One recent observational study found that men who take Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction may be reducing their risk of dying prematurely.
The study, funded by Sanofi, analyzed the medical histories of almost 23,000 American males who had been administered a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE-5i) like Viagra for erectile dysfunction over a 14-year period.
Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Death
The data was compared to that of 48,000 males who did not get a medication similar to the one under study.
Because Sanofi markets avanafil (brand name: Stendra), a PDE-5i, the results aren’t completely unbiased. However, this does not warrant an automatic rejection of their claims.
Patients in the study who had a record of a prescription for a PDE-5i had a 39% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease compared to those without such a record. The risk of dying from any cause was reduced by 25%, and the risk of a cardiac event such as a heart attack or stroke was reduced by 13%.
When compared to men who took a lower cumulative dose of a PDE-5i, those who took a larger dose were protected from heart disease.
Age, medication, disease history, and smoking status were all taken into account in the study. But because it was a retrospective study of people who were already using the medication, it could not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.
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Viagra Users May Be Healthier
The men who chose to use Viagra may already be in better health. It’s possible that the patients’ improved cardiac health wasn’t due to the medicine per se, but rather to the fact that they were able to resume sexual activity after therapy.
Nonetheless, the study suggests that PDE-5i may have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health in men.
New York cardiologist and director of Mount Sinai Heart Deepak Bhatt called the study intriguing but said more research was needed. He suggested conducting a randomized clinical trial in which a large number of patients with cardiovascular disease were randomly assigned to receive either Viagra or a placebo (a “blank”).
FDA approval of Viagra for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (the trade name Revatio) was granted in 2005 based on the drug’s demonstrated efficacy. This condition (in which the arteries connecting the heart and lungs become blocked, raising blood pressure and strain on the heart’s right side) is called right-sided heart failure.
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