Cheap generic viagra

14-May-2008 : It seems there's just no stopping the little diamond-shaped blue pill. Viagra can help treat erectile dysfunction, reduce pulmonary hypertension, prevent flowers from wilting -- and according to a Montreal study -- the anti-impotence pill is also good for ailing hearts.

In a study led by Christine Des Rosiers at the Montreal Heart Institute, Viagra's active ingredient -- sildenafil citrate -- seems to prevent heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The drug improved the heart performance of mice that were engineered to develop this common form of muscular dystrophy. The mice were given a dose roughly equivalent to what men with erectile dysfunction take.

The findings reveal a potential new treatment to ward off cardiac complications in patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that affects roughly one in 3,600 males.

The first signs of the illness usually appear around age five.

The muscle-wasting illness leads to muscle weakness, scoliosis, heart problems and obesity. Few patients survive beyond age 25.

Heart failure is usually the cause of death.

Viagra is already prescribed to treat such problems as erectile dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension and altitude sickness.

The drug is shown to be safe, but it's too premature to give it to people to help treat muscular dystrophy, Des Rosiers cautioned.

"There is no cure around the corner. We need formal clinical trials to go from what we saw to prescribing Viagra to children to prevent damage," she said.

The study was published Tuesday in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.