Popular erection meds could make you go blind: study

A popular bedroom helper could be more than meets the eye.New research suggests that a widely used erectile dysfunction drug may also raise the risk of developing a serious eye disease that can cause permanent vision loss.And you don’t even have to be taking it for a lift below the belt.The study focused on patients prescribed the medication to treat a common age-related condition that affects more than half of men by age 60.The drug, tadalafil, is better known by its brand name, Cialis.

It belongs to a class of medications called phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, or PDE5 inhibitors.These treatments work by relaxing and widening blood vessels, helping increase blood flow to the penis and making it easier to get an erection.But tadalafil is also approved to treat symptoms of an enlarged prostate, which can include a weak urine stream, a frequent or urgent need to pee and the frustrating feeling that your bladder still isn’t empty after you’ve gone to the bathroom. While the drugs are considered effective for both uses, previous research has raised concerns about their potential effects on the eyes.Curious if it could raise the risk of glaucoma — a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve and can eventually rob you of your sight — researchers at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei took a closer look.For the study, the team analyzed health data from nearly 74,000 men ages 40 and older.

About half had been taking tadalafil or another PDE5 inhibitor for up to five years to treat urinary symptoms, while the rest hadn’t taken the drugs.They found that men prescribed tadalafil were 22% more likely to develop glaucoma than those who hadn’t taken a PDE5 inhibitor.That figure rose to 33% for primary open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease.Participants taking the drug also had a 32% higher risk of developing ocular hypertension, or abnormally high pressure inside the eye and a major risk factor for glaucoma.And the potent...