Approximately half of men with diabetes suffer at least one episode of erectile dysfunction and there are several strategies available to overcome what is in those cases usually a problem of body chemistry. According to a report in the Cochrane Review of clinical trials, the well-known drugs for treating erectile dysfunction really do improve sexual satisfaction for sufferers. The report covers the three main phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors, sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis).
According to the study side-effects, such as headache and flushing, are common, but not sufficiently adverse as to dissuade users from abandoning the drug.
The Cochrane Review draws data from eight clinical trials (totalling almost 1800 participants) in which 976 men had been given a PDE-5 inhibitor, and 741 a placebo.
‘If taken as prescribed and when no contra-indications exist, PDE-5 inhibitors provide a useful option for men with diabetes who suffer from erectile dysfunction,’ says report author Moshe Vardi of the Carmel Medical Center, in Haifa, Israel.
You can read the abstract from the report at the Cochrane Library site. For more on the origins of Viagra and the other PDE-5 that followed in its wake, check out the Sciencebase archives.