Here’s a study that gives new meaning to the expression ‘rise and shine.’

Male hamsters who were injected with sildenafil - that’s the active ingredient in Viagra - and were then stimultaed by light for 15 minutes were able to injust their internal clocks by six hours. That’s half the time for hamsters who didn’t the get the injection.

The upshot: Viagra may be a solution for jet lag, if it can help travelers adjust to the need to rise hours early as they cross time zones. You can thank the researchers at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires for looking into this.

Because humans and mammals have similar daily cycles, “there’s no reason not to believe it should work in humans,” lead investigator Diego Golombek told ABC News. Viagra works by boosting a molecule that increases blood flow, but is also sensitive to light.

There’s a caveat, though: sildenafil was useful only for simulations of eastward travel. This may put an end to the old maxim: Go West, Young Man!

Humans would probably need to take Viagra six hours after their normal bedtime on the night before traveling eastward over six time zones, Charmane Eastman, director of the biological rhythms lab at Rush University, told ABC News.

She wasn’t involved in the study, but clearly takes delight in the implications: “This could make for an interesting morning on the day of the flight!”

Yes, it could. Imagine all the squirming while everyone ‘de-planes.’

Further reading…
ABC News;
Nature.

A hearty hat tip to PharmaGossip
[tags]Jet Lag, Pfizer, Viagra[/tags]