oxytocin has been nicknamed the love hormone

It seems that the research done on the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra never seems to stop! A new research project carried out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that the Viagra drug may actually increase the amount of reproductive hormones in rats and it is possible that this effect could be mirrored in humans.

The researchers noted that the Viagra drug increased the levels of oxytocin that were released by the posterior pituitary gland. This tiny gland that is present just underneath the brain is responsible for regulating the levels of hormones in the body and gets its instructions from neural signals. This is extremely exciting research because it shows that possibly Viagra may not just be a drug which works by the enabling the physical requirements of a man’s erection but also may be playing a part in the psychological and hormonal aspect of sex.

The hormone in question namely oxytocin has been nicknamed the “love hormone” because it works on the brain in a way that encourages social interaction between a man and woman and is also released during orgasm. If it can be proved that the Viagra drug is encouraging the production of this hormone it will send shock waves throughout the whole of the erectile dysfunction drug industry because it will show that Viagra is not simply a mechanical enabling drug for men with erectile dysfunction but is also a drug which can get them in the mood for love.

Obviously more research needs to be done with the Viagra drug before the scientists can be sure of this unexpected side effect and at present the only research done has been done on rats and not on humans. It is expected that the same effect if proven will be apparent for the other erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis and Levitra as they all work in exactly the same way as PDE-5 inhibitors.