown promising results. One reported that sildenafil was “very effective and safe” — in fact, it was more effective than Paxil (paroxetine), an antidepressant occasionally prescribed off-label for PE. Another reported that sildenafil increased confidence and overall sexual satisfaction.

It’s possible that in the future, Viagra will be approved to treat premature ejaculation as well as ED. In the meantime, it can be a useful drug for someone experiencing both conditions.

Interestingly, some studies on hamsters have suggested that sildenafil can be effective at treating the symptoms of displaced sleep patterns (simulated ‘jet lag’). Researchers at Quilmes National University in Argentina created an artificial “time change” using cage lights and observed when their normally nocturnal test subjects used their wheels. The resulting study, published in 2007, found that hamsters dosed with sildenafil recovered from jet lag up to 50% faster than the control group.

Think the only sketchy athletic performance enhancers used by athletes are steroids? Think again. Stories of athletes using the little blue pill to get a boost outside of the bedroom have been going around since at least 2006, when an American Physiological Society study tested Viagra on cyclists and their findings suggested that it “significantly improved the cardiovascular and exercise performance measures of trained cyclists at high altitude.” (It didn’t help at all at sea level.)

In 2008, former Olympic physiologist Kenneth Rundell of Marywood University launched a clinical trial to see if sildenafil could help competitors get the edge while exercising in an area with high air pollution. And in 2012, multiple news outlets reported on NFL players taking Viagra before games.

Because Viagra improves blood flow, it’s possible that it could be helpful for athletes — especially those competing at high altitude. And, of course, it’s a lot harder to police “misuse” of bedroom pills like Viagra compared to steroids or amphetamines. This anecdotal evidence shouldn’t be taken at face value though. Medication — particularly prescription medication — should not be used off-label without the support of your doctor.