Used for treating erectile dysfunction, Viagra may also lower the risk of heart attacks or dying from heart failure, researchers say.

Viagra could prevent heart attacks, according to research.

Patients taking the male impotence drug were found to have a lower risk of having a heart attack or dying from heart failure than those not on the medication.

The lead scientist told the Daily Express the findings are "incredibly exciting".

Experts from the Centre for Cardiac Research at the University of Manchester studied 6000 diabetic patients in Cheshire who had been given Viagra - which works by increasing blood flow - to treat erectile dysfunction.

Despite diabetics being prone to heart problems, the study participants did not suffer as many incidents as similar patients not on the drug.

Professor Andrew Trafford and his team, funded by the British Heart Foundation, are hoping to show the medication can also help prevent arrhythmias - abnormal heart rhythms.

He said: "Heart failure is a devastating condition which means your heart is not pumping blood around your body as well as it used to. It can really impact a person's quality of life and currently the outlook for patients with heart failure is grim - worse than that of some cancers.

"Our studies have shown that drugs normally used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, such as Viagra, actually have a very pronounced effect in slowing the progression of heart failure as well as reducing the likelihood of fatal arrhythmias.

He added: "We have recently established that patients who receive Viagra or similar drugs for erectile dysfunction are also far less likely to then go on and die from a heart attack."