Users of erectile dysfunction drugs at high risk of eye condition suggest new research

According to a recent University of British Columbia study, addicts to common erectile dysfunction (ED) medications increase the risk of developing one of three serious eye conditions by as much as 85%.

The conclusion is the result of an epidemiological study on the health insurance claims of 213,000 American men, who had similar eye problems before becoming addicts to common ED drugs such as Viagra, Cialis, Levitra and Stendra. No one was there.

The results were published in JAMA Ophthalmology on Thursday.

However, the lead author of the study states that people do not insist on stopping taking the drug. Many men with ED point out that improving quality of life outweighs the risk factors.

“We found that the risk was high, but the absolute risk is not that great. We report about 15 per 10,000 patients,” said Dr. Mahyar Etminan, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual science at the UBC School of Medicine. Says.

“But in the United States, given that about 20 million prescriptions are prescribed for these medicines each month, even the slightest risk can cause a significant number of men to experience these events.

“That’s why I wanted to make sure that if I had any visual impairment or changes while taking these medicines, I would check them and see an ophthalmologist.”

According to Etominan, there have been case reports that ED drugs have been associated with eye problems since they were first introduced. However, there were only a few small studies and case reports.

His study aimed to study the incidence of three serious eye conditions in study subjects who took one of the four major ED drugs within a large population.

Researchers examined 14-year health insurance records to see how many men who used ED medications developed one or more cases of these three serious eye problems, and used those medications. I confirmed the ratio compared to those who did not.

After considering other conditions that may affect vision, such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, they have severe retinal detachment (SRD), retinal vascular ischemic syndrome (RVO), and ischemic optic neuropathy. I found that the risk of (ION) is high.

An SRD is a collection of fluid behind the retina of the eye that has no tears or crevices in the retina. Symptoms include the sudden appearance of spots in the field of vision and blinking lights. The study found that users of ED drugs were 2.58 times more likely to develop this condition than non-users.

Symptoms of RVO include sudden loss of vision, blurred vision, darkening, and “floater” caused by blood clots in the veins and arteries of the retina. Users of ED drugs were 1.44 times more likely to develop RVO than non-users.

ION causes loss of vision, primarily in the central part of the visual field. This is due to an impaired blood supply to the optic nerve. Its development in ED drug users was 2.02 times more likely than in non-users.

The correlation between people taking ED medications and the increased incidence of these eye problems is important, but Etominan says it’s hard to say 100% sure if the medication is the cause. I did.

However, given how ED drugs work, and some case reports and studies have already been done, he believes there is likely a link.

“(ED drugs) work differently in different parts of the body, so in the case of ED, they actually open the (vascular) blood vessels of the genitals,” he said. “But here it seems that they can actually narrow or constrict the blood vessels of the eye, the optic nerve and the retina.”

That said, Etominan reiterates that the study shows that very low numbers of patients taking ED medications cause these eye diseases. But with 20 million prescriptions a month, users need to be careful.

“The main message is: It’s rare, but please forgive me for puns. Watch for it,” he said.

share: