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12-03-01, 10:40 AM
I found this article on FoxNews.com and thought you would all get a kick out of it. At least cycling is getting some publicity. Wonder if bike sales will go up now?
;)
WASHINGTON — Forget Viagra. Bike-riding might be just as good a way for men to have better sex, according to a new study.
Participating in a supervised exercise regimen, men with weak heart muscles reported improvements in their sex lives after bicycling three times a week for eight weeks.
"It's a simple exercise you can use to improve your sexual function,'' said Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli, director of the Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy.
Belardinelli reported his findings Nov. 12 at an American Heart Association conference in Anaheim, Calif.
Aerobic exercise can be particularly beneficial for men taking certain heart medications, since they can't take the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra because mixing the two can be fatal, Belardinelli said.
He studied patients with chronic heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle is so weak that it cannot pump blood well enough to keep the body properly supplied with oxygen and nutrients.
To help blood move more easily, doctors try to reduce blood pressure by prescribing medications called nitrates. These drugs release nitric oxide. The chemical, also produced by smooth muscle cells in the blood vessels, makes blood vessels widen.
Viagra does not directly release nitric oxide, but has a similar effect, encouraging the buildup of naturally occurring nitric oxide in blood vessels of the penis. The increased blood flow helps to bring on an erection.
However, doctors say the combination of Viagra and nitrates can result in dangerous drops in blood pressure, so the erectile dysfunction drug is generally not an option for heart failure patients -- even though reduced sexual ability can be a side effect of their condition.
Belardinelli wanted to see how aerobic exercise, which is often prescribed to strengthen the cardiovascular system in heart failure patients, could improve sexual performance. He and his colleagues had 30 men exercise under careful monitoring at a moderate intensity. Another 29 men did not exercise and served as a comparison group.
The researchers watched patients' ability to use oxygen rise as a result of the exercise. They also saw blood flow improve in the brachial artery, which runs from the shoulder to the elbow. There were no such changes in the control group.
To assess sexual ability, the researchers had the men respond to questionnaires. Similar questionnaires were given to the men's sex partners, and the results from the men and the women were compared, to make sure the men were telling the truth.
"I don't know in Americans, but you know Italians are famous to be great lovers, so they can lie and say, 'I am great and no problems,'" Belardinelli said. "But in reality they have a big problem and don't admit it."
In this case, the results proved reliable, and showed the men who exercised had better erections as well as improved quality time with their sex partners.
The level of blood flow through the brachial artery was a better predictor of who did better sexually than aerobic improvement was, the study found. Other studies have found that exercise triggers increased production of nitric oxide. So Belardinelli felt that aerobic exercise was getting results similar to Viagra, making its big benefit by widening blood vessels.
Other experts questioned whether exercise's effect of widening the blood vessels was the most important reason behind the improvement in sexual function.
"Exercise is associated with decreases in depression and a whole lot of other things that may affect sexual function,'' said Dr. Nanette Wenger of Emory University School of Medicine.
Some doubted whether the study was definitive.
"This is one of the first studies on this, in a small number of patients, and I don't think we can draw definite conclusions,'' said Dr. Gerald F. Fletcher of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sex improvements as a result of exercise wouldn't be limited to those people who can't take Viagra, said Dr. Mike Sweeney, urology group leader at Pfizer Inc., which makes the drug. Exercising, quitting smoking and losing weight can work for them as well, he said.
;)
WASHINGTON — Forget Viagra. Bike-riding might be just as good a way for men to have better sex, according to a new study.
Participating in a supervised exercise regimen, men with weak heart muscles reported improvements in their sex lives after bicycling three times a week for eight weeks.
"It's a simple exercise you can use to improve your sexual function,'' said Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli, director of the Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy.
Belardinelli reported his findings Nov. 12 at an American Heart Association conference in Anaheim, Calif.
Aerobic exercise can be particularly beneficial for men taking certain heart medications, since they can't take the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra because mixing the two can be fatal, Belardinelli said.
He studied patients with chronic heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle is so weak that it cannot pump blood well enough to keep the body properly supplied with oxygen and nutrients.
To help blood move more easily, doctors try to reduce blood pressure by prescribing medications called nitrates. These drugs release nitric oxide. The chemical, also produced by smooth muscle cells in the blood vessels, makes blood vessels widen.
Viagra does not directly release nitric oxide, but has a similar effect, encouraging the buildup of naturally occurring nitric oxide in blood vessels of the penis. The increased blood flow helps to bring on an erection.
However, doctors say the combination of Viagra and nitrates can result in dangerous drops in blood pressure, so the erectile dysfunction drug is generally not an option for heart failure patients -- even though reduced sexual ability can be a side effect of their condition.
Belardinelli wanted to see how aerobic exercise, which is often prescribed to strengthen the cardiovascular system in heart failure patients, could improve sexual performance. He and his colleagues had 30 men exercise under careful monitoring at a moderate intensity. Another 29 men did not exercise and served as a comparison group.
The researchers watched patients' ability to use oxygen rise as a result of the exercise. They also saw blood flow improve in the brachial artery, which runs from the shoulder to the elbow. There were no such changes in the control group.
To assess sexual ability, the researchers had the men respond to questionnaires. Similar questionnaires were given to the men's sex partners, and the results from the men and the women were compared, to make sure the men were telling the truth.
"I don't know in Americans, but you know Italians are famous to be great lovers, so they can lie and say, 'I am great and no problems,'" Belardinelli said. "But in reality they have a big problem and don't admit it."
In this case, the results proved reliable, and showed the men who exercised had better erections as well as improved quality time with their sex partners.
The level of blood flow through the brachial artery was a better predictor of who did better sexually than aerobic improvement was, the study found. Other studies have found that exercise triggers increased production of nitric oxide. So Belardinelli felt that aerobic exercise was getting results similar to Viagra, making its big benefit by widening blood vessels.
Other experts questioned whether exercise's effect of widening the blood vessels was the most important reason behind the improvement in sexual function.
"Exercise is associated with decreases in depression and a whole lot of other things that may affect sexual function,'' said Dr. Nanette Wenger of Emory University School of Medicine.
Some doubted whether the study was definitive.
"This is one of the first studies on this, in a small number of patients, and I don't think we can draw definite conclusions,'' said Dr. Gerald F. Fletcher of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sex improvements as a result of exercise wouldn't be limited to those people who can't take Viagra, said Dr. Mike Sweeney, urology group leader at Pfizer Inc., which makes the drug. Exercising, quitting smoking and losing weight can work for them as well, he said.