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Study: 1 in 6 gay men use Viagra?
Tom Musbach, PlanetOut Network
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Two researchers suggest in a new study that recreational Viagra
use is widespread among gay men, but a leading health group for
gay men warns the research is not reliable.
The Reuters news service reported last week that the study suggests
one out of six gay men uses the erectile
dysfunction drug. The report also said that men who experimented
with cocaine and ecstasy were nearly three times more likely to
have taken Viagra without a prescription in the previous three months.
The study, however, was conducted on 164 gay men who were attending a "sex resort."
"It's like going to a Broadway show and concluding that one in six gay men like musical theater," said Noel Alicea, communications manager for the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York.
He added that the total number of men in the study was "a sample too small to gain really useful information."
The research findings, conducted by Richard Crosby of the University of Kentucky in Lexington with co-author R.J. DiClemente, were published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
In recent years health officials have expressed concern about the possible misuse of Viagra in the gay community. A 2003 study of more than 800 gay and bisexual men in San Francisco found that nearly a third of the men had tried Viagra at least once. In addition, one in five men in that study had used the anti-impotency drug during the previous six months.
Viagra can be especially dangerous when taken with poppers, crystal
meth or other drugs, and it has been linked to increases in STD
rates among gay men. Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of the STD Prevention
and Control Services at the San Francisco Department of Public Health,
has publicly challenged the maker of Viagra,
Pfizer, to put warnings about STDs
in the drug's packaging.
Alicea said the drug has also helped many gay men whose HIV medications hinder erections or who have trouble maintaining erections when using condoms.
"Erections aren't the problem here, but rather failure to use condoms," he said.
source:-http://www.planetout.com | 
