Researchers Say The Little Blue Diamond Could Cause Hearing Loss.

Viagra may enhance some things, but it could also make you deaf. According to The Daily Telegraph, Viagra and similar impotence drugs have been linked to more than a few cases of sudden hearing loss.

How could the little blue diamond, keeping gentlemen in the game for over a decade, suddenly sideline them with hearing loss? Researchers in England examined instances of a condition called sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) in men taking Viagra and other erectile dysfunction (PDE-5 inhibitor) drugs. 

Although SSHL is rare, the study found 47 cases of hearing loss linked to taking these drugs with 240 additional reports originating in the US. Even more shocking, two-thirds of these cases happened within 24 hours of taking erectile dysfunction drugs. SSHL is an emergency condition due to damage to the inner ear structures, could lead to permanent hearing loss, and leaves one-third of those affected with permanent hearing impairment and damage.

The study, conducted by researchers from Charing Cross Hospital, London, Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, and Royal Marsden Hospital, London, was published in peer-reviewed journal Laryngoscope; however, few studies have investigated the connection between erectile dysfunction drugs and hearing loss. The researchers emphasized that use of PDE-5 inhibitors for treating erectile dysfunction has skyrocketed with over 40 million prescriptions issued worldwide.

The biological mechanisms behind the PDE-5 inhibitor hearing loss link is the same mechanism that gives erectile dysfunction drugs their augmenting effects. Vasodilation (the widening of blood vessels) is induced by PDE-5 inhibitors due to the drugs regulation of the nitrous oxide-cyclic GMP (No/cGMP) chemical pathway. Both nitrous oxide and cyclic GMP have been previously implicated in the development of hearing loss. Those affected had an average age of 56.6 years, mostly men (male-to-female ratio of 7:1,) 88% had hearing loss in only one ear, 66.7% were equally affected in both left and right ears, and hearing loss occurred within 24 hours of taking a PDE-5 inhibitor. In more than 50% of cases, Viagra (sildenafil) was the drug of choice.

For more on the link between Viagra, erectile dysfunction drugs and hearing loss, read the original Business Scotsman article here: http://bit.ly/o1lwMh.