You heard that right – recent research showed that two popular erectile dysfunction (E.D.) drugs confer cardiovascular benefits to men with concurrent heart disease and E.D. The two drugs – sildenafil and tadalafil (Viagra and Cialis respectively) are both PDE5 inhibitors which widen blood vessels.
In men with heart disease - both Viagra
and Cialis significantly reduced the likelihood of progression to heart
failure, myocardial infarction (MI), and death after 5 years as compared with
men taking neither drug. Cialis had a more pronounced effect on all three
clinical events than did Viagra.
Lead
researcher Albert Ha, MD, of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in
New York City pointed out that - "Contrary
to what most people believe, PDE5 inhibitors also have been shown to alter
endothelial function and improve myocardial perfusion," he said. "We
know there is data out there suggesting that PDE5 inhibitors lead to cardiac
benefits, including improved cardiac function and possibly microvascular
improvement."
E.D. is very
common among men with cardiovascular disease because both conditions share
issues with endothelial function – meaning the arterial surfaces are compromised
and not functioning properly. In fact, ED is often
one of the first signs of cardiovascular disease.
PDE5 Side
Effects
Like all
drugs these drugs can have side effects and require a prescription. These side effects can include adverse effects
on the eyes in rare cases. However, a
review of a large insurance database showed no consistent association between
PDE5 inhibitor use and ocular events, reported Federico Belladelli, MD, of
Universitá Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan.
Another side
effect can be blood pressure that is lowered too much which can occur if men are
also taking other blood pressure lowering drugs such as nitroglycerin.
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