Does Viagra Cause Heart Attacks

Viagra is a one of the most potent medicines for erectile dysfunction in men. Clinical trials have been done on the drug and the drug has been approved by the US FDA. This in itself proves that Viagra is relatively safe and can be used for enhancing sexual performance. Unfortunately there have been incidents of heart attack and stroke, some of them fatal in men taking this drug. An estimated 16 million men worldwide have taken Viagra. According to data in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 564 deaths were reported as of July 1999. This has puzzled medical professionals and researchers like. This is because Viagra was developed to improve blood flow in vessels and also stop the blood platelets from clumping.

There have been researches that have been conducted to find out the effect of Viagra in causing heart attacks and the facts revealed are astonishing. Viagra increases levels of a particular compound in cells called cyclic guanosine causing blood platelets to aggregate. Platelets when they clot can help in reducing blood loss during an external injury but they can lead to clotting, that blocks blood vessels in the body causing heart attack and stroke. The research conducted on this suggests that Viagra in itself may not cause a heart attack or a stroke but if you already have a condition in which your heart is affected then Viagra may aggravate that condition.

Initially the researches were conducted on laboratory cells in which the researchers forced standard laboratory cells to manufacture two proteins key to platelet aggregation. When one of the molecules PKG was put into recombinant cells the researches found that the platelets were aggregated which was contrary to accepted theories.  The results surprised the researchers so much that they decided to do the same set of tests on mice and human cells. The earlier results were obtained from standard laboratory cells. The tests on the mice and human beings also yielded the same set of results.

When scientists reconciled their findings with earlier scientific evidence, researchers found that the molecule cGMP initially causes platelets to clump to seal a wound, but later reverses to stop an excessive buildup of cells that might block a blood vessel. In this case if a person was at a risk of thrombosis where a damaged blood vessel is already narrowed even the initial accumulation of platelets could be sufficient to cause a problem. Hence a person who has a history of heart disease should be very cautious if he decides to take Viagra. 

Viagra did not promote platelet aggregation alone, but it did so in the presence of a small amount of other compounds typically present when a blood vessel is damaged. The results proved that Viagra caused the cells to clump at concentrations well below those achieved in patients prescribed the drug for erectile dysfunction.

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