Are statins good for your love life?

[cronus]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 032714.php

Are statins good for your love life?

Statins are associated with a significant improvement in erectile function, a fact researchers hope will encourage men who need statins to reduce their risk of heart attack to take them, according to research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.

Erectile dysfunction is common in older men, especially among those with cardiovascular risk factors where cholesterol-lowering statins are frequently prescribed. Previous research has suggested a negative association between statin therapy and testosterone levels, leading to questions about the effects of these widely used medications on the quality of erection.

In the first meta-analysis of previous studies on erectile dysfunction and statins, researchers identified 11 randomized, controlled trials that measured erectile function using the International Inventory of Erectile Function – a self-administered survey with five questions, each scored on a five-point scale and totaled, with lower values representing poorer sexual function. Analysis of all 11 studies combined found a statistically significant effect of statins on erectile function in men who had both high cholesterol and erectile dysfunction. Overall, erectile function scores increased by 3.4 points in men who took statins (from 14.0 to 17.4, a 24.3 percent increase).

"The increase in erectile function scores with statins was approximately one-third to one-half of what has been reported with drugs like Viagra, Cialis or Levitra," said John B. Kostis, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Institute and associate dean for Cardiovascular Research at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the lead investigator of the study.

"It was larger than the reported effect of lifestyle modification," Kostis said. "For men with erectile dysfunction who need statins to control cholesterol, this may be an extra benefit."

(continued)

[jaydot]

too many adverse side effects.

[Clinton Huxley]

You're thinking of stay-ins.

[MiM]

Nope, never heard about it, never perceived any difference, never had any problems. Unless you count the general offset feeling I got from the first kind of statins I was prescribed (simvastatin). I guess that also affected my libido in a negative way.

[cronus]

Better to die of a erection than heart disease.

[JimC]

Better to die of a erection than heart disease.

The two can coincide.

Just ask the shade of an ex-PM of ours, Billy Snedden...

[Hermit]

Better to die of a erection than heart disease.

The two can coincide.

Just ask the shade of an ex-PM of ours, Billy Snedden...

Way to go, eh? He was with an ex-girlfriend of his son. When asked if she noticed anything strange, she reportedly said: "No. I thought he was coming, not going."

Also, he never was PM. He was leader of the opposition until Fraser took over, then speaker of the house for seven years. He retired in 1983 and died of a heart attack in a hotel room in 1987. Reportedly, he was still wearing a condom when his body was found. His partner did a runner, and her identity remained unknown until a few years ago.

[JimC]

Better to die of a erection than heart disease.

The two can coincide.

Just ask the shade of an ex-PM of ours, Billy Snedden...

Way to go, eh? He was with an ex-girlfriend of his son. When asked if she noticed anything strange, she reportedly said: "No. I thought he was coming, not going."

Also, he never was PM. He was leader of the opposition until Fraser took over, then speaker of the house for seven years. He retired in 1983 and died of a heart attack in a hotel room in 1987. Reportedly, he was still wearing a condom when his body was found. His partner did a runner, and her identity remained unknown until a few years ago.

Yeah, forgot he was leader of the opposition rather than PM...