вместе с уровнем холестерина снижается и удовольствие от секса

6 марта 2009 г.
Мэрилин Элиас | USA Today
Исследование статинов показало: вместе с уровнем холестерина снижается и удовольствие от секса
Популярные ныне статиновые препараты не только снижают уровень холестерина в крови, но и мешают пациентам наслаждаться сексом, утверждает USA Today, ссылаясь на Беатрис Голомб, сотрудницу медицинского факультета Университета Калифорнии - Сан-Диего.

В результате проведенного ею шестимесячного исследования выяснилось, что этот побочный эффект в наибольшей степени проявляется у мужчин: самое действенное лекарство на основе симвастатина снизило остроту их сексуальных ощущений чуть ли не вдвое. Правастатин же практически не влияет на половую сферу, но и в борьбе с холестерином не столь эффективен.

Ученые расходятся в точках зрения на природу возникновения этого побочного эффекта: Голомб связывает его с вызываемым статинами снижением концентрации коэнзима Q10; нейробиолог Бэрри Комисарук считает, что всему виной протекающие в мозгу химические процессы, которые еще только предстоит исследовать.

http://www.inopressa.ru/article/06Mar2009/usatoday/statin.html
Источник: USA Today

Statin study: Lower cholesterol, diminished joy of sex linked

By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
The greater the drop in cholesterol from taking statin drugs, the more sexual pleasure is reduced, suggests a study due Friday at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Chicago.
This may be the first research to pit statins against placebos to see how the blockbuster statins affect the ability to have orgasms. Statins generated about $13.1 billion in sales last year, according to IMS Health.


A BETTER LIFE: Reproductive health
Statins are valuable drugs that save lives, says Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, who was not involved in the study. "But most doctors who prescribe them don't even ask about sexual function," she says, "and patients don't tend to spontaneously talk about it."

The findings should spur doctors to ask patients routinely about changes in sexual pleasure, says Mosca, because those with problems may want to try another statin or drop the medications.

The six-month, government-funded study involved more than 1,000 adults with high LDL — the bad cholesterol — but no heart disease. Participants were randomly selected to take either statins or a placebo. In the study, sexual pleasure sank along with LDL levels, says study leader Beatrice Golomb of the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine.

Patients who took simvastatin, or Zocor, had the biggest LDL drop, but men rated their sexual pleasure as sinking by nearly half over the study period. Women were somewhat better off, "but some definitely were affected," Golomb says. Pravastatin, or Pravachol, the other statin tested, reduced LDL less and didn't have a significant effect on orgasms.

Some studies have found that statins improve sexual function, probably because the pills can improve blood flow to the genital area, Golomb says. But she says the drugs also may reduce Coenzyme Q10, a nutrient that helps cells convert oxygen, blood and glucose into energy. "Orgasm is a high-energy activity," so losing the nutrient could weaken sexual pleasure, she says.

Statins might influence orgasms by affecting brain chemistry, sensory nerves or the spinal cord, says neuroscientist Barry Komisaruk of Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. "We need a lot more research to find out what's going on here," he says.

Everything in medicine has risks and benefits, says Tim Gardner, president of the American Heart Association. He's treated many with statins and seldom heard of bad sexual side effects.

Diet, weight loss and exercise should be tried before taking statins, he says. "We're not suggesting putting statins in the water for everybody willy-nilly. … Some could choose not to take them if they have bad side effects."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-05-statinsex_N.htm