South Korean President Park Geun-Hye remains under the spotlight after news surfaced that she bought hundreds of Viagra pills last year reportedly for altitude sickness. A presidential spokesperson said that the drug was acquired to address Park's mountain sickness on her visit to African nations including Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya in May.
"We bought it for the trip but did not use it," Jung Youn-kuk said. The Blue House purchased 364 pieces of the virility drug. Opposition and Democratic Party MP Kim Sang-hee said that 60 of those are blue pills and the remaining are generic.
Viagra or sildenafil citrate in generic is prescribed for men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED). It works by increasing the penile blood flow and thus resulting in an erection. The drug is only recommended for usage when erection is needed. On the official website, it was mentioned that the Pfizer product is not prescribed for women and children.
Several reports indicate that sildenafil citrate is not just effective in addressing erection dysfunction but also other conditions such as high-altitude pulmonary edema. CNN asked mountaineers about the benefits of the drug when going to high-altitude areas. Australian mountaineer Andrew Lock said that "the benefit in terms of climbing is if someone is suffering altitude sickness, that particular drug will help you dilate those blood vessels and carry fluid away from the lungs, because if you don't get that fluid you can actually drown in."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the off label uses of viagra includes addressing altitude sickness. It works by increasing the amount of nitric oxide in the pulmonary blood vessels and thus results in relaxation, based on the 2010 Progress in Cardiovascular Disease report. Apart from this pill, another drug called Cialis (tadalafil) also has the same effect and can reduce the leaking fluid into the lungs.