Doctors have warned that Viagra pill taken by thousands of men may cause deafness. The use of Viagra and analogous drugs has been associated with hundreds of cases of hearing loss around the globe. Now the users of US are being warned that drugs could harm their hearing.
The drug watchdogs in Europe, the Americas, East Asia and Australasia have uncovered fifty suspected cases of sensor neural hearing loss, which is a rapid loss of hearing loss of one or both ears and are associated with Viagra and related drugs Cialis and Levitra. Eight cases were identified from the UK.
The average age of those affected was fifty- even and above, although two of the males involved were of only thirty-seven. It is not apparent how long the problems lasted, however, this type of hearing loss, more frequently due to infections and exposure to loud noise typically causes permanent hearing damage in up to a third of cases.
In earlier study, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), regulator in US found twenty-nine suspected cases and only third were categorized as temporary. The FDA advises users of Viagra, Cialis or Levitra who find their hearing abruptly deteriorating, to stop the pills instantly and see their doctor.
But the British researchers are not confident how Viagra might affect hearing, but it may be due to those chemical chain reactions activaters that have knock-on effects in the inner ear. According to Dr Afroze Shah Khan from Charing Cross Hospital’s ear, nose and throat department, medical practitioners involved in the prescription of these drugs should to be watchful about their potential side-effect.
The complaints of hearing loss associated with Viagra are extremely rare, stated the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Britain’s drugs watchdog. Reports of an unfavorable reaction to a drug do not prove the medicine caused it, added a spokesman from, Britain’s drugs watchdog. The study published in the journal The Laryngoscope.