Erectile Dysfunction & Blood Pressure Medications, Which medication to Get to Avoid ED?
Blood pressure medications are an essential part of many people’s lives. These medications can protect the health and wellbeing of people with a wide variety of cardiovascular problems. However, most medications have potential side effects which need to be carefully considered. It’s quite common for lifesaving medications to, in turn, decrease our quality of life. For example, blood pressure medications and erectile dysfunction often pair.
Blood pressure medications typically operate by modifying the behavior of our circulatory system. Unfortunately, erectile dysfunction is often caused by abnormalities in someone’s circulation. It’s easy to see why many blood pressure medications can cause erectile dysfunction. Any time we change the behavior of the circulatory system to be easier on our heart, we run the risk of impacting other systems that rely on it. But are there any blood pressure medications that won’t cause erectile issues?
Thankfully several blood pressure medications have a lower chance of causing erectile dysfunction. These medications are typically grouped into special classes depending on their mechanism of action. Each of these medication classes lowers blood pressure through less direct means. This means that the medications can often directly act on the causes of high blood pressure rather than specifically regulating the circulatory system as a whole. This helps sidestep many of the issues which trigger erectile dysfunction.
ACE Inhibitors
ACE (Angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors are among the better-known classes of medication which can lower blood pressure without dramatically increasing the risk of erectile dysfunction. ACE inhibitors function by altering the conversion of angiotensin enzymes.
Angiotensin- angiotensin II is created from angiotensin when enzymes are converted. Angiotensin II will, in turn, negatively impact circulation in two ways. The first method involves directly causing vasoconstriction within the circulatory system. Its secondary effect comes from increasing the body’s levels of another vasoconstrictor called bradykinin.
ACE inhibitors are sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction in people without any issues with their blood pressure. ACE inhibitors can reduce vasoconstriction by simply interfering with the conversion of angiotensin I into angiotensin II. This restores blood pressure to a healthier level while also reducing heart strain. And all of this will typically help decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction.
Of course, it’s essential to keep in mind that specific medications within any of these groups can act differently from each other. For example, one ACE inhibitor, lisinopril, was once suspected of causing erectile dysfunction. But on investigating these events, it was found that erectile dysfunction and lisinopril only occurred in about one out of every hundred patients.
Calcium Channel Blockers
We all need calcium as part of a healthy diet. However, calcium can also harm our cardiovascular system. Your heart and arteries reject calcium due to calcium channel blockers. By doing so, the calcium channel blockers can prevent calcium from causing vasoconstriction and other unwanted effects. But at the same time, this method of helping the circulatory system won’t negatively impact a man’s reproductive health.
ARB
ARBs, also known as angiotensin II receptor blockers, target the same general areas as ACE inhibitors. The main difference is that ARBs directly halt the body’s response to angiotensin II rather than reducing its creation. This produces an effect quite similar to ACE inhibitors. And like ACE inhibitors, ARBs don’t increase our risk for erectile dysfunction. They can even help treat the condition.
Cialis
Cialis, also known as tadalafil, is best known as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. But it also has a limited but still notable effect on high blood pressure. Does Cialis lower blood pressure? It doesn’t typically lower blood pressure enough to rank it with the most popular options listed so far. But at the same time, Cialis can typically be combined with blood pressure medications with little to no risk of severe side effects. This makes it a solid option to further help a man’s reproductive health while fighting high blood pressure.
