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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.
@hamburger,
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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