Study Shows Link Between Viagara and STDs

Research on 1.4 million men is showing a link between the use of Viagara and other drugs prescribed for erectile dysfunction and a greater number of STDs.

Study Details

The research was performed jointly by Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California by examining health claims of men employed by 44 U.S employers. 34,000 of the men were prescribed the drug, while 1.37 were non-users; all of the participants were over 40.  Those who took drugs were 2 to three times more likely to have STDs.

However, the data may not be as straightforward as it may seem at first glance.  Dr. Anunpam B. Jena, lead author and internal medicine resident at Mass General speculated on why the association is there to begin with.

First of all, doctors are not as likely to talk to older men about safe sex, because the rate of STDs among these men is much lower than it is among younger men. 

Additionally, older men are much less likely to use condoms than younger men are. 

The most common STD reported by the men was HIV/AIDS, which Jena reasons is because men are more likely to show up at the doctor's office when they are infected with the virus that causes AIDS than they are with any other STD.  The second most common STD reported in the study was chlamydia.

The study also validates what some researchers have suspected, and that is that men who have ED are not the only ones being prescribed the drugs; men in high risk groups obtain prescriptions in an effort to enhance sexual activity, according to Dr. Peter Leone, professor of medicine and the University of Carolina and chair of the National Coalition of STD Directors.  Dr. Leone further commented that the drug isn't what leads to high risk behavior, but the other way around(BusinessWeek).

Further Research

In order to conclusively determine whether using an ED actually causes STDs, Dr. Jena and his team are researching this issue in a separate study.