NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Laboratory studies conducted at Queen's University Belfast, UK suggest that taking the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may adversely affect sperm function and possibly male fertility.

Recreational users of Viagra need to be informed of the drug's potentially harmful effects on sperm function, the investigators say.

In their experiments, Dr. David R. J. Glenn and colleagues observed that exposure of cultured sperm to Viagra, compared to no exposure, led to a “sustained enhancement of motility,” both in numbers of progressively motile sperm and their velocity.

However, exposure to Viagra — at diabetic dysfunction erectile equivalent to the average maximum total blood concentration present 30 minutes after a single oral dose of 100 milligrams — also caused a premature “acrosome reaction.” Acrosomes are structures that cover the head of the sperm and contain a variety of enzymes that help the sperm penetrate the outer membrane of the egg.

That Viagra may induce early activation of the acrosome reaction has “important clinical cause and treatment of erectile dysfunction because sperm that acrosome-react before contact with the oocyte are incapable of fertilization,” the researchers note in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

“Given that the majority of sperm acrosome react on exposure to (Viagra), the drug may cause significant impairment to their impotence treatment viagra potential,” they write.

This is a concern, Glenn and colleagues say, given that Viagra and other like-drugs are widely available on the Internet and are herbal cure for erectile dysfunction being used “recreationally” by young healthy men of reproductive age as sexual enhancers — not just by older men who have erectile dysfunction.

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, May 2007.

The exercises were found to help men with erectile dysfunction as much as taking in Viagra.

The researchers say the findings mean men have an alternative to drug therapy.

For around 50 years, women have been advised to perform pelvic floor exercises to strengthen their muscles for childbirth.

The pelvic floor is a “hammock” of muscles which support the bowel and bladder.

Pelvic floor, or Kegel, exercises involve clenching the muscles you would use to prevent yourself urinating.

This latest research indicates it is also important for men to maintain the muscle tone and function of their pelvic floor muscles with the exercises.

Home exercises

The team from the University of the West of England in Bristol studied 55 men with an average age of 59 who had experienced erectile dysfunction for at least six months.

The men, all patients at the Somerset Nuffield Hospital, Taunton, Somerset, were given five weekly sessions of pelvic floor exercises and assessed at three and six months, and asked to practise the exercises daily at home.

It was found 40% of the men regained normal erectile function - some of who had severe erectile dysfunction, and another 35% showed some impotence org.

Two thirds of the men had said they also had problems with urination. These improved significantly after they began the exercises.

Dr Grace Dorey, a specialist continence physiotherapist who carried out the research, told BBC News Online: “The exercises were found to be equally as effective as taking Viagra.

“Pelvic floor exercises improve function in a physical way, in a more natural way.

“Men should be doing preventative exercise. It really is use it or lose it.”

She said men should be exercising their pelvic floor exercises from puberty onwards.

Strength

A spokesperson for the Impotence Erectile dysfunction devices
said: “The value and effectiveness of pelvic floor exercises should not be underestimated when considering the management of sexual problems such as impotence and premature ejaculation.

“The exercises are thought to strengthen the muscles that surround the penis and improve the blood supply in the pelvis, which is an important factor in relation to erectile dysfunction.”

The Impotence Association helpline number is 0208 767 7791.