GOOD NEWS FOR GEEZERS
A well-performed study of 2000 men with coronary artery disease who had erectile dysfunction and used viagra was carried out to measure changes in heart function. The study found no changes in overall heart function.
The study gives viagra(sildenafil citrate) a better reputation than early reports of deaths and congestive failure following viagra use. However this study is only as good as its design. All tests were done during and after graded exercise testing, were run one hour after a dose of viagra and were repeated once at intervals of one to three days. The effects of repeated doses and the effects of having sex immediately after viagra use were not tested. Sex is hardly a graded exercise test and, unless you are some kind of nut you aren't hooked up to a lot of medical equipment that monitors your heart and tells you when to quit. Nor is a male on viagra likely to quit with the first signs of shortness of breath or even a little chest pain especially if he is about to climax.
So how does one explain the fact that there have been reports of 130 deaths from various cardiac events after viagra use? Folks, sex, if done with enthusiasm, may be quite a stress to the heart. As with carrying luggage or shoveling snow, sudden stress to a deconditioned heart can kill. There have always been deaths in older males during and immediately after engaging in sexual activity. Viagra probably brought on a spate of activity in males who hadn't engaged in sex (or any other strenuous exercise) for months or years. Some of them got weeded out!
Lesson-Sex is exercise and if you don't have much exercise tolerance, get some gradually before trying viagra and jumping into a situation that your heart can't stand. Same advice goes for those with sedentary lifestyles who wish to start doing anything involving vigorous exercise. Get in some semblance of shape if you intend to shovel snow, deer hunt, ski, dive, etc. Without turning smutty, Viagra can obviously raise the level of enthusiasm for sex beyond one's capabilities to survive it.
Cardiovascular Effects of Sildenafil During Exercise in Men with Known or Probably Coronary Artery Disease; American Journal of Medicine, February 13, 2002-vol 287, No.6. Study performed at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Mn.
P.S. the author of this report considers himself a geezer for any who are offended by the characterization.
