Dive Brief:
- The active ingredient in Viagra (sildenafil) and other drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) is phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5i).
- Researchers who conducted a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials of PDE5i published between 2004 and 2014 found that PDE5i offered cardiac protection in at-risk patients. Specifically, it prevented the heart from changing in size and shape in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.
- PDE5i also improved overall heart performance in patients with various cardiovascular (CVD) conditions, with no negative impact on blood pressure.
Dive Insight:
There were a total of 1,622 patients included in this meta-analysis, and the results were clear. PDE5i can play a positive role in providing cardioprotection for patients with various types of CVD—and especially for patients with thickened left ventricle muscles.
The downside to this study is that it only included men, so it isn't clear that these results could be extrapolated to women; however, the researchers, who are located at Sapienza University in Rome, have expressed interest in broadening the research to include women.