Viagra is a prescription medication used to treat erectile dysfunction, and it's currently being researched alongside nitric oxide to determine whether it can help the immune system's fight against COVID-19. More evidence is needed to definitively determine if the two play a potential role in COVID-19 treatment.

The main ingredient in Viagra is called sildenafil and it increases blood flow in the body by relaxing muscles cells and thus, blood vessels, causing them to widen (vasodilation).

Nitric oxide is a gas that acts as a signaling molecule and messenger. It is involved in many biological processes, like preventing blood clotting and the stimulation of digestive chemicals, including being used by the inner lining of blood vessels to signal muscles to relax.

Viagra increases the impact of nitric oxide by relaxing muscles, and potentially improving blood flow in other areas of the body like the lungs. Now, scientists are trying to determine if the impacts sildenafil and nitric oxide have on the body can help prevent and fight the virus that causes COVID-19.

Research is focused on nitric oxide's potential ability to impact blood vessels by opening them and potentially aiding in oxygen circulation in the lungs, potentially helping patients with respiratory challenges.

Others studying the gas hope that it can improve blood oxygen levels, prevent viral replication, and even help shorten the amount of time COVID-19 patients require ventilation.

Published results from current studies and clinical research should be released in the next few months and offer more information about nitric oxide and sildenafil's impact on COVID-19.

Theoretically, sildenafil may be able to widen blood vessels and improve blood flow, especially to the lungs, and get oxygen into the blood stream. It may help keep blood vessels open and flowing in infected patients, as Viagra is sometimes used off-label to treat ailments such as pulmonary hypertension, mountain sickness, Raynaud's phenomenon, and heart disease.

Importantly, it has yet to be seen if Viagra may be used off-label to treat COVID-19 in the future. The United States National Institutes of Health recommend against the routine use of nitric oxide as a treatment for COVID-19.

An infected COVID-19 patient recently awoke from a coma after her medical treatment team allegedly administered Viagra. The patient went on the record to tout the medication as a potential treatment for the virus. Media outlets and websites have circulated the story in recent days causing it to pick up more coverage.

There is currently no cure for COVID-19. Researchers are currently studying what impacts, if any, Viagra and nitric oxide have against the virus.