Some men reject blood-pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs because they affect their sex lives

By Frederick H. Lowe
Contributing Writer

(Special from The NorthStar News & Analysis) – Robert A. Winn, M.D., a Chicago-based physician, said that since 1990, 25 to 33 percent of his male patients who suffered from high blood pressure or high cholesterol, refused to take prescribed medications to treat these ailments because they affected their sexual performance.

“The patients said when they took these medicines they lost a part of themselves because they could no longer have sex,” said Dr. Winn, who is associate vice president of community-based practice at UI (University of Illinois), which oversees Mile Square Health Center on Chicago’s West side.

Dr. Winn, who made his comments at a minority male health conference at Mile Square that screened for prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancers and diabetes, is not the only person openly discussing this very personal issue.

A woman who did not want her name disclosed, wrote on “The People’s Pharmacy” website that when her husband took Lipitor to reduce his high cholesterol, he lost interest in sex because he suffered from erectile dysfunction.

“His doctor put him on Lipitor. After the dosage was increased, I started noticing that he wasn’t enthusiastic about our previously very active sex life. He was having difficulty maintaining an erection and uncharacteristically not initiating lovemaking,” the woman wrote. “When I asked, he said he just wasn’t feeling aroused and that he noticed his usual morning erections weren’t occurring. He asked his doctors if the Lipitor might be responsible, and the doc said to stop it for a month and see what happened. Within a week, his libido returned big time. Our sex life is back to normal and as it was before Lipitor.” She said her husband is attempting to lower his cholesterol level on his own and now takes niacin, eats oatmeal and exercises regularly, but he is unwilling to have his cholesterol checked because he’s afraid his physician will prescribe Lipitor again.

Statin drugs, like Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor and blood-pressure lowering drugs, which reduce the chance of heart attacks and stroke, may also lower some men’s testosterone levels, a male hormone, said Michael Abern, MD, director of Urologic Oncology and assistant professor in the department of Urology at the University of Illinois Hospital. “Erectile dysfunction is a cardiovascular disease [diseases that involve the heart and blood vessels]. It is caused by disease such as hypertension. Many drugs that treat hypertension relax blood vessels and the diseased arteries can’t compensate.”

Losing weight and stopping smoking can improve cardiovascular heath, Dr. Abern said.
WebMD Health News reported in 2010 that statin therapy prescribed to lower cholesterol also appeared to lower testosterone, according to a study that evaluated nearly 3,500 men who had erectile dysfunction or ED.

African-American men suffer from the highest rates of high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2003-2006, 26.5 percent of Black men suffered from high blood pressure, compared to 17.4 percent of white men and 15.3 percent of Mexican-American men, the CDC reported in the study “A Closer Look at African American Men and High Blood Pressure Control — Executive Summary.” High blood pressure is considered a reading of more than 140 over 90.

Dr. Winn said physicians have been trained to treat diseases but not the whole person. He mentioned a chief financial officer of a Colorado-based company who became so embarrassed about his ability to perform sexually because of cholesterol-lowering drugs that he had difficulty discussing the problem with Dr. Winn. “He pointed to his penis, but did not mention it by name or say what was wrong,” Winn told The NorthStar News & Analysis. “Here was a guy who ran a major corporation, but he could not discuss his sexual problems.”

Dr. Winn emphasized that the medical profession must strive to individualize treatment plans for patients, treating their illnesses while also helping them to live well.

This article originally published in the September 22, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.