September 12, 2011
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By Anne Harding
MONDAY, September 12, 2011 (Health.com) — Middle-aged men who take steps to improve their heart health by eating better, getting more exercise, or taking cholesterol-lowering drugs may end up improving their sex lives as well, according to a new analysis of existing research.
Nearly 1 in 5 men in the U.S. has difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection, a condition known as erectile dysfunction (ED). The new study, which appears this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that ED drugs such as Viagra aren’t the only solution and aren’t always enough to address the problem, says coauthor Stephen Kopecky, MD, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Read More
August 5, 2011
Corbis
By Anne Harding
FRIDAY, August 5, 2011 (Health.com) — Viagra gets the job done, but it’s a quick fix. For many men, weaning themselves off the little blue pill and finding a longer-lasting solution to their sexual dysfunction may require hitting the gym and putting down the doughnuts.
A new Australian study, published today in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that losing just 5% to 10% of body weight over a two-month period improved the erectile function—and revved up the sex drives—of obese men with diabetes. Read More
April 29, 2010
THURSDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) — Among men with erectile dysfunction, those who also have low testosterone levels face a higher than normal risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, a new study has found.
In a second study, the same team of researchers also found a link between obesity and impairment of blood flow to the penis, which, in turn, is linked to cardiovascular disease in erectile dysfunction patients. Read More
March 15, 2010
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By Denise Mann
MONDAY, March 15, 2010 (Health.com) — Men with cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction (ED) are almost twice as likely to die in a given time period than similar men the same age who do not have trouble achieving or maintaining an erection, a new study suggests. Read More
January 19, 2010
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — Erectile dysfunction is a strong warning sign that a man might be at increased risk for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, a long-running study indicates.
“We saw that adjusting for age and Framingham [Heart Study] risk factors, men with erectile function still had a 40 percent increased risk,” said Andre Araujo, director of epidemiology at New England Research Institutes and lead author of a report published online Jan. 19 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Read More
September 25, 2009
FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) — Scientists may have discovered a novel way to treat erectile dysfunction — using the venom of a deadly spider.
The bite from the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) causes a painful erection that can last for many hours and later lead to impotence, researchers from the United States and Brazil noted. Read More
September 21, 2009
FRIDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) — A topical cream for erectile dysfunction shows promise in animal testing and could become an alternative for men who can’t tolerate the pill form of the drugs, U.S. researchers report.
Oral erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs, which belong to a class of medications called phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, are widely used and highly effective but can cause such side effects as headache, upset stomach, nasal congestion, facial flushing and hearing and vision problems. Men who’ve recently had a heart attack or have severe heart disease have to use oral ED drugs with caution, if at all. Read More
April 27, 2009
MONDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) — A “nanoparticle” topical treatment for erectile dysfunction appears to work well, at least in a study involving rats.
According to the researchers, five of seven rats developed erections after their penises received a coating of a special hybrid of nanoparticles that slowly released nitric oxide (NO), which relaxes cells in the penis to help blood vessels open, bringing in more blood and swelling the tissues. Read More
April 14, 2009
TUESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) — The erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil) didn’t appear to damage vision in men who took the medications daily for six months, according to a drug company study.
These drugs, called selective phodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, treat erectile dysfunction by interfering with the action of the compound PDE5 in the blood vessels of the penis. But there are concerns that PDE5 inhibitors may also act on similar compounds in the retina, the part of the eye that receives and transmits images to the brain, according to background information in the study. Read More
October 6, 2008
FRIDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) — A Chinese herbal remedy known as “horny goat weed” may indeed live up to its name as a natural version of Viagra.
Italian researchers report that laboratory studies show that the compound has the potential to treat erectile dysfunction, and possibly with fewer side effects than its pharmaceutical cousin.
“No in-vivo studies in an animal model have been performed at this regard, so a lot of work must be done. We would like to test in vivo [with animals] the molecule to understand if it really works in humans,” said study lead author Mario Dell’Agli, of the University of Milan’s laboratory of pharmacognosy. “At this stage of the research, we cannot say if the molecule we have synthesized possesses less side effects with respect to Viagra. However, this derivative seems to be in vitro [in lab tests] more selective than Viagra, because it targets [an enzyme involved in blood flow to the penis] more precisely.” Read More
