You’ll last lot longer

Love drug ‘saves lives as well as boosting romps’

VIAGRA could make men live longer as well as improve their performance in bed.

Blokes who have survived a heart attack could prolong their life by taking the impotence drug, according to a new study.

And the more often they use it, the lower their risk of another attack, say medics.

Impotence can be an early warning sign of cardiovascular disease in healthy men. It is treated either locally with alprostadil, which dilates the blood vessels so that the penis stiffens, or with so-called PDE5 inhibitors such as Viagra or

Cialis tablets.

Protect

The pills are taken before sex, and increase blood flow to the penis.

Since Viagra and Cialis decrease blood pressure, they were previously not recommended for men with coronary artery disease due to the risk of heart attack.

But study author Prof Martin Holzmann, of the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, said: “Potency problems are common in older men and now our study also shows that PDE5 inhibitors may protect against heart attack and prolong life.”

He added: “The protection was dose-dependent, so that the more frequent the dose of PDE5 inhibitor, the lower the risk.”

As Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors are available by prescription only in Sweden, they cannot be bought over the counter.

But Prof Holzmann said he hoped that men with coronary artery disease would not shy away from addressing the matter with their doctor.

The study included 16,500 men treated with PDE5 inhibitors and just under 2,000 who received alprostadil.