rgdgmr wrote:Not to deflate everyone's viagra jokes [...]
from the LA times: [...]
Unwanted sexual arousal usually is not a problem, Hackett says. "There has to be sexual stimulation, which is usually not available on a mountain-climbing expedition. You are just struggling to survive."
Snicker. Seriously, though. Pulmonary edema sucks. But if viagra can prevent it, maybe it can do similar things in horses.
I have no background in medicine, and I'm not sure about the mechanism, but I've read that pulmonary edema in people happens when increased blood pressure in the lungs forces fluid into the alveoli. Bleeding in horses happens because the mechanical stresses of running cause capillaries in the lungs to bleed. Seems like they share some commonalities. So maybe, and I'm pulling this out of my ass, if viagra can somehow magically prevent pulmonary edema, it might have a similar effect on bleeding in horses. This is completely made up, since the article didn't say anything about preventing bleeding, but I'm just proposing a mechanism.
I wonder if there is any gender-specificity in the way it prevents pulmonary edema in humans? Or in the way it affects horses?
Too bad viagra doesn't prevent AMS too. AMS is no fun either. Although arguably more fun than pulmonary edema; I wouldn't know.
