Researchers investigating whether Viagra may give athletes an unfair advantage.
In a front-page story, the New York Times (11/23, A1, Longman) reported that a study being conducted at Marywood University and financed by the World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating whether Viagra (sildenafil citrate) creates "an unfair competitive advantage in dilating an athlete's blood vessels and unduly increasing oxygen-carrying capacity." Earlier studies have found that the drug may enhance physical performance. A study "published in 2006 in The Journal of Applied Physiology" found "that some participants taking Viagra improved their performances by nearly 40 percent in 10-kilometer cycling time trials conducted at a simulated altitude of 12,700 feet -- a height far above general elite athletic competition." In addition, "a 2004 German study of climbers at 17,200 feet at a Mount Everest base camp, published in The Annals of Internal Medicine, found that Viagra relieved constriction of blood vessels in the lungs and increased maximum exercise capacity." from DIA
Brad Evans
