Dr. Mercola January 18 2003 1,588 views
Impotence brought on by antidepressant drugs may be alleviated by Viagra, according to a new study.
The drugs, selective and nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) such as Prozac, are associated with a variety of side effects. Such effects such as weight gain, sleep disturbances and sexual dysfunction cause as many as 70 percent of people on the drugs to stop their use or not use them regularly.
The six-week study followed 90 men with depression in remission and SRI-related sexual dysfunction. Half of the men took Viagra before sexual activity and the other half took a placebo before having sex.
Over half the men in the Viagra group, about 55 percent, reported that their symptoms were improved compared to about four percent of men in the placebo group.
Researchers concluded that Viagra improved sexual function in men who were taking SRIs and may be useful in helping patients to stick with their antidepressant treatment.
Drug company Pfizer Inc., which makes Viagra, funded the study.
JAMA January 1, 2003:289:56-64
It doesn’t get much more senseless than this. Throwing in another drug to treat side effects from the initial drug (that was only a Band-Aid to begin with) is beyond ridiculous.
Unfortunately, using drugs to treat depression is becoming quite common. The number of people treated over the last 10 years has increased by over 300 percent, and there are now close to 10 million people on antidepressants.
If metabolic biochemistry and optimized energetic balancing of previous emotional traumas were understood and applied, it would be very rare for antidepressants to be needed in the first place.
In the past, I have prescribed antidepressants to well over 2,000 patients. During the 80s, close to every other patient in my practice was on them. However, today, as I have learned how to treat the causes of disease, there are less than 10 patients in my practice on them.
There are three basic strategies to consider for the treatment of depression:
But let’s say that for whatever reason you are on an antidepressant and you are impotent. Does this mean Viagra is your only choice?
Of course not.
In November 1998 I posted the following information that includes background information about impotence and Viagra as well as natural alternatives to the drug:
On March 27, 1998 the FDA approved Viagra. I have warned readers of this newsletter on three previous occasions of the dangers of this drug, and I would like to offer some practical alternatives.
Viagra was initially investigated as a potential anti-angina medication based on its ability to release nitric oxide and increase blood flow to the heart. Viagra failed as a heart medication, but London researchers became excited when many of the men in their clinical trials reported the frequent occurrence of unaccustomed erections and improved sexual performance.
Five years after this serendipitous finding, Viagra was granted approval as a treatment for men suffering from difficulty in achieving erection. In the two months following its release, over 1 million prescriptions were issued, making it one of the most successful drugs ever introduced. Viagra may even provide similar benefits, enhancing sexual sensation and orgasmic enjoyment, for women and the drug is now in clinical trials for that purpose.
Vascular smooth muscle cells surround arteries and arterioles, contracting and relaxing the arteries to regulate blood pressure. The given state of smooth muscle cells and their effect on blood pressure understandably have a profound effect on the male sexual organ.
Normally, in the presence of sexual stimulation, blood flow is directed into pockets known as the corpus cavernosum, contained within the shaft of the penis. The resulting inflow of blood leads to the enlargement and stiffening of the penis. This engorgement is triggered by a short-lived neurotransmitter. Nitric oxide, synthesized from the oxidation of the amino acid arginine, activates an enzyme that manufactures cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which is a biochemical signaling enzyme. Under normal circumstances, cGMP directs the smooth muscle cells to relax, leading to the dilation of the penile arteries.
However, immediately following release of nitric oxide and production of cGMP another enzyme, cGMP phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5), is activated. PDE-5's main activity is to destroy cGMP almost as fast as it is formed. The result of this breakdown of cGMP by PDE-5 is a rapid decrease in smooth muscle relaxation and a loss of blood flow to the penis. Subsequently, the penis returns to a flaccid state.
Unfortunately as we age cellular concentrations of cGMP decrease. Viagra works to achieve and maintain erections by enhancing the effect of nitric oxide and maintaining higher levels of cGMP.
The way Viagra does this is to selectively inhibit the cGMP destroying actions of PDE-5. By blocking the actions of this enzyme system, cGMP is no longer broken down. This leads to elevated cGMP levels in the corpus cavernosum. This, in turn, prevents relaxation of the smooth muscle in the corpus cavernosum, increases blood flow to the genitals, and leads to stronger erections and intensified sensations.
Natural Alternatives to Viagra
Aside from the risk of dying and increasing the risk of retinal dysfunction, the biggest drawback to Viagra is the high cost, which can range upwards of $10 per pill. Fortunately, there is a safer, less expensive and more natural way to achieve many of the actions to Viagra. The key is L-arginine, the direct precursor to nitric oxide.
In the 1990s, scientists discovered that L-arginine, a non-essential amino acid commonly found in the diet, is an oxidative precursor of nitric oxide. Under conditions in which nitric oxide is produced for a specified physiologic purpose, the concentration of L-arginine from which nitric oxide is formed can be a limiting factor.
Researchers at New York University School of Medicine gave L-arginine to a group of 15 men and found that six received benefit. Doses were around 1,000 to 3,000 mg per day.
Sexual arousal occurs not just in the genitals, but in the whole body and especially in the brain. For men, it actually begins when the brain sends impulses down the spinal cord and out to the nerves that serve the penis. These impulses trigger the production of nitric oxide.
The neurotransmitter that causes the sexual message is acetlycholine (ACH). ACH also seems to control sexual behavior through its activity in the brain. For women, ACH is also a very important part of sexual function. With too little ACH, sexual activity goes down. ACH is involved in the buildup toward orgasm and the urethral and vaginal contractions that occur during orgasm.
One way to safely and effectively enhance ACH levels in the body is to take supplements of choline (1,000 to 3,000 mg) and vitamin B5 (500 to 1,500 mg) so that the body will produce more ACH.
Vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid, actually seems to enhance endurance by two routes. The first is by increasing ACH and the second is its role in the energy producing Krebs cycle. The choline and vitamin B5 are ideally taken about 20 to 30 minutes before sex in order to get the full effect.
Yohimbine is from a native tree in West Africa. For centuries a tea distilled from the inner bark of this tree has been used to amplify male virility and sexual prowess.
Yohimbine’s primary path of action duplicates a key biochemical role in male erection. It acts upon a specific network of nerve cells called the alpha-2-adrengeric system and shuts down this system, which increases the flow of blood through arteries into the penis while at the same time decreasing the blood flow from the penis through veins. It also results in higher levels of ACH. Several controlled trials have been done with yohimbine, and the response rate is about 40 percent.
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