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Viagra, Cialis Could Help Boys With Muscular Dystrophy

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Drugs that are usually prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction in adult males may be able to help treat boys who have a muscle disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to a recent study HealthDay reported.

Researchers found that popular drugs Viagra and Cialis improved blood flow to boys' weakened muscles, HealthDay reported.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive and fatal muscle disease that causes loss of muscle function in boys and young men. There is no specific treatment for the disease, which is genetic.

"Boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a blood flow abnormality -- delivery of blood and oxygen to their muscles -- that does not increase the way it should during mild exercise Dr. Ronald Victor, lead researcher and associate director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, told HealthDay.

For the study, researchers recruited 10 boys between the ages of 8 and 13 years old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who were taking corticosteroids - drugs that can slow muscle degeneration and help temper the effect on lung and heart function, but comes with many side effects -- first were compared to 10 healthy boys of the same age. Then researchers measured the blood flow in all of the participants' muscles when they were at rest and when they were doing a handgrip exercise.

Researchers said that after taking Viagra and Cialis, the boys' blood flow response during exercise was the same as that of the boys who did not have the disease.

"The effect was immediate and dramatic. The result also was more pronounced with higher doses," Victor said.

Victor said more research is needed before recommending the drugs for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

"This is not a cure, but it is the first stop toward identifying potential treatments," he said.

The findings were recently published in the online issue of Neurology.

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