Those little pills designed to treat the small segment of the male population that suffers from erectile dysfunction are actually used by many more men – it’s an industry with over $5 billion in annual sales in the United States alone.
However, warning: any man using Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra (the most popular erectile dysfunction treatments) or any other PDE-5 inhibitor — could be risking losing his hearing, according to a new research study that links these pills to a risk of hearing loss in men.
Permanent deafness, total or partial, all from taking one little blue pill.
The study confirms 47 cases of hearing loss and Viagra was found to be responsible for over 50% of them. Of all the cases, the men lost their hearing within 24 hours of taking the pill. It has been published by the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc. in their journal, The Laryngoscope.
Of course, this really isn’t big news: the FDA warning on the label tells users that permanent hearing loss is a risk, and that comes after the 2005 warning was placed on these types of pills that there was also a risk of vision loss (“non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy”).
Some are dismissing the numbers as low risk. However, the problem may be more widespread than previously believed, since this research study had over 250 other cases of hearing loss that they didn’t include in their findings, for various reasons. Over in Great Britain, it’s serious enough of a concern that their experts are asking that the UK products get a hearing loss warning asap.
