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Senior Citizens & Sex
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Prove Effective, Safe for
Men With Diabetes
Diabetics are three times more likely to have
erectile dysfunction
 By Glenda Fauntleroy, Contributing Writer
Health Behavior News Service
January 24, 2007 - Popular drugs used to treat
erectile dysfunction — Viagra, Levitra and Cialis — are safe and
effective for men with diabetes, a new review has found.
The introduction of the medications known as
phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors to the market has changed
the way physicians manage their patients with erectile dysfunction. The
drugs have been shown to be quite effective in treating the condition in
the general population and the number of men requesting them has soared
in recent years.
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The aim of the systematic review, however, was to
determine whether PDE-5 inhibitors such as sildenafil (Viagra),
vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis) are also a safe and
effective option for men with diabetes. Although diabetes can causes a
variety of other chronic complications, such as heart disease and high
blood pressure, PDE-5 inhibitors were shown not to cause many adverse
reactions in this group.
At the end of the studies, men who took PDE-5
inhibitors showed improvements on all measures of erectile function,
with an average difference of 26.7 percent more “successful intercourse
attempts” compared to placebo groups.
The review appears in the current issue of The
Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an
international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of
health care. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about
medical practice after considering both the content and quality of
existing trials on a topic.
“The results of our meta-analysis are not
surprising, but give strength to the general notion that this class of
drugs is efficient and safe for this specific wide population,” said
lead author Moshe Vardi, M.D., with the internal medicine division at
Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center in Israel.
The Cochrane reviewers analyzed eight studies that
compared the effectiveness of the three PDE-5 medications to placebo. A
total of 1,759 men were recruited — with roughly half randomized to
receive PDE-5 inhibitor therapy and the rest to the placebo group.
Overall, 80 percent of the participants had type 2 diabetes and the
others had type 1 diabetes.
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WARNING BY FDA |
|
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FDA Puts Beware Label on Supplements Sold for Sexual
Enhancement
Don't use Zimaxx, Libidus, Neophase, Nasutra,
Vigor-25, Actra-Rx and 4EVERON
| |
FDA Says Don't
Use |
|
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Zimaxx
is sold as sexual enhancer for both men ($59.95) and women
($49.95). |
|
July 12, 2006 – Senior citizens and other consumers
were warned today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to buy or
consume several products promoted as treatments for erectile dysfunction
and enhancing sexual performance. The FDA put the "beware label" on
seven,
saying "they are in fact illegal drugs that contain potentially harmful
undeclared ingredients."
Read more...
|
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Most of the studies lasted for 12 weeks, with no
significant differences among treatment groups with regard to age,
medical history, other prescribed medications or severity or duration of
diabetes or erectile dysfunction.
Erectile dysfunction is defined as the repeated
inability to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual
intercourse. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases, men who have diabetes are three times
more likely to have erectile dysfunction than men who do not have
diabetes.
Taken an hour before sexual activity, PDE-5
inhibitors work by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide, a chemical
that relaxes smooth muscles in the penis during sexual stimulation and
allows increased blood flow.
“PDE-5 inhibitors have been considered the mainstay
of treatment for erectile dysfunction in the general population for many
years,” said Vardi. “Diabetics are prone to this complication, and the
etiology of their erectile dysfunction is multifactorial, thus making
their treatment a special challenge for physicians and other health care
professionals.”
No deaths were reported in any of the included
trials; the most common side effects for men in the treatment groups
were headache, flushing and upper respiratory tract complaints and
flu-like symptoms. The overall risk for developing any adverse reaction
was 4.8 times higher in the PDE-5 group than in the control group.
As with any drug therapy, the Cochrane reviewers
caution that men should use PDE-5 inhibitors only as directed by their
physicians.
“These drugs can be taken on an ‘as needed’ basis,
as their half-life spans from several hours to 48 hours at most,” said
Vardi. “Patients should also consult their physicians for drug-drug
interactions and specific contraindications.”
While this review supports the short-term safety of
these medications for men with diabetes, experts say as yet there is no
concrete evidence whether these medications are safe for the long term.
“I prescribe PDE-5 inhibitors every day to people
with diabetes,” said John Buse, M.D., director of the Diabetes Care
Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
“But whether they are safe [in the long term] is
the essential quandary of all medical care. We make our best guesses
based on imperfect information, hopes and fears. And then we monitor
progress. I am impressed that patients with diabetes in my practice in
2006 are living much better lives and perhaps longer lives than they did
10 years ago.”
Editor's Notes:
Source: Vardi M, Nini A. Phosphodiesterase
inhibitors for erectile dysfunction in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 1.
The Cochrane Collaboration is an international
nonprofit, independent organization that produces and disseminates
systematic reviews of health care interventions and promotes the search
for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of
interventions. Visit
http://www.cochrane.org for more information.
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