Men Using Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Are 25% Less Likely To Die Prematurely, Study Finds
One study says that men using phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5is) are 25 percent less likely to die prematurely.
Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors are a group of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
They collected data on 70,000 adult men with an average age of 52, from 2006 to 2020. All of the men had been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction at some point in their lives.
The researchers determined, through medical records, that among the population, 23,816 used erectile dysfunction drugs, while another 48,682 did not.
They also determined any subsequent heart problems they might have had during the follow-up period.
Those who used the drugs were found to be 13 percent less likely to experience major adverse cardiovascular (CV) problems.
Users of the drugs were also found to be 17 percent less likely to have heart failure and 15 percent less likely to require coronary revascularization, a procedure used to remove blockages in the heart’s arteries.
There was also a 22 percent decrease in the chance of developing unstable angina, a condition in which plaque in the coronary artery denies oxygen and blood to the heart.
“Men with ED who were exposed to PDE-5is had a statistically significantly lower risk of dying from any cause (overall mortality) by 25% compared with unexposed men, as well as a 39% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular causes, compared to men who were not exposed to PDE-5is for the same time period,” the researchers wrote.
“Risk reduction was correlated with the level of PDE-5is exposure.”
They said the clinical implications of the results are that PDE-5is may have cardioprotective effects.
However, they noted that the study was limited by the lack of an independent measure of sexual activity in men, so it’s unclear whether increased sexual activity might have contributed to the results.