According to a new research published in the journal Experimental Eye Research, medicines like Viagra that are used to treat erectile dysfunction can dangerously affect vision of susceptible users.
The study, carried out by researchers at University of New South Wales, revealed that sildenafil, the active ingredient present in erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, inhibits the action of an enzyme that is important for transmitting light signals from the retina to the brain. When used in high doses, the drug can lead to disturbances in the vision in healthy individuals.
According to researcher Lisa Nivison-Smith, side effects of the drug can include sensitivity to bright light, blurred vision and altered colour vision and people who have normal vision but those who carry a single copy of the mutant gene for the blinding disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa, could be more susceptible to these changes.
The study showed that the normal mice had a transient loss of visual function after sildenafil treatment, but this effect was heightened in the mice with the mutation, and the response lasted longer.
The researchers also found early signs of cell death in the eyes of carrier mice, but not in the normal mice, suggesting sildenafil may cause degeneration in carriers of retinal disease.
Nivison-Smith added that a better understanding of the effect of this family of erectile dysfunction drugs could help scientists and clinicians plan more successful strategies to account for factors such as a patient’s medication and genetic makeup in diseases which cause blindness.
Source: ANI
Photo source: Getty images
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- Viagra and Erectile Dysfunction
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