Viagra users more likely to suffer STDs

By Alexander Penn

Recent research suggests that people who take Viagra, or other erectile dysfunction drugs, are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases.

To reach these results, experts examined the insurance records of over 1.4 million American men over 40.

Fears arose that older men underplay their risks of getting an STD. Dr. Anupam B. Jena, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Medicine, the study's lead author, insists that: “Anyone who does not practice safer sex, no matter their age, can contract an STD. Even though STDs are quite rare among older men.”

He added: “We found that STD rates in men who used ED drugs were two or three times higher, both before and after they filled their first prescription.”

Professionals prescribing erectile dysfunction drugs have been urged to discuss sexual safety with their patients. Whether the consumption of ED drugs actually causes the STD contraction is unclear. After ED drugs became popular following the introduction of Viagra in 1998, rates of STDs were not greatly affected.

Experts are looking to investigate the link in further follow-up studies. Nonetheless, the study has been published in a recent issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Other alarming statistics reveal that rates of STDs, such as HIV/AIDS, are increasing in older individuals alongside the general public.

Researchers have found that people over 50 are much less likely to use a condom during sex or to be tested for an HIV infection than people in their 20s.

Educating the elderly about sexual health has been given the back-seat. A survey of primary care physicians showed that they rarely, if ever, discuss sexual risks with elderly patients. The mal-education shows as a medical resident in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School assures that "per sexual encounter, the actual safeness of the sex is probably lower among older people in the sense that they don’t use condoms."