Researchers have found that Viagra may also be used to help prevent heart attacks and strokes by selectively blocking blood clotting.

Led by professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Donald Maurice, a team from Queen’s University in Canada has come up with some exciting new research which shows that the drug Viagra may have yet again another medical use other then for treating erectile dysfunction. The research team at Queen’s University found that the drug regulates a single enzyme which helps platelets in the blood form clots.

“As scientists, we’re excited about this discovery because it’s a fundamentally new approach to regulating what enzymes do in cells,” says Dr. Maurice, a Career Scientist with the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation. “The fact that it also offers a potentially novel use of a drug already widely in use for other applications is an unexpected bonus.”

The enzyme targeted by the Queen’s researchers is known to regulate the activity of platelets: small blood cells needed for normal blood clotting. Problems can arise when people have stents permanently implanted in their arteries to maintain blood flow. Their platelets sometimes bind to the stent and, if enough platelets accumulate to form a blockage, this may cause a sudden, massive heart attack or stroke to occur.

Viagra has been used already to help adults who suffer from pulmonary arterial hypertension and has also been credited with saving very young babies who are born with this condition. Pfizer who make Viagra originally tested the drug to see if it could be used for treatment of angina but the results were unsuccessful. It was only when the side effects of the drug were studied that Pfizer stumbled onto one of the most successful medications ever which some people credit with changing the world as we know it.

[tags]Viagra, platelet, heart attack, stroke, impotence drug[/tags]