Viagra linked to aiding the recovery of stroke victims

Published on Saturday 19 February 2005 00:08

VIAGRA, the drug that has helped thousands of men revive their sex life, may also help stroke victims of both sexes make remarkable recoveries, doctors said yesterday.

A new study has begun into alternative uses for the drug after it helped an American woman regain the use of her arms and legs and stand up without assistance following a severe stroke.

Rene Jarinski, 43, of Michigan, was paralysed by "locked-in syndrome" and had been able only to move her eyes up and down before being given Viagra. After getting approval from the federal authorities in the United States to use Viagra for a stroke through a programme that allows nonstandard uses of a drug for compassionate purposes, doctors at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit gave Ms Jarinski gradual doses of the drug for several months.

According to Ms Jarinski’s doctor, Brian Silver, locked-in syndrome affects only 200 people a year worldwide and is usually fatal. However, combined with gains from physical therapy, Ms Jarinski made a recovery that has astonished her doctor.

Dr Silver said: "I was one of the sceptics. I don’t know for sure if it is because of spontaneous recovery or the drug, but I have to say this is a little unusual."

Ms Jarinski’s family specifically asked her doctors to use "anything else beyond the standard of care that could be provided for her".