MONDAY, March 31, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Statins cause a clinically relevant improvement of erectile function, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 29 to 31 in Washington, D.C.
John B. Kostis, M.D., and Jeanne M. Dobrzynski, from the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of all trials evaluating the effect of statin therapy on erectile dysfunction as measured by the International Inventory of Erectile Function (IIEF).
The researchers found that, based on 14 trials (11 randomized and three observational) included in the meta-analysis, IIEF increased by 3.2 (P = 0.0001) in patients taking statins compared to controls. The effect was significant in analysis of randomized trials (P = 0.0001), and the effect remained statistically significant after multiple sensitivity analyses. With statins, the increase in IIEF was approximately one-third to one-half of that previously reported with phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and was greater than the effect of either lifestyle modification or testosterone.
"For men with erectile dysfunction who need statins to control cholesterol, this may be an extra benefit," Kostis said in a statement.
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