Viagra: Important news for men who take Viagra

Life is full of surprises. For instance, if you're a man who uses one of the popular medications that address erectile dysfunction (ED), you could be in for a very unpleasant surprise.

It is becoming clearer that we need more than just one study to uncover the full range of pros and cons of a treatment and a prime example is the drug Viagra.

But before we examine the dark mysteries of ED drugs in greater detail, let's see what happens when a researcher researches research.

Flawed news headlines
Long-time e-alert readers may have noticed that one of my pet peeves is the wild inaccuracy often found in news headlines. When a headline writer states that vitamin E, for instance, is 'proven' to have no beneficial effects on heart health, and then the research behind the news item turns out to be deeply flawed...that's when I see red. At best, this is simply lazy and sloppy. At worst, these headlines may mislead some consumers into making poor health choices.

So I'm always on the lookout for off-the-mark headlines. And I thought I'd found another one the other day when I came across this head above an Associated Press (AP) item: 'What's 'good for you' often ends up being bad.'

Uh oh, I thought. Here we go. But instead I found a very interesting article about research, conducted by Dr John P. A. Ioannidis, of the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece. Dr. Ioannidis searched through more than a decade of studies published in Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA; where, coincidentally, Dr. Ioannidis' study was published earlier this month).

Dr. Ioannidis found nearly 50 original clinical research studies that had repeated follow up studies published between 1990 and 2003. Forty-five of the original studies concluded that the treatment being researched was effective. But in the follow-ups, 16 percent concluded that the treatments were ineffective, while another 16 percent concluded that the effects of treatment were stronger than the original studies found them to be.

In the AP article the editors of NEJM noted how important it is to recognise that, 'A single study is not the final word.' - an outlook I've frequently expressed in the e-alert.

But my favourite quote in the article comes from Catherine DeAngelis; the editor of JAMA, who told the AP that matters get even more complicated when the media produces 'misleading or exaggerated headlines.'

My sentiments exactly, Dr. D!

Viagra can cause loss of vision
To illustrate Dr. Ioannidis' point, we only need to look at Viagra, a drug that's received more than 100 clinical trials. It's the wildly popular ED drug that has achieved cultural icon status in less than a decade.

According to an article in US newspaper the Washington Post, NONE of those 100+ trials picked up on a rare but severe side effect of the drug: Men who have diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol may experience sudden partial blindness. This past spring the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology carried a report that examined seven men, aged 50 to 70, who developed this side effect - known as nonarteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) - within 36 hours of taking Viagra. In some cases, vision wasn't completely restored.

In addition, the Post reports that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 35 complaints from Viagra users who suffered sudden and permanent loss of sight in one eye. CBS News claims that number may be much higher: perhaps more than 100 cases.

As a result of this surprising development the FDA has 'approved updated labelling' for it and other ED drugs. This note appeared in last week's FDA News Digest: 'FDA urges patients taking these drugs who experience sudden vision loss or decreased vision in one or both eyes to stop taking the drug and contact a medical professional right away.'

It's priceless: If everything suddenly goes dark or blurry or blue, just read (or attempt to read) the information sheet that came with the medication; printed in microscopic typeface, of course. And then try to find the phone to call your doctor.

It's hard to say what treatment a doctor might suggest for this unique condition, but you can bet he probably won't be aware that an FDA safety officer informed her superiors of the blindness danger more than a YEAR before the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology study was published (according to the Post).

So if you know any men who use medication for ED, give them the news that will eventually be mentioned somewhere on drug information sheets: When these medications are taken by those with diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol, there's a chance that everything might go dim. Permanently.