Hydrogen Sulfide: Highly Toxic, Flammable, Smells Like Rotten Eggs... May Help With Erectile Disfunction.

Watch any NASCAR race or NFL game and you will be bombarded with more Viagra, Levitra and Cialis commercials than you can handle. That is of course unless you are a middle-aged man suffering from erectile disfunction. Viagra, Levitra and Cialis hit the market around the turn of the century and with them came a glimmer of hope for the dark world of erectile disfunction. 

In order for an erection to occur, the arteries and muscles in the penis must relax to allow blood to flow in causing the penis to swell. Drugs like Viagra work by blocking the production of enzymes which in turn triggers the release nitric oxide into the penile tissue. This relaxation of the penile tissue causes blood to flow in which leads to an erection. These drugs have helped millions of men obtain erections, but have also alienated thousands of men who show no results from nitric oxide based drugs. However, recent findings at the University of Naples have opened new doors for possible alternative erectile disfunction treatments. Hydrogen sulfide seems to serve as a neurotransmitter, promoting blood vessel relaxation and hormone secretion. Our bodies produce trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide naturally with the help of two enzymes (CBS & CBE). Using the penile tissue left over from a number of sex changes, scientists in Naples were able to discover the presence of CBS and CBE in the muscle tissue of the penis. The enzymes were also found in the nerves that control erections, which indicates that they must play a key part in the formation of an erection. 

The scientists at the University of Naples conducted two experiments to test the use of hydrogen sulfide as an erection inducer. First they covered the samples of human penile tissue from the sex changes with hydrogen sulfide. After a short amount of time the vessels in the tissue began to relax, which is the effect needed to lead to an erection. Secondly they injected hydrogen sulfide into the penises of rats, which led to stronger erections with larger doses. These findings are still far from being in the realm of commercial production, as too much hydrogen sulfide can be highly toxic and a large amount was used in these experiments. It will likely be another five to ten years before this process has been refined to the point where it will be available to the public. 

-Calin Darabus (5)

UPDATE:

 Once they have tested out different ways of putting trace amounts of this gas into a pill form, then this discovery would be much closer to creating a legitimate medicine. Hydrogen sulfide and nitrous oxide are both important players in the functions of the human body, although they are highly toxic. The next step in this process will be trying to create a medicine that will release the hydrogen sulfide in a focused way. It is important that the hydrogen sulfide be delivered to the right area of the body to cause an erection, as well as to prevent any problems within the body in areas that should not come in contact with hydrogen sulfide. While this discovery is good news for men with ED , it is bad news for people who already see far too many ED medicine commercials.