|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizens & Sex
Viagra May Not Cure All Sex Problems, but May Save
Lives by Helping Heart
Two new studies take interesting looks at
erectile dysfunction drugs
 July 10, 2007 – A study by a psychologist finds
oral drugs like Viagra improve sexual performance but not a man’s
‘sexual health’. Not to worry, another new study finds Viagra can
improve heart function and potentially save the lives of people with
specific heart problems. The net results imply a longer life with poor
sexual health but good ‘sexual function’.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
New Harvard Medical Report on Sex and Aging Finds
Viagra Can Create Problems
When intercourse is suddenly a possibility again,
relationship issues can emerge
May 1, 2007
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs May Trump Nitroglycerin
for Heart Protection
Good news for millions of male senior citizens using
sex enhancers
March 2, 2007
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Prove Effective, Safe for
Men With Diabetes
Diabetics are three times more likely to have
erectile dysfunction
January 24, 2007
Erectile Dysfunction, Overactive Bladder and More
May be Treated by Simple Gene Transfer
Potential alternative to oral drugs, like
Viagra, which are not effective for up to 40%
November 30, 2006
FDA Puts Beware Label on Supplements Sold for Sexual
Enhancement
Don't use Zimaxx, Libidus, Neophase, Nasutra,
Vigor-25, Actra-Rx and 4EVERON
July 12, 2006
Erectile Dysfunction and Coronary Heart Disease May
Share Risk Factors
Smoking, obesity, lack of exercise increase risk;
alcohol drinking doesn't matter, says new study
June 28, 2006
'Hormone of Love' Nasal Spray Reduces Stress in
Martial Spats, Makes People Like Each Other
Oxytocin seems to make us like people better, says
studies
June 20, 2006
Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Not Just About Sex
Study says they produce mostly beneficial results... not just for ED
June 16, 2006
Older Men Unaware of Erectile Dysfunction Link to
Problems Such as High Blood Pressure
'Check Men's Facts' campaign
urges men see doctor
June 9, 2006
Treating Men with ED Improves Female Partners Sexual
Function, Satisfaction
October 25, 2005
Senior Citizens With Heart Problems May Be Able to
Take Erectile Dysfunction Drugs
Study suggests replacing nitrate will allow the use
of ED drugs
June 28, 2005
Read the latest
news
on
Senior Citizens & Sex |
|
The study finding medications are not quite a magic
pill to improve the sex lives of men with erectile problems comes from a
Deakin University. Hayley Matic conducted the study for her Doctor of
Psychology (Health) with Deakin’s School of Psychology under the
supervision of Professor Marita McCabe.
She found that while oral medications
phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, known as PDE5 inhibitors, may
restore a man’s ‘sexual function’ they don’t necessarily restore a man’s
‘sexual health’. PDE5 inhibitors include Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.
“As well as the obvious physiological aspects, men
with erectile dysfunction (ED) suffer a range of problems such as
significantly poorer self esteem, sense of masculinity, sexual
satisfaction and relationship satisfaction,” Dr Matic said.
“This study found that overall well being was not
improved in the men who had used medical interventions for their ED.”
Dr Matic’s study explored the psychological and
relationship impact of ED on the lives of Australian men and their
partners. It also looked at men’s help-seeking behaviour and experiences
with oral medication as treatments for their ED. It involved 410 men
with ED and 242 men without ED.
“ED affects up to 50 per cent of men at some point
in their lives and is generally treated with the use of oral
medications,” Dr Matic said.
“The focus on the medical and biological elements
of ED has led to a relative dismissal of the role of psychological and
relationship aspects of men’s sexual experiences. As a result many men
stop using the medications and continue to suffer ED as well as the
associated problems with their masculinity, self-esteem and quality of
life.
“Hopefully the results of this study will open up
current mainstream treatments for this sexual dysfunction to include
greater awareness of the psychological and relationship factors inherent
in a man’s sexual health.”
Dr Matic suggests that improvements could come
from:
● Ensuring GPs and specialists who assess and
treat sexual dysfunction are educated in the potential broad ranging
impact of ED on a man’s life
● Ensuring that those prescribing ED medications
are able to talk to their patients about their expectations for the use
of the drugs
● Increased development of and referral to
non-medical treatments for ED, either in conjunction with medication
treatment or as a stand-alone
● Increased inclusion of a man’s partner in the
assessment and treatment for ED in both medical and other settings.
“As medications are only potentially able to
address the biological/physiological aspects of sexual arousal, there is
a clear need to consider broader application of a biopsychosocial model
of health to our understanding and treatment of ED,” Dr Matic said.
Viagra boosts heart performance and may save
lives
Researchers at the University of Alberta have shown
that Viagra, the popular drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction, can
improve heart function and potentially save the lives of people with
specific heart problems.
Viagra's unexpected benefit has led the U of A
researchers to encourage doctors to consider the drug when a patient has
a failing right ventricle of the heart, a dire condition for which there
are currently no treatments available.
The research will appear next week in Circulation,
a journal of the American Heart Association.
"There are a number of medical conditions in both
children and adults for which there is a need to boost the performance
of the right ventricle, and this drug can be clinically and immediately
relevant to help these patients," said Dr. Jayan Nagendran, a cardiac
surgery resident at the U of A and the first author of the paper.
“Sometimes the right ventricle can fail rapidly and
even result in death, like in lung transplant surgery, for example. In
such a case, Viagra may increase the right ventricle's performance and
save the patient." Nagendran added.
"We have a number of drugs and therapies available
to treat the left ventricle of the heart to prevent it from failing or
to treat it after it has failed, but we don't have anything for the
right ventricle.
The phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, which
include Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, may offer some important benefits in
this case," said Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a U of A cardiologist, the
Canada Research Chair in Pulmonary Hypertension and the senior author of
the paper.
In a healthy person, phosphodiesterase type 5
constricts arteries in two places in the body—the lungs and the penis.
In the lungs, it prevents excessively low blood pressure. In the penis,
it prevents excessive engorgement.
However, undue phosphodiesterase type 5 can
constrict these arteries too much and cause problems, as it does in the
case of pulmonary hypertension, where lung arteries constrict and put a
strain on the right ventricle of the heart. Phosphodiesterase type 5
inhibitors allow the arteries to relax so that blood can flow more
easily.
In 2002, a U of A research team led by Michelakis
published the first evidence that Viagra may improve pulmonary
hypertension in humans. This work was later conformed by larger trials
and Viagra—sold under the name Revatio—is now approved all over the
world for pulmonary hypertension.
Researchers assumed Viagra's benefit in pulmonary
hypertension is restricted to its ability to relax the lung arteries. In
fact, there was evidence phosphodiesterase type 5 was not expressed in
the normal ventricles, explaining the lack of Viagra effects on the
normal heart.
However, the U of A researchers, acting on a hunch,
studied human hearts and showed that phosphodiesterase type 5 is
expressed in large amounts in thickened (hypertrophied) right
ventricles, but not in healthy hearts. They replicated their results in
animal models and also showed that Viagra enhanced the output of
hypertrophied right ventricles.
Michelakis noted that this might be the first
example of a drug that can improve the function of the right ventricle
(which is diseased in pulmonary hypertension), without affecting the
left ventricle (which is normal in pulmonary hypertension).
"This selectivity is important and has direct
clinical implications," Michelakis added. "Relaxing the lung arteries
alone may not be sufficient to help the patient, if the right ventricle
is too weak to push blood through them. A drug such as Viagra, with a
combined beneficial effect both in the lung arteries and the right
ventricle of the heart, offers a significant advantage."
"Viagra is a drug that millions of people take
every year, and we've just learned something new and essential about how
it works," Nagendran said.
Michelakis agreed, adding, "This drug can have an
immediate and direct clinical application, so we're pretty excited about
these findings."
The study was funded by CIHR, AHFMR, CFI and the
Heart and Stroke Foundation.
>>
Information about Erectile Dysfunction at MedlinePLUS for Seniors
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
