The story? Move over steroids: Viagra is the new performance superdrug. The NY Daily News alleges that Viagra improves nutrient delivery (when taken alongside other performance enhancers) and improves endurance.
The science: Sildenafil (the scientific name for Viagra), has been shown to be a performance enhancer at high altitudes. Pubmed lists 3 studies that show sildenafil’s endurance-enhancing effects. As to the claims that it improves nutrient delivery?
Nitric Oxide (NO2) plays a major role in vasodilation (relaxation and widening of blood vessels) and is believed be a primary factor in arteriosclerosis and heart disease. Sildenafil works as an NO2 enhancer, relaxing blood vessels in the penis and allowing for increased bloodflow.
So the logic goes, increasing bloodflow into muscle tissue should translate into increased nutrient transport into muscle, although I’m not aware of any science showing this to be the case.
It’s worth noting that the hottest (legal) supplements for bodybuilding are NO2 formulations – which provide the user with a greater sensation of muscle pump when consumed before the workout.
The Daily News article quotes Dr. Michael Dusa:
“That may be why these guys started using it in the first place…I suspect they started taking it for impotence and found that it had other benefits, too, but bodybuilders are not the kind of guys who will admit impotence.”
Bingo. An athlete who’s overreaching/overtraining or a bodybuilder on a severely calorie restricted diet will have markedly blunted testosterone levels, and may need a little “pharmacological boost.”
Sorry; without the hard evidence (no pun intended) to back up the claims, I’m not convinced that the IOC should add Viagra to its banned substance list for Beijing. Now, if the Olympics were being held in the Andes…
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