A team of scientists from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy may well have discovered a new way of helping men afflicted with erectile dysfunction or male impotence.
According to their research, hydrogen sulphide, the pungent gas that resembles the foul smell of rotten eggs, can actually help to stimulate increased blood flow in the body. The release of this gas in the penis helps in creating an erection.
Hydrogen sulphide is present in raw, natural gas and in the odor emitted by rotting eggs. Interestingly enough, our bodies also produce small amounts of this gas although medical science has always thought that this gas in the body was merely the toxic by-product of of metabolism.
Research conducted earlier in the decade indicated that many animals actually did use the chemical for expanding their blood vessels. Experiments were done on animals, mostly monkeys and mice, by injecting hydrogen sulphide in their blood vessels. It was found that the blood vessels expanded, leading to increased blood flow, that in turn led to stronger erections.
However, the same chemical pathways were not proven yet to work in men.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Journal reported that researchers are hopeful that this discovery may well lead to an alternative to Viagra.
Statistics reveal that half of all men above 40 years of age suffer from some degree of erectile dysfunction / male impotence at some point during their lives. Erectile problems afflict one man in 10.
The research suggests that hydrogen sulphide helps to relax nerve cells in the penis, which action helps to stimulate blood flow. Increased blood flow means that more oxygen is carried in the blood. Sufficient oxygen in the penis is what produces penile erection in a man when sexual stimulation is present.
This process of increased blood flow is similar to that of the earlier discovery of the role that nitric oxide plays on different areas of the penis. This earlier discovery led to the birth of Viagra.
“This may help to unravel the complex mechanisms underlying the physiology of human penile erection, and may lead to the development of therapeutic approaches in the treatment of erectile dysfunction and sexual arousal disorders.”
Professor Giuseppe Cirino, is the lead researcher, partly responsible for the erection process.
There is much optimistic hope that this development could lead to a new drug.
The researchers experimented with this theory by injected the gas into the intact erectile tissue of eight men who had previously had surgery for sex changes.
They found the same enzymes that produce hydrogen sulphide in animals were also present and functional in the human tissue. The chemical reactions that produce hydrogen sulphide were generally the same, too.
In conclusion, the scientists, therefore, proposed that hydrogen sulphide most likely does contribute to erections in men, just as in animal studies.
Chairman of The Sexual Dysfunction Association, Dr. Graham Jackson, welcomed the development of a new male impotence drug.
“There is certainly a need for an alternative to Viagra. It is only about 60{7b225fbeff640dd30b4b8b66650188099c7e8b184e2fb5b5b9f806a74d59162d} effective in people with diabetes, and 80{7b225fbeff640dd30b4b8b66650188099c7e8b184e2fb5b5b9f806a74d59162d} to 85{7b225fbeff640dd30b4b8b66650188099c7e8b184e2fb5b5b9f806a74d59162d} effective for the general population.”
Viagra is that little blue prescription pill that helps give men who take it a penile erection. Viagra plus other drugs used for erectile dysfunction work by increasing the effects of nitric oxide, a vasodilator. Viagra slows down a specific enzyme, prolonging nitric oxide’s actions. Blood vessels in the penis expand, and erections result from the increased blood flow.
Statistics reveal that half of all men above 40 years of age suffer from some degree of erectile dysfunction / impotence at some point during their lives.
