Using drugs for erectile problems will not raise the possibility of skin melanoma, researchers from Umeå University conclude in a 2015 publication in JAMA, a top US medical journal.
A research team from Harvard University in Boston in 2014 reported that Viagra, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor (PDEi) medication used against erectile dysfunction, increased the risk of malignant skin melanoma. It was viewed as if Viagra stimulated the growth of melanoma cells, but analysts currently contradict those findings.
Researchers from Umeå University, in collaboration with researchers in Uppsala, Lund and New York, have published a study in Journal of the American Medical Association contradicting the previous research results.
The Swedish study also present that the risk was higher for early, superficial melanoma, which is yet another aspect raising questions about a causal association between the use of PDEi and melanoma. Furthermore, the results show that men who received medications for PDEi were more healthy, had higher education and higher earnings as compared to other men. This is not surprising given that these drugs are usually paid out of pocket in contrast to most other medications.
The study was 30 times larger than the American study in Boston last year, and was conducted using data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, the Swedish Melanoma Register, and other Swedish health care registers and demographic databases. Finding suggest that men with erectile dysfunction using Viagra, Cialis and Levitra tend to sunbathe a lot more, are definitely more health-conscious and more often seek medical care for skin moles; leading to a greater possibility of a melanoma diagnosis. The most important risk factor for melanoma is the exposure to strong natural sunlight, so precautions against UV exposure remains the cornerstone in melanoma protection.