Carbon
Dioxide: a Cure for Male Impotence.
By
Two of
the most profitable pharmaceutical drugs sold today are Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) and
Tadalafil (Cialis). Both drugs belong to a class of medications
known as PDE-5 inhibitors, which are used to treat cases of male impotence
(also known as erectile dysfunction).
These drugs, which block the regulatory enzyme PDE-5, are both expensive
and dangerous with many scary side effects and interactions with other
drugs. There are better alternatives.
There
are two factors that contribute to the inability to maintain an erection: the first is a reduced ability, due to poor
nutrition and/or digestive problems, to produce the nitric oxide needed, for among
other things, to dilate
blood vessels supplying blood to the penis.
This is accomplished in a fast, but risky, way by blocking the PDE-5
regulatory enzyme. However, a much
cheaper and safer way to enhance nitric oxide production is to improve your
diet and/or supplement with L-Arginine,
a safe and inexpensive amino acid sold in health food stores and used by athletes
for its many benefits. Note: this is a
food supplement and, as such, should be used daily for best results and not
just before performing, as directed for drugs.
(Also, a note of interest: until the mid 90’s, nitric oxide was simply considered
one of the pollutants in automobile exhaust fumes; since then it has been
labeled marvel of
the decade with many uses. Discovery
of its functions and applications won the Nobel
Prize for 3 scientists in 1998 for Advances in Physiology or Medicine. Maybe we should be more careful what we label
as a pollutant.)
The
second factor contributing to male impotence is a low arterial blood carbon
dioxide level (another “pollutant”). Carbon
dioxide is
needed in the formation of nitric oxide from L-Arginine and, with a half
life of only a few seconds, the nitric oxide level will quickly respond to changes
in the carbon dioxide level. Carbon
dioxide has long been credited with the ability to relax muscles but it is only
recently understood that it does this through facilitating the formation of
nitric oxide. Age and stress can be contributing
factors to a low level of carbon dioxide.
Both cause us to breathe faster than we should (hyperventilate) thus
lowering our carbon dioxide level, which then results in a lower nitric oxide
level.
Various
methods have been used to restore proper carbon dioxide levels and, hopefully, reset
unconscious breathing habits: a conscious slowing of our breathing as taught by
various breathing methods (e.g. Buteyko
method) as well as supplementing with medical gas for a few minutes can
help. Other methods include
breathing into a paper bag for a few minutes or using a breathing device
such as the Samozdrav,
a Russian prize winning device used to increase arterial blood carbon dioxide
levels and to train people to breathe properly.
People who use this device and learn to breathe properly, as a result,
often report the improvement of many and varied symptoms.
Increasing
nitric oxide levels with L-Arginine (5 grams daily) and, at the same time,
raising arterial carbon dioxide levels, theoretically, should produce superior
results to Viagra or Cialis alone. However,
no drug company is ever going to do a double blind study based on this idea so
don’t wait for one. Go ahead, give it a
try. You have nothing to lose and the
only side effects are beneficial ones. Who
knows, you might improve your health AND your sex life, not to mention save a
For a
better understanding, listen to this 20
minute lecture by a medical professional on the many benefits of
maintaining proper carbon dioxide levels through proper breathing. While listening, just keep in mind that this
lecturer hasn’t yet caught on to the indirect role of carbon dioxide in
muscle relaxation rather than the implied direct role.