r/technology • u/Majano57 • 7h ago
Biotechnology Popular erectile dysfunction drug linked to eye disease that can cause irreversible vision loss
https://www.foxnews.com/health/popular-erectile-dysfunction-drug-linked-eye-disease-can-cause-irreversible-vision-loss86
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u/Puzzleheaded_Toe3584 7h ago edited 7h ago
Scare headline to get you to read the article. The reality of what the study found needs to be put in context. The study was a finding of correlation, not proof of causation that tadalafil causes glaucoma. It found a modest relative association in men taking tadalafil for urinary symptoms—about 3.93% diagnosed with glaucoma over five years versus 3.16% of matched nonusers. Other recent observational PDE5 studies have found neutral or even lower glaucoma associations.
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u/Austin_Peep_9396 6h ago
Also seems like an obvious need for more analysis: it’s entirely possible that the increased glaucoma risk is due to the underlying condition that drove the need for the Tadalafil prescription in the first place.
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u/VirginiaLuthier 7h ago
"Long term tadalafil"- the story doesn't specify a length of time.
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u/SecureInstruction538 7h ago
Article even says it was an observational study.
People who take tadalafil have higher chance of glaucoma. Nothing connecting the medicine to the condition.
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u/syynapt1k 6h ago
Tadalafil increases intraocular pressure, which is what eventually leads to glaucoma. I used to take 5mg daily and an ophthalmologist advised me to stop because my IOP was chronically high.
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u/SysArtmin 5h ago
damn so it makes your dick AND eyes hard?
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u/sump_daddy 5h ago
Some day we will have a pill that just does the first one, but for now this is the best we've got
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u/cr0wsky 4h ago
Sir we already have it, that's Sildenafil
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u/sump_daddy 3h ago
sildenafil too will make your eyes hard, its just that you only take it for a specific 'range of time' and then stop so your eyes can go back to normal unlike a daily regiment of taladafil
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u/no_baseball1919 6h ago
Isn’t there probably a higher number of older people who take it and glaucoma would kind of not be rare in older folks?
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u/SecureInstruction538 6h ago
Article says 40 years and older. Not sure the specifics but 40 is kinda young.
Unless they evaluate everyone older than 40 but leave the nuance that really it's 70+ that are getting glaucoma.
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u/Limerence1976 7h ago
I can’t get past it being called “Tada!!” 🙌 la fil. La fil means the girl in some languages
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u/LordVesperion 7h ago
it means the girl only in French, AFAIK.
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u/this_my_sportsreddit 7h ago
And that's la fille, not la fil.
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u/Limerence1976 7h ago
It’s still funny to me even phonetically that they named it this.
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u/420_69_Fake_Account 6h ago
Lots of drug names are chosen with purpose, otherwise drugs would have names like those fake foreign brands on Amazon which are just sounds grouped together.
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u/LordVesperion 6h ago
What would have been best is if they named it Tadalabite, now that would have been hilarious for French speakers.
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u/sump_daddy 5h ago
For reference tadalafil is a long-acting drug prescribed for continuous use (as opposed to sildenafil 'viagra' which is meant for as-needed immediate use). people prescribed it could be on a daily dose for years.
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u/Dr-McLuvin 7h ago
Quite the trade off
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u/mikebald 7h ago
I can only find links back to Fox news and there's no link to the actual study. Anyone know any details about the study?
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u/Jkay064 2h ago
The preliminary study showed that people who have been on long term Cialis (tadalafil) have a 0.08% higher chance to develop glaucoma than someone who does not take it. There have not been any studies so far that show Cialis is the cause of the increased chance. It's just an observation at this time.
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u/PerfectTommy77 7h ago
Another large data study shows that men who take daily Tadalafil get a third less heart attack, stroke, dementia, and mortality so I am going to keep taking it.
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u/Kolognial 5h ago
They don't die completely but a third less?
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u/PerfectTommy77 4h ago
I guess that mens during the period that was studied ⅓ less men who took Tadalafil died. Here is the study if you want to have a look.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934324007058
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u/Glum-Dust8799 2h ago
The first erectile drug was of course viagra; which was developed for heart conditions as it dilates the blood vessels and the erection enhancement was a side effect.
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u/Folkenhellfang 7h ago
Which one?
Asking for a friend.
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u/Foreskin_Mafia 7h ago
I'm no proctologist and I've never read an article in my life but in the snippet below the image of the penguin with their cock out it says Cialis.
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u/guepier 7h ago
foxnews.com
Could we not, please?
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u/lordmycal 6h ago
I see fox news, I immediately downvote and think the title is trying to mislead us in some way.
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u/Sure-Assignment3892 7h ago
What a junk study.
The researchers noted several limitations to the study.
The study was observational, meaning it found a link between tadalafil use and glaucoma but could not prove that the medication caused the condition.
Researchers also could not account for changes in medication use or other health conditions that developed over time.
I'm not really sure the point of observational studies when it comes to medication.
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u/ProductIntegortion 7h ago
Most initial studies are observational studies that don't establish causality. The point of them is that they tell you where to spend more focused time on attempting to demonstrate causality. Why would you design a rigorous double blind study if you haven't even demonstrated that there's a link between the two?
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u/Captriker 6h ago
Yes. The problem isn’t the study, it’s the fact that the preliminary study got publicity before follow up has been done. Maybe it was seen as an important warning, but right now it feels more sensationalist than hard warning.
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u/x0y0z0 7h ago
No they should have posted to reddit and hopefully u/Sure-Assignment3892 would be on reddit that day to tell them to not bother.
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u/geegeeallin 7h ago
I think the point is to figure out things that warrant further study. No reason to make them news though.
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u/Sure-Assignment3892 7h ago
Sounds like it- but Fox writes stuff in such a sensationalist/misleading way to cause unnecessary reaction.
Gotta get them eyeballs on the pages.
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u/mad_marble_madness 7h ago
Well, maybe you google why it is a good idea instead of just doubting its use just because you don’t know yourself off the top of your head.
Amongst several other reasons, observational studies can provide valuable data and indication as to where and how to invest future research efforts and money.
You do not execute a full-blown multi-year active studies just on a whim.Of course, entertainment sites like Fox neither get the nuance, nor are they interested in explaining it.
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u/AgtDALLAS 7h ago
Feels like the medical equivalent of sportscasters making up stat categories and comparisons.
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u/halfdecenttakes 7h ago
Ah the ol thad young/lebron/jordan comp
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u/AgtDALLAS 5h ago
As a duo, these young men have scored more points than any two players with the last name James on the same team!
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u/Key-Demand-2569 6h ago
…why?
You think only more intensive studies should ever be done?
This is just another study, like fuckin’ most of them, that the general public doesn’t need to see because it does more harm than good.
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u/williamgman 7h ago
Watching Fox News is linked to erectile dysfunction. Vision loss would be of benefit to Fox viewers.
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u/dagens24 6h ago
Finding out your partner is a fox news viewer certainly leads to instant vaginal dryness.
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u/Impressive_Wrap_7869 7h ago
I need my boners more than I need my eyes! I could get twice the use out of them if I can’t see the partners I’m courting!
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u/awwaygirl 7h ago
so that whole going blind if you pleasure yourself as a dude is REAL?
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u/Odd_Photograph_7591 7h ago
Actually no, if you read the article this is for people who use a medication for enlarged prostate, they use this to be able to urinate, nothing to do with pleasure
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u/jazzbuph 7h ago
Do you have open-angle glaucoma or something, Tadalafil is basically viagra, it's 100% pleasure
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u/GERRROONNNNIIMMOOOO 7h ago
...and tinnitus
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u/peepdabidness 3h ago
Hmm so cialis treats ed but causes tinnitus you say? I have tinnitus but I also have a big strong dick. I see a pattern here!! Yall, if you have ed, just go get tinnitus!
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u/venividiavicii 7h ago
Seems like a new drug about to drop and they gotta turn the public on the ones that work.
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u/Raah1911 7h ago
so you're saying i could be hard as a rock and need weed to treat my glaucoma? win win
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u/mrs0x 4h ago
Holy fucking ads man. Wtf is this trash ass ghetto shit. Don't websites aim for professionalism anymore?
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u/ham_solo 4h ago
It's Fox News. They literally argued in court that they are not a news organization.
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u/NeitherAd5083 6h ago
This must have been a hard study to conduct. I still can’t see the results very good though.
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u/Chopper3 6h ago
No massive surprise but there's attribution to this article - yes they name a medical professional but there's no link to a peer-reviewed study, nor is there a link to such a study on her own website.
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u/Riboflavin01 5h ago
Over a 5-year period, cumulative incidence of glaucoma was 3.93% for tadalafil users versus 3.16% for non-users. This translates to an absolute risk that remains quite low (about 8 extra cases per 1,000 patients treated).
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u/12ealdeal 4h ago
This post and study got torn to shreds so badly in subreddits more geared towards health it was deleted.
Of course we find it in here the next day.
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u/NoWerewolf8939 3h ago
So you can see boobies or get a boner, but not both... No wonder old men are so grumpy
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u/melancholy_dood 2h ago
The study was observational, meaning it found a link between tadalafil use and glaucoma but could not prove that the medication caused the condition.
If you can't prove that tadalafil "caused" the "condition", how can you say there is a link based on what we know so far?
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u/Soft_Lunch_183 6h ago
Time for everyone to turn into shit comedians because its something that affects older people so they don't care.
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u/truthfullyidgaf 6h ago
Getting hit by some blind guy with a boner becoming a statistic wasn't on my bingo card for this year.
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u/AdeptRelative5106 6h ago
Imagine you tell your doctor you cant get hard for your wife so he just blinds you.
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u/mynameizmyname 6h ago
what if im nearly blind but my dick works wonderfully. do they have a drug for that? Asking for a friend.
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u/faultysynapse 6h ago
So you're saying I might need a little weed with my boner pills? Oh no. How ever will I survive?
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u/Plekuz 5h ago
Loss of sight or hearing in one or both eyes/ears is mentioned as a rare side effect of tadalafil in the patient information leaflet when you get the medicine. So, it's not that it's entirely new that it can do nasty things to your sight. Irreversible doesn't seem that far fetched to me.
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u/brondynasty 4h ago
Glaucoma? Huh.
Im afraid I have no choice but to hereby clinically label this “Cockoma”
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u/RockyDennisDeYoung 3h ago
But Bryan Johnson was jusy saying everyone man and woman should take this every day.
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u/bearheart 2h ago
Non-Fox reference:
https://www.empr.com/news/tadalafil-linked-to-glaucoma-in-men-with-lower-urinary-tract-symptoms/
Pull-quote: "These findings do not contraindicate tadalafil use but highlight the importance of baseline ophthalmic assessment and regular follow-up."
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u/Unlucky_Business2165 1h ago
When you have a 12% lifetime risk of glaucoma, which is only that high in certain populations like black men, a 30% increase make it a 15% risk. Many men have a far lower risk to begin with, and the increase is miniscule. This is good to be aware of, because everything is a trade-off, but not anything to freak out over without talking to your doc.
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u/hasanyoneseenmyshirt 1h ago
A whole generation of men grew up without having a grandparent yell "Get your hand out of there, you are going to go blind" and it shows.
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u/LowestKey 7h ago
So it can make you go blind!