Ed meds without a prescription

Similarly, there were no differences between sildenafil 20 mg and the 5-mg (OR, 1.31 [95% CI, 0.42–4.05]; P = 0.639) or 1-mg (OR, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.30–2.91]; P = 0.899) dose at week 24.

Four patients (sildenafil 1 mg and 5 mg, n = 1 each; sildenafil 20 mg, n = 2) reported events defined as clinical worsening (initiation of ETRA therapy [sildenafil 5-mg patient] and hospitalization due to PAH [all others]).

Decreases from baseline in BNP occurred in all groups at week 12; the response was dose related (Fig. The sildenafil 20-mg group was statistically significantly ( P = 0.005) different from the 1-mg but not the 5-mg group ( P = 0.496).

At week 24, changes from baseline for sildenafil 20 mg were not significantly different among groups.

Changes from baseline in BNP ( a ) and pro-BNP ( b ) during double-blind (week 12) and open-label (week 24) phases of the study. All patients received sildenafil 20 mg TID in the open-label phase of the study (weeks 13–24).

BNP = B-type natriuretic peptide; TID = 3 times daily. Pro-BNP decreases occurred in all groups at week 12 and were dose related (Fig. Differences were significant when sildenafil 20 mg was compared with 1 but not 5 mg ( P = 0.009 and 0.414, respectively). At week 24, changes from baseline were not significantly different among groups.

There was a trend toward a mean increase in TAPSE in all groups, but there were no statistically significant differences in mean TAPSE index among groups (mean [95% CI] increases of 0.14 [0.02–0.26], 0.17 [0.06–0.28], and 0.04 [–0.08 to 0.16] cm for sildenafil 1, 5, and 20 mg TID, respectively, at week 12 [LOCF] and 0.21 [0.06–0.37], 0.40 [0.19–0.61], and 0.15 [–0.09 to 0.39] at week 24 [LOCF]). Borg dyspnea scores trended toward reduction in all groups (mean [95% CI] changes of –0.28 [–0.76 to 0.20], –0.89 [–1.35 to –0.43], and –0.43 [–0.94 to 0.08] for sildenafil 1, 5, and 20 mg TID, respectively, at week 12 [LOCF] and –1.10 [–1.75 to –0.46], –1.07 [–1.55 to –0.58], and –0.28 [–0.75 to 0.20] at week 24 [LOCF]), with no significant differences between sildenafil 1- and 5-mg TID groups compared with sildenafil 20 mg TID. Baseline 6MWD was weakly correlated with BNP ( r = –0.19; P = 0.0393) and pro-BNP ( r = –0.22; P = 0.0145). The change in 6MWD at week 12 was also weakly correlated with changes at week 12 in BNP ( r = –0.18; P = 0.0499) and pro-BNP ( r = –0.22; P = 0.0193). The overall number of AEs and numbers of patients reporting AEs were similar between treatment groups in the double-blind and open-label portions of the study; treatment-related AEs (number of AEs and patients reporting AEs) increased with increasing dose (Table 5). Sildenafil was generally well tolerated, with most AEs being mild or moderate in severity. Dyspnea was the most common AE reported in both phases of the study; headache was the most common treatment-related AE (Table 5). No patients discontinued as a result of abnormal laboratory test results, and there was no evidence of dose-related increase in laboratory test abnormalities with increasing sildenafil dose.

Sildenafil is one of the most widely used drugs in the treatment of PAH. The dose of 20 mg TID was approved based on the results of the SUPER-1 study which demonstrated that Sildenafil 20 mg TID appeared to reach the plateau of the dose-response curve for 6MWD, despite the larger hemodynamic effects seen with the highest dosage (80 mg TID).

These results raise the question as to whether a lower dosage could have a similar effect on 6MWD compared to the approved dose.

We found a significant increase from baseline in 6MWD at 12 weeks with all sildenafil doses; however, only at higher doses (5 and 20 mg TID) was the improvement of a magnitude considered to be clinically relevant ( 40 m) [7, 8]. In the absence of a placebo control arm, the small non-clinically significant increase in 6MWD in the 1 mg TID group in the double blind phase should be interpreted with caution as being a treatment effect as it is possible that this improvement could be seen as a “placebo effect” due to participation in an RCT.

Among dose groups, the change in 6MWD from baseline was significant only with sildenafil 20 mg TID compared with sildenafil 1 mg TID. A Williams trend test confirmed that sildenafil 1 mg TID was the only dose statistically inferior to the approved dose of 20 mg TID.

Generally, patients had greater improvements in hemodynamic parameters with sildenafil 20 mg TID versus 1 mg TID; however, these improvements were not statistically significantly different.

Significant differences were observed between sildenafil 1 mg TID and 20 mg TID for neurohormones at week 12.

There were no statistically significant differences between sildenafil 20 and 5 mg TID in 6MWD, hemodynamics, or changes in functional class.

Results from pharmacokinetic modeling showed that the observed exposure with sildenafil 1 mg TID was slightly below EC 50 for maximal PVR change, the observed exposure with sildenafil 5 mg TID was above EC 50 and approaching EC 90 , and the observed exposure with sildenafil 20 mg TID was mainly above EC 90 .

The pharmacokinetic data justify the different clinical responses between sildenafil 1 and 20 mg TID and explain the small difference observed between sildenafil 20 and 5 mg TID because most of the patients on 5 mg TID had a sildenafil plasma level between 3 and 20 ng/mL. A significant correlation among mean sildenafil plasma concentration and 6MWD could be observed, although the relationship between average sildenafil plasma concentration and PVR appeared to show only a shallow trend.

Whether this was due to the missing placebo group or was a consequence of the smaller sample size and larger variability on PVR cannot be concluded but should be interpreted on the basis of the complex interplay between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The vasodilator effect is the result of the interplay of several factors: tissue penetration of the drug, density and activity of PDE5 enzyme, and severity of vascular lesions.

Smaller improvement in 6MWD at week 12 with sildenafil 20 mg TID was observed in this study (38 m) compared with SUPER-1 (45 m); however, patient populations differed. Both studies had similar baseline 6MWD, but a greater proportion of patients in this study had baseline functional class II status compared with those in SUPER-1 (57% vs 39%, respectively); therefore, patients in this study had lower-than-expected 6MWD at baseline.

Patients in our study were also younger (45 vs 49 years), with a shorter time since diagnosis (median, 0.17 vs 0.85 years) and an increased percentage of Asian patients (67% vs 7%). Geographic variation in 6MWD has been described for patients with PAH and was reported to be independent of anthropometric factors [9]. Although few non-Asian patients enrolled in this study, 6MWD did not appear to differ between groups, with the exception of sildenafil 1 mg TID (Fig.

Interestingly, results from the open-label phase suggest the possibility of further improvement in 6MWD after the first 3 months of therapy with sildenafil 20 mg TID.

The mean increase in 6MWD from baseline at the end of the double-blind phase (41 m) was maintained in the sildenafil 5-mg group uptitrated to sildenafil 20 mg TID in the extension study (50 m), yet larger increases were observed from the end of the double-blind study to the end of the open-label study in the sildenafil 1- and 20-mg groups (from 14–47 m and from 38–70 m, respectively).

Thus, sildenafil 20 mg TID maintains treatment effects regardless of prior low-dose treatment.

However, 6MWD did not increase to the same degree in patients previously treated with lower doses as in patients who continuously received 20 mg TID, suggesting that a longer duration of an adequate dose may confer a larger improvement in 6MWD.

Interestingly, the total improvement observed after 24 weeks in the 20-mg group (70 m) was larger than in the SUPER-1 study at 12 weeks (48 m) or 1 year (51 m) for all sildenafil doses combined.

It may be possible that in a population of young and mainly incident cases, as in our study, further improvements in 6MWD may be observed with continued sildenafil treatment.

Decreases for BNP and pro-BNP versus baseline were significantly higher with sildenafil 20 mg versus 1 mg TID at week 12, paralleling findings with 6MWD. BNP levels similarly paralleled improvements (BNP levels decreased) or worsening (BNP levels increased) in pulmonary hemodynamics and functional parameters, including 6MWD, in patients with PAH in a previous study [10].

Elevated plasma BNP levels are associated with increased mortality in patients with PAH, and a decrease in BNP levels after therapy is associated with improved survival [11, 12].

Pro-BNP levels have recently been shown to identify poor outcome in patients with PAH [13, 14].

Longer-term follow-up of patients from our study is not ongoing, which prevents any correlation with mortality. The main limitation of the present study is its premature termination.

The study was designed to assess the relative efficacy of sildenafil 20 mg TID and lower doses and powered for the primary endpoint but the sample size was not reached because of premature termination [4, 6].

Looking at the results, this does not seem a major issue, as the difference in the primary and secondary endpoints between 1 mgTID and 20 mg TID is statistically significant and coherent.

Regarding the comparison between the 5-mg and 20-mg groups, the differences were small enough that, even with the completion of the study, similar results may have been observed. A noninferiority study comparing sildenafil 5 mg TID versus 20 mg TID would require an unrealistically large sample size for a rare disease like PAH. Estimating from the results of the current study, 382 patients would be required for a study with a noninferiority margin of 15 m at 90% power and a 1-sided significance level of 0.05, assuming a true difference (5 vs 20 mg TID) of 0 m and a standard deviation of 50 m. The ed meds without a prescription required sample size would increase if patient dropout was considered or if a smaller noninferiority margin was desired.

Despite this study having the limitation of premature termination, sildenafil 1 mg TID, but not 5 mg TID, was shown to be inferior to 20 mg TID for improvement in 6MWD in patients with PAH. Sildenafil 5 mg TID appeared to have similar clinical and hemodynamic effects as 20 mg TID. Interestingly, 6MWD results from the open-label phase of the study suggest that patients on the approved sildenafil dose (20 mg TID) continued to show clinical improvement after the first 12 weeks of treatment. Hence, the question remains whether doses lower than 20 mg TID have therapeutic value and needs to be seen in light of the current therapeutic approach in PAH. Learn about our expanded patient care options for your health care needs.

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Find a Faculty Director Apply for Admission Take CME Courses Apply to Graduate Medical Education Read Hopkins Medicine Magazine Make a Gift Submit a Kudos Announcement. VIAGRA BLUNTS EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE HUMAN HEART. Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Corporate Communications Media contact: David March 410-955-1534; dmarch1@jhmi.edu October 24, 2005.

VIAGRA BLUNTS EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE HUMAN HEART.

Sildenafil citrate (Viagra), a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) in millions of men, reduces the stimulatory effects of hormonal stress on the heart by half, according to results of a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins.

While sildenafil is more widely known for helping genital blood vessels expand to maintain an erection and, more recently, as a treatment for pulmonary hypertension, it has been thought to have little direct effect on the human heart. In the heart, sildenafil blunts ed meds without a prescription the strengthened heartbeat caused by chemically induced stress, thereby lessening the excess amount of blood and force used to pump it to the body, according to study senior author and cardiologist David Kass, M.D., a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute.

“Sildenafil effectively puts a ‘brake’ on chemical stimulation of the heart,” says Kass.

The researchers’ findings, which appear in the journal Circulation online Oct. 24, are believed to be the first confirmation in humans that sildenafil has a direct effect on the heart.