Being quite certain that Dr. Danny is quite busy during the week and that he is (hopefully) out enjoying this gorgeous, Southern Sunday evening, I'll patiently (bad pun intended) await his reply as to the original question.
BMG brings up a good point, well worthy of consideration: docs are humans and may not be open and aware of all possible risk factors when making prescription decisions. However, if a doc is properly doing his job, when the pharmaceutical representative arrives to give him samples and sell a new medication, I'd HOPE he'd take the time to read all the literature that comes along with it. As far as Viagra and Family are concerned, popper and nitrate use are clearly contraindicated in these pamphlets.
I'm also hopeful that most docs are pretty patient-savvy; after years of experience, they may just develop some doctor-patient "gaydar" of their own. This would certainly be helpful, but also not anything one could COUNT on each and every time. I once had a doctor at a walk-in clinic just come out and ask me if I was gay -- and I am not someone who can be picked out as such from a crowd.
And, like I have always said, over and over to the point of boring everyone -- a patient must work WITH a doctor and take an active role in his or her health care. Sadly, I realize this is easier said than done: many people just take whatever drugs they are given and don't care to find out anything else about them.
When I was seven years old, my Mom had a big book listing prescription drugs and all the information pertaining to each. Way back when, she told me that she never takes anything unless she researches it herself first. If she has questions, she contacts her doctor. I have adopted the same standard, of course. Today, the internet replaces that big old book -- and is updated much more easily, too. My ex took a lot of various drugs for various reasons, prescribed by Navy physicians, and I made sure I looked up every single one of them. Hell, I even looked up everything prescribed for my DOG'S heart condition. The vet made all the right choices, but there WERE unanswered questions that I discovered AFTER doing the research. I wrote them all down, took them to the vet, and he was able to answer my new questions as well as structure a managed care treatment for her based on these questions.
My guess -- and it is ONLY a guess -- is that men with high blood pressure who take meds will end up with more or less normalized blood pressure. Consequently, Viagra probably won't lower it to a dangerous level. But I think we need to hear what Danny has to say about this.
I actually DO worry that men are taking these drugs for the wrong reasons, but I'm also aware that there probably isn't much that can be done to stop this behavior.
All this low-carb diet mania that's sweeping the nation... we just don't know what the long term effects might be in twenty years. Same for new drugs -- real life conditions vary so greatly from person to person and circumstance to circumstance; there are far too many variables to predict what may happen. Is there a potential for abuse? I think so, especially since these can be obtained without a prescription. Is it possible that men who take Viagra and don't really NEED it, each and every time they have sex, ten years from now might not be able to get an erection without it, even if it is little more than a psychological manifestation? Hmmm... Guess we'll find out.
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