Dangers of recreational Viagra

As officials have dealt with a variety of dangerous drug use on college campuses across the country, a new trend is emerging among college students that health experts warn could lead to serious complications -- the recreational use of erectile dysfunction medication. \nWhile Viagra is medication mainly targeted toward impotent older men, recent studies conducted by the Chicago Children's Memorial Hospital have found that one out of every 18 college-aged men have used Viagra or other sexual enhancement drugs such as Levitra or Cialis before. The research also concluded that half of the men using these medications were doing it recreationally for purposes of enhancing their sexual experience despite having no true medical problems below the belt.\nThe study was done on three different college campuse and a survey taken exclusively at IU turned up conflicting results of the severity of the use in Bloomington. \n"In a questionnaire we asked over 6,000 men and women at IU if they had used Viagra (or similar drugs) and only 2% of men that say they have ever tried it," said Erick Janssen, associate scientist and director of graduate studies at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. "It is a relatively small number of people who have done it regularly." \nAlthough the Kinsey Institute didn't find the use of Viagra as prevalent on IU's campus as the Chicago Children's Memorial Hospital study did elsewhere, experts caution that those who do use Viagra as a party drug should be wary of the possible consequences.\nThe Chicago study found that 64% of college men who use Viagra recreationally are mixing it with other drugs that weaken the ability to perform sexually such as alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy. These drugs are known to increase sexual drive and reduce inhibitions, but weaken the ability to actually perform. That's where Viagra steps in. \n"I know of no problems mixing Viagra with alcohol. However, if you were doing cocaine, speed or ecstasy, the danger of Viagra is greatly increased," said Dr. Rose Wenrich, a family practitioner. \nResearchers found that those mixing Viagra with other drugs causes the user to be more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors that increase the chances of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, simply because recreational users that pop the pill with other drugs are less likely to wear a condom. \nBecause most people who are taking Viagra as a party drug are not actually prescribed it, Anne Reese, the director of Health and Wellness Education at the IU Health Center, said she theorizes that they are obtaining it from external sources, namely the Internet. \n"The pharmacy here has only prescribed Viagra sporadically in the past year, therefore I am doubting that the larger group of people using it for recreational use are getting it from the health center or other physicians," she said. \nAnother danger of taking Viagra without first consulting a doctor is that certain medications may have a negative reaction when taken with it and can cause dangerously low blood pressure, Reese said. These problematic medications are usually those used to treat heart problems. People who have any sort of heart or circulatory problems should steer clear of Viagra. Viagra also makes it possible to have more sex during a shorter period of time than men who don't have erectile dysfunction would normally be capable of. \nViagra is only one of the many drugs that college students are using to enhance their sexual experiences.\n"When you look at other drugs, the numbers are larger," Janssen said. "Viagra is in that group but is not as widely used. One reason for that might be that it is not as easy to get as some other drugs, like marijuana for example, which we also found was being used to enhance the sexual experience." \nHealth professionals are also concerned about the underlying issues as to why young, seemingly healthy men are feeling that they need to take drugs to intensify their sexual experiences. \n"I know that students talk all the time about improving their sex lives and they want to know what they should do in order to do so," Reese said. "Poor sexual performance at this age could be from a number of problems, such as excess alcohol or drugs, stress or even unknown diabetes, and Viagra is not the best solution in most of those situations." \nFor most college-aged students, using Viagra recreationally probably doesn't pose serious health risks.\n"Viagra is among the least dangerous drugs," Janssen said. "There are a lot of other drugs that students are taking that are much more likely to get them to engage in risky sexual behaviors." \nBut not many studies have been done that can draw firm conclusions on long-term risks of non-impotent men taking anti-impotent drugs, so abusers should be cautious. In fact, other than the study conducted by the Chicago Memorial Children's Hospital, there have been hardly any other conclusive studies completed. \n"There is not very much that's informative out there on this subject (and) there haven't been many decent studies," Janssen said. "One thing that may complicate this research is that while some men have no problem admitting that they have tried Viagra, a lot of men feel uncomfortable and won't want to admit it. It may not be that easy to find out about"