- The NHS urges heart disease patients to take caution before taking the drugs
- But the new Swedish study shows that Viagra may have a beneficial effect
- Experts say the results are surprising due to the links it has to heart disease
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
and
Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
25
View
comments
Taking Viagra after a heart attack is safe and reduces the risk of death, new research suggests.
Patients taking the little blue pill were also 33 per cent less likely to die from any cause after a heart attack.
Despite previous evidence suggesting the opposite, scientists found it lowers the risk of returning to hospital after such cardiac events.
The popular anti-impotence drug, as well as other similar brands, is scientifically known as a PDE5 inhibitor.
Currently, the NHS warns men should exercise caution before taking the medications if they have heart disease.
While it also suggests they should avoid them if they have low blood pressure, recently had a stroke or other cardiac events.
Patients taking Viagra were 33 per cent less likely to die from any cause after having a heart attack, scientists have found
But the new study, at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, shows that Viagra may actually have a beneficial effect.
Study author Dr Daniel Peter Andersson said: ‘If you have an active sex life after a heart attack, it is probably safe to use PDE5 inhibitors.
-
Simple 60cm plastic sheath that can reverse diabetes by…
How DOES weight loss surgery work? After Empire star…
Arachnophobes look away now! Pus-filled spider bite ERUPTS…
Latest dire NHS statistics: Highest trolley wait figures on…
‘This type of erectile dysfunction treatment is beneficial in terms of prognosis, and having an active sex life seems to be a marker for a decreased risk of death.’
Reduction in heart failure was greater when Viagra was combined with alprostadil – a man-made hormone that helps to stimulate blood flow to the penis.
Currently, the NHS warns that men should exercise caution before taking the medication if they have heart disease
FACTS ABOUT VIAGRA
Viagra was developed in 1998 by accident, after scientists discovered it had benefits for sufferers of erectile dysfunction.
Manufactured by Pfizer, the magic blue pills are taken by more than one million men in Britain each year, figures suggest.
Most users are in their early to mid 50s, but younger people are starting to take the drugs more often, the pharmaceutical previously said.
Until 2013, only the US drug giant had permission to make the pills – costing on average £21.27 for a pack of four.
But since its patent expired, rivals have made generic versions containing the same active ingredient, priced at around £1.45 for the same amount of capsules.
Celebrities such as Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine, and Hollywood actors Ben Affleck and Ashton Kutcher have previously admitted using Viagra.
This reduced the risk of death by 40 per cent, but the latter drug had no effect on on its own.
The study analysed the records of 43,000 men age 80 years or under hospitalised for a first heart attack between 2007 and 2013.
They were tracked for an average of three years following the event and whether they were prescribed PDE5 inhibitors or alprostadil.
Overall, slightly more than 7 per cent of men were prescribed an erectile dysfunction drug. The majority (92 per cent) were given PDE5 inhibitors.
While results suggested PDE5 inhibitors may benefit heart health, the researchers are unable to confirm the direct cause and effect.
Dr Andersson added the results were surprising because erectile dysfunction was associated with an increased risk of heart disease in otherwise healthy men.
Viagra was originally developed as a drug to combat angina pectoris, a chest pain associated with heart disease, because it widens blood vessels.
While its effects in reducing angina were found to be modest, the unexpected side effect was that it gave male patients improved erections.
The new study was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Session in Washington.
Share or comment on this article
-
e-mail
- One can’t bloody read it! Wills, Kate and Harry watch…
- Harrowing final breaths of tragic daughter, 16, who…
- ‘Zombie’ toddlers covered in rashes are found coated in…
- Trump invites conservative naysayers BOWLING as ‘Freedom…
- CNN presenter Reza Aslan sparks backlash after he eats…
- Up to six injured after ‘axe-wielding man’ goes on the…
- Dramatic courtroom transformation of the former adult…
- Hunt for married mother-of-two, 49, who disappeared 16…
- Weightlifter and former NYPD officer known as White Rhino…
- ‘I have no memory of it’: Brie Larson says she does not…
- ‘You don’t seem self-conscious sitting with your legs…
- Car driver ‘slams on his brakes to cause accident in cash…
- Couple arrested on suspicion of trying to abduct a…
- Hero Iraqi soldier saves his comrades from an ISIS…
- That’s no way to greet the Queen! Toddler tasked with…
- Father, 30, is billed £600 and given a CRIMINAL RECORD…
- Farmer, 83, goes on trial for GBH because he shot…
- ‘Don’t come in, I’m sorry’: Pregnant mother, 36, with…
Comments 25
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
Your comment will be credited to your MailOnline persona
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
Your comment will be credited to your MailOnline persona