Viagra improves urinary symptoms in men
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Treatment with Viagra (sildenafil) can improve urinary tract symptoms in men with erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a common disease in older men that involves urinary symptoms due to enlargement of the prostate gland, according to study findings presented here Monday at a meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America.
“The improvement in urination with Viagra is dramatic,” lead author Dr. Kevin V. McVary, from Northwestern University in Chicago, told Reuters Health. “The improvement is on par with what we’ve come to expect from some of the medications commonly used to treat BPH symptoms. In fact, better than some of the other medications.”
Previous reports have shown that more than 70 percent of men with lower urinary tract symptoms related to BPH also have erectile dysfunction. In the present study, which was funded by Viagra-maker Pfizer, Inc., 300 such men were randomly assigned to receive Viagra or placebo for 12 weeks.
As anticipated, Viagra use was associated with significant improvements in erectile function, self-esteem and quality of life. In addition, men treated with the drug were more likely than those who received placebo to experience a reduction in irritative and obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms.
“One message from this study is that we can hit two birds with one stone,” McVary said. “The other, which is more interesting to me, is that lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction may be manifestations of the same central problem.”
In this regard, disruptions in a single enzyme system, the nitric oxide system, may be to blame for both lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction, he suggested.
On the basis of these encouraging findings, “I think larger studies are warranted,” McVary added. “Also, I’d be very interested in looking at how (Viagra) may affect urinary tract symptoms in women.”
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