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Sun 23 Nov, 2008 06:21 pm
VIAGARA may be declared a "performance enhancing drug" and may be put on the list of banned drugs for competing athletes .
so what will be banned next - chicken soup ?
hbg
Quote:
Anti-doping agency may ban Viagra
24 Nov 2008, 0041 hrs IST, Jeri Longman, NYT News Service
PENNSYLVANIA: The World Anti-Doping Agency is looking at a new and unlikely suspect in the world of performance-enhancing drugs in sports - Viagra. The blue, diamond-shaped pill, associated with treating sexual dysfunction in men, is suspected of dilating blood vessels in athletes and unduly increasing oxygen-carrying capacity, giving them an unfair competitive advantage.
If the study being conducted at Marywood University proves Viagra's potential in the sporting arena, the anti-doping agency will consider banning the drug.
full text :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Anti-doping_agency_may_ban_Viagra/articleshow/3748880.cms
It may be banned precisely because of its effects that you quote in your excerpt, "[Viagra] is suspected of dilating blood vessels in athletes and unduly increasing oxygen-carrying capacity, giving them an unfair competitive advantage."
It's a vasodilator like many of the other banned substances in international competitive sports. Even caffeine, which also has vasodilator effects, is banned at certain dosages.
Viagra is used in dogs with pulmonary hypertension because it causes vasodilation in the lungs but not in the muscles or other internal organs -- and I believe was originally developed for this purpose, before its lucrative side effects were found out. The dogs show remarkably improved respiratory function -- I'd have to think the same would be true for athletes.
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