Viagra: A Treatment For Jet Lag?

If you’ve gone on a long flight, Viagra could help you stick it out — by combating jet lag and helping you get through the day, that is.

Viagra, the blue pill of happiness made so popular via commercials showing former GOP Presidential candidate Bob Dole may now have an unexpected benefit besides the hours of pleasure it gives so many in their bedrooms: it may combat jet lag. ABC News:

The little blue pill known for making time in the bed more enjoyable may also help weary jet travelers roll out of it in the morning.

New research shows Viagra may be the solution for travelers who suddenly find themselves needing to rise hours earlier as they cross time zones, at least if those travelers are hamsters.

A study at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires showed that male hamsters who received an injection of sildenafil along with a 15-minute stimulation of light were able to adjust their internal clocks by six hours in roughly half the time that hamsters who did not receive the treatment took.

The big question: will it now be advertised with the old gum slogan “Double your pleasure”?

Healthcare Republic adds this:

Scientists have performed a study which shows that Viagra (sildenafil) could be used to help people recovering from jetlag.

However, taking the drug only appears to have a benefit when flying eastwards.

You’d think the drug would only appear to have a benefit when flying southwards.

Bloomberg offers a host of other details:

Hamsters given Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra adapted more quickly to changes in their internal clocks, scientists said.

Hamsters given sildenafil, the chemical name of the drug sold as Viagra, adapted more easily to altered patterns of light exposure to simulate changes caused by air travel across time zones. Long-haul travel desynchronizes the body’s alignment to the day-night cycle, leading to the disorientation of jet lag.

A person traveling east experiences difficulty falling asleep and awakening; a person traveling west falls asleep and awakes earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Bethesda, Md. Viagra helped the hamsters with eastward travel, said head researcher Diego A. Golombek, a scientist with the Laboratorio de Cronobiologica in Buenos Aires.

Hamsters are the species of choice for studies of circadian rhythms, Golombek said. That’s because they have precise patterns, which are easily measured by watching when they run on their exercise wheels.

“As anyone who has a hamster as a pet will attest, they go to the wheel at the same time every night,” Golombek said.