Cialis May Also Help High-Altitude Climbers
March 16, 2007
Columbia -- Erectile dysfunction
drugs, the recommendation invention that helps
millions of men preserve erections and keeps
their bedfellows cheerful may also help high-altitude
climbers’ lungs soak up more oxygen, according
to a well-known physician and climber.
“There’s some connection between
the penis and the lung, evolutionarily speaking,”
said Dr. Peter Hackett, who runs the medical
clinic at Colorado’s Telluride Ski area
and who has hiked Mt. Everest.
At high altitude, the dearth of oxygen in the
air and enormous pressure from the environment
expansively raise a hiker’s blood pressure.
The damage on blood vessel walls is “kind
of like a sausage under too much pressure,”
Hackett said.
The technological name for the stipulation is
high-altitude pulmonary edema, which can cripple
the most experienced of hikers. A 2001 University
of Colorado study took a look at a skier whose
retinas burst at 14,000 feet because there was
too much pressure on and not enough oxygen in
his blood vessels.
For Kelly Hice, a tennis tutor from Detroit,
a 12,000-foot mountain proved to be too much.
The 44-year-old succumbed to oxygen deprivation
while climbing at Colorado’s Telluride
Mountain resort last Christmas.
His companions rushed him to the hospital, where
Hackett prescribed oxygen and Cialis, an erectile
inducer similar to Viagra.
“I can’t say I didn’t think,
‘Well, am I going to get an erection?’”
Hice said. Instead, the Cialis helped increase
the blood flow to more vital organs. Hice credits
the drug with saving his life.
Most hikers who have used erection drugs get
the pills from their medical providers. Viagra
and Cialis
are the most popular, but several less well-known
brands provide the same effects.
“Viagra is not approved for the behavior
of high-altitude illness,” said Shreya
Prudlo, a Pfizer spokeswoman. “We do not
propose or recommend the use of Viagra for this
condition.” The drug, Prudlo said, is
approved only for erectile dysfunction.
But they can also include some cruel side
effects, warns the Food and Drug Administration.
When taken with a nicotine patch or gum, erectile
dysfunction drugs can dangerously lower
blood pressure. The pills can also cause headaches
and stomach pain, not something a hiker wants
to experience at 10,000 feet. The FDA additional
warns that enzyme inhibitors in erection drugs
can cause cardiac arrhythmia or congestive heart
failure. So it’s better to avoid erectile
dysfunction drugs with nicotine patch or gum.
Source:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news
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