Researchers analyzed the electronic health records of more than 70,000 American men who had...
The selected medical records containedinformation on 23 thousand men who were prescribed Viagra or similar drugs, and a control group of more than 48 thousand people who were prescribed other methods of treating erectile dysfunction.
The study found that men who tookPDE-5, the probability of dying from cardiovascular disease was 39% lower than that of the control group. In addition, the overall risk of death in this group was 25% lower, the researchers note. The analysis also showed that those who took a large dose of the drug were 17% less likely to suffer from heart failure, 22% less likely to suffer from angina pectoris, and they were 15% less likely to undergo coronary artery revascularization.
Despite these promising results,experts who did not participate in the study call for caution in the results. First of all, this is a survey study that operated only on medical records, which means that it did not take into account the actual use of drugs, both by those who received a prescription and those who received a different prescription, but independently bought “advertised” drugs.
In addition, the study does not analyzecausal relationships that may have an alternative explanation: for example, the frequency of visits to the doctor and the general propensity to monitor their health in different groups. Finally, there is a possible conflict of interest: the work was funded by a pharmaceutical company that produces its own PDE-5 drug.
Additional controlled trials will be required to confirm the link.
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