Not to toot my own horn, but I have a rock solid relationship. While no partnership is perfect, there are very few things I would change about him.
But, that doesn't mean there isn't anything. After being together for several years, my significant other doesn't get erect as often as he'd like to. While this is a problem that comes with age, he's reluctant to try Viagra (also known as sildenafil) to get the extra boost he needs.
Even though I can understand the embarrassment that may accompany an individual who has to rely on medication to engage in intercourse, I'm a firm believer that scientists made the drug for a reason, especially when I heard of its newly discovered side effect.
According to researchers, the little blue pill has the potential to save thousands of lives across the globe, and not just from erectile dysfunction.
During the experiment, researchers put a small dose of Viagra into a group of mice's drinking water every day, where they discovered the medication significantly reduced their risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Cancer.net has reported that while this stream of cancer - which start in cells that line the inside of the colon or the rectum - can occur in teenagers, the majority of people diagnosed with the disease are over the age of 50.
"Giving a baby dose of Viagra can reduce the amount of tumors in these animals by half," Augusta University biochemist Darren D. Browning explained in the journal, Cancer Prevention Research.
But, the question is, how does it work?
When a person has colorectal cancer, the body produces polyps, which are small, abnormal clumps of cells that form on intestinal lining. While some can be benign, most of them have the tendency to become tumors. But, by ingesting Viagra, researchers say the medication will increase the level of a chemical called cyclic GMP, which halves the number of polyps forming in the body.
In the past, it has also suppressed some intestinal cancers by "reducing excessive cell proliferation in the gut."
"When we give Viagra, we shrink the whole proliferating compartment," Browning said. "Proliferating cells are more subject to mutations that cause cancer."
While this experiment has only been done on mice, Browning said his team are hoping to engage in a clinical trial with "patients considered at high risk of colorectal cancer" to see if the effects can be replicated in humans. If so, the scientist said the treatment could save thousands of lives from cancer.
Sadly, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer across the world, and in the United States, more than one million people are diagnosed with the disease every year, with about 50,000 cases ending in death.
Hopefully the proper formula comes out sooner rather than later.
Will this new scientific evidence convince you or your partner to take the little blue pill?
[H/T: New Atlas, Science Alert]