ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2005) — December 2004 -- Leaders in the field of sexual medicine will actively debate the use of oral pills for erectile dysfunction (ED) at the 7th Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine inLondon, UK.

Moderated by Irwin Goldstein, MD, editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the exchange is scheduled to take place on December 5, 2004 in the Palace Suite of the Hilton London Metropole. Journalists are invited to join a panel posing questions to the use of oral pills as lifestyle drugs versus medications strictly for health problems.

Viagra, or sildenafil citrate, the first of the PDE-5 inhibitors to hit the market in treatment of ED in 1998, first got its start as a potential angina treatment. Since then, vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis) have joined the scene, targeted at millions of men suffering from erectile dysfunction. Urologists estimate that as many as 152 million men fall into this group, over half of all men over the age of 40, yet the treatment for this ailment appeals to numbers beyond. While PDE-5 inhibitors are technically used to enable men to have an erection when ED is caused by problems like diabetes, depression, hypertension or prostate surgery, others see these drugs as an opportunity to enhance their lifestyle through sexual performance.

Dimitrios Hatzichristou, MD will argue that PDE-5 inhibitors are excellent lifestyle drugs. With other medications treating hair loss, obesity, and other conditions not severely life-threatening, PDE-5 inhibitors have a place in the market for men with and without erectile dysfunction.

“Erectile dysfunction is an important indicator of serious underlying medical conditions,” writes Geoff Hackett, MD in a cover story of pH7 Magazine. He will discuss the points behind taking PDE-5 inhibitors solely as a medication for real health problems.

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This event is sponsored by the International Society for Sexual Medicine and Blackwell Publishing.