Exercises such as cycling have proven to have a very positive effect for treating sexual dysfunction in men suffering from chronic heart failure. The report on cycling as an exercise was presented at the American Heart Association conference in 2001. The report stated that exercise can prove to be a very good medical therapy to improve the sexual function as well as the quality of life in men.
Many patients suffering from cardiovascular disorder take medications that contain nitrates. These patients are advised against taking sexual enhancement drugs such as Viagra so that there is no lethal interaction between the different drugs. Hence it is recommended that people should start exercising instead of taking drugs to avoid the problem of lethal interaction of two different drugs. There were no side effects in half the number of patients taking drugs with nitrates in recent studies conducted.
The studies also indicated that patient with improved cardiovascular function had experienced an increase in sexual activity as well as a better quality of life. Studies conducted in the artery running from the main shoulder to the elbow indicated that blood vessels in other parts of the body also benefited from the different types of exercises like cycling. However it has not been proved fully if exercises other than cycling also improved sexual performance.
This is the first study that had been conducted to find the relationship between sexual dysfunction and chronic heart failure. Studies suggest that exercise training can go a long way in improving a man’s ability to perform better in sex. Researchers have found out that many men in their mid 50s had suffered from chronic heart failure which was caused due to ischemic heart disease as a result of which the blood vessels in the penis could be damaged.
A group of 30 patients were made to exercise on electronic stationary bikes and then supervised in a hospital environment. The second group of 30 patients was not made to exercise. The first group of 30 patients exercised at peak oxygen intake for a period of three times a week for the next eight weeks. Each session was of one hour duration with the first 15 minutes devoted to stretching exercises and then the next 40 minutes devoted to cycling. All the patients were subjected to regular testing by experts for measuring the vasomotor responses in their brachial artery. These responses were assessed through the flow mediation dilation which consists of reaction of blood vessels to blood flow. These responses indicate the person’s endothelial function. The endothelium refers to a thin lining of blood vessel that controls the contraction and dilation of the vessel.
