Risks of Online “Treatments” for Erectile Dysfunction
By Simeon Margolis
An increasing number of Internet treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED) or to spur sexual performance contain prescription drugs or other potentially harmful ingredients. So says Michael Levy, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Division of New Drugs and Labeling Compliance.
Consumers may believe that these products are safe because their labeling suggests they are “natural alternatives” to drugs approved by the FDA. In fact, tests have shown that more than one-third of the “dietary supplements” claiming to treat ED or to enhance sexual performance contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, or vardenafil, the active component of Levitra. Compounds similar to these approved ED drugs were found in some of the other products.
Beware of combining “natural alternatives” with nitrates
Everyone has surely heard the TV advertisements for Viagra and the other drugs for ED that warn of the dangers of taking them if you are also taking prescription medications containing nitrates. Nitrates are present in a number of drugs prescribed for the chest pain of angina, and many people with angina due to coronary artery disease also suffer from ED. The combination of these anti-anginal drugs with a Viagra- or Levitra-containing dietary supplement may lower blood pressure to an unsafe level. And, of course, a user of one of these “natural alternatives” has no way of knowing that Viagra or Levitra is one of its components.
(Source: Yahoo)
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