1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Sexuality
photo of Cory Silverberg
Sexuality Blog

By Cory Silverberg, About.com Guide to Sexuality since 2005

Why You Should Tell Your Paramedic Everything

Thursday November 29, 2007

Rod Brouhard, About.com’s Guide to First Aid and a paramedic with over seventeen years experience in emergency medical services, recently wrote this important article highlighting the seriousness of full disclosure if you find yourself flat on your back with a paramedic working over you (I swear, that wasn’t meant to sound like fantasy material…this is a serious post).

The problem is with chest pain and erectile dysfunction. Rod explains that PDE5 inhibitors, the class of drugs used most popularly for treating erectile dysfunction (ED) including brand names like Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis, actually work in similar to nitroglycerin, which is commonly used by paramedics responding to individuals with heart-related chest pain. Unfortunately what could be a potentially dangerous drug interaction can be made much worse when the person with chest pain “forgets” to disclose that they’ve been taking PDE5’s in the first place. And as Rod points out, even though paramedics are supposed to ask, some don’t.

If you’ve ever taken PDE5’s or plan on having sex with someone who does, it’s time to read up and speak up.

Read more - Sex and Safety - - Chest Pain and Erectile Dysfunction

Photo credit: Photodisc/Getty Images

Comments

No comments yet. Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore Sexuality
About.com Special Features

Learn how you can reduce your your numbers with these nutrition and exercise tips. More >

Keep yourself, and your family, happy and healthy this fall with these tips. More >

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Sexuality

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.