Impotence Drugs Duke It Out
Nov. 17, 2003 — Start your engines: Of the medications for This result — from what the researcher calls the first Viagra and Levitra are to treat erectile Even though Cialis’ effects may last longer, nearly 50% of all “What they really liked was the quick onset of action, it In Sommer’s study, 47 men received each of the drugs for six All three of the drugs were effective in men with erectile At the maximum dose — 20 mg of Cialis, 20 mg of Levitra, 100 In the half-maximum dose group, 47% preferred Levitra, 34% Men who preferred Cialis did so because they felt their Two men taking Cialis had such severe back pain that they went Other studies have shown that between 4% to 6% of all men The study “shows the potency of Levitra,” says Myron But there’s one problem that could skew results: “These Also, all three drugs work through the same mechanism — and Another problem: There have been the reports of back pain with Bottom line on all these erectile dysfunction drugs: “If Cialis is great for very sexually active guys — sex one or
erectile dysfunction, more guys say Levitra gives them better performance.
head-to-head study of the three drugs — is being presented at the 6th Congress
of the European Society for Sexual Medicine in Istanbul, Turkey this week.
dysfunction. Cialis is currently under review by the FDA to treat erectile
dysfunction and a final word is expected later this year. Levitra is
by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline, a WebMD sponsor.
Cialis is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company, a WebMD sponsor. Viagra’s
manufacturer is Pfizer.
patients preferred Levitra at the recommended starting dose at 10 mg,
researcher Frank Sommer, MD, PhD, a urology specialist at the University
Medical Centre in Cologne, Germany, tells WebMD.
was very reliable, and it produced satisfactory hardness of the erection,”
Sommer explains.
weeks with a one-week drug-free period in between. Sommer also tested different
dosages of the medications. Each drug was taken prior to sexual activity.
dysfunction. Compared to the placebo all of these drugs produced a significant
improvement in erections for vaginal penetration and completion of
intercourse.
mg of Viagra — 43% preferred Levitra, 40% liked Cialis best, and 17% preferred
Viagra.
preferred Viagra, and 19% rated Cialis best.
erections lasted longer. And the men who preferred Levitra and Viagra listed
their main reasons as ease of getting erections and hardness of erections.
to the hospital emergency room, reports Sommer. Since no spinal problems were
evident, the pain was linked with Cialis.
taking Cialis complain about back pain, and for some people it’s very severe
back pain, says Sommer.Another Viewpoint
Murdock, MD, who sits on the national medical advisory boards for Cialis and
Levitra.
patients knew which drug they were taking, and that makes a very big
difference,” he tells WebMD.
over time, the effect becomes cumulative, he says. “The longer you take any
of these drugs, the more effective the drug becomes.” Therefore, whatever
drug a guy was taking at the study’s end may show the best results.
Cialis. “But that typically occurs within the first 24 hours of taking the
pill, and it’s usually mild, and tends to occur in more muscular males.
Physical activity and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, like
ibuprofen) make it go away. For most men, it’s not a serious side affect, but
it can be an annoyance,” says Murdock.
Viagra works well for you, and you have one or two sexual episodes a month,
stay on Viagra,” Murdock tells WebMD. If you’ve been disappointed with
Viagra, and don’t have sex frequently, if you’re a diabetic, or have had
prostate surgery — or if you don’t like the lifestyle limitations of Viagra –
then you should be on Levitra, he says.
more times a week — and who aren’t in any of the hard-to-treat categories. Of
all the erectile dysfunction drugs, “Cialis will be more
,” Murdock says.