A new study found that co-prescribing drugs for erectile dysfunction and ischemic heart disease don’t result in a hike in a cardiovascular adverse event. The author examined the frequency of PDE5 inhibitors prescribed after the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency has warned against the contradictory action of PDE5 inhibitor drugs and nitrate.

The author, Ander Holt, Copenhagen University Hospital stated that small pharmacological studies have reported a decrease in blood pressure during controlled administration of PDE5 inhibitor and nitrates in both healthy and IHD diagnosed patients. However, he noted that there is a scarcity of real-world data showcasing the increase in risk while using co-prescription. The study included 2.49 lakh Danish men diagnosed with IHD with a recorded 10-fold surge PDE5 prescription. A subgroup of 42, 000 patients were continually treated with co-prescription. Despite the increase in co-prescription, the researchers did not observe any surge in cardiac arrest, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, etc.

Based on the results, researchers speculated that: 1) The observed drop in blood pressure may not result in conditions needing professional help. 2) Patients should be well informed and should prescribe to the treatment plan prescribed to them. 3) He noted that nitrates are often taken in the morning, while PDE5 activity takes place in the evening, so the prescription should be written in a way that the nitrates can be metabolized to a degree that the synergistic interaction is negligible.

(Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/972491?src= )