YNOT – A Harvard University study discovered men taking erectile dysfunction drugs were three times more likely than their non-medicated counterparts to contract a sexually transmitted disease. Researchers declined to blame the finding on a relationship between the drugs and disease, however, saying it’s more likely ED drug users are predisposed to risky sexual behaviors for psychosocial reasons.Results, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, were based on a survey of health insurance claims submitted to 44 U.S. insurance providers by men 40 and older who take Viagra or Cialis. Levitra users were not included. According to the report, a higher STD infection rate was seen in the year immediately before and immediately after the subjects began treatment, suggesting men who take ED drugs may be more inclined to engage in unsafe sex, possibly as a manifestation of “midlife crisis.” In addition, middle-aged men are less likely than younger men to employ condoms during sexual encounters, according to the researchers. It may be that the drugs simply make it easier for older men to engage in risky sexual encounters they might not be able to perform without medical intervention.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost half of the new STDs diagnosed each year in the U.S. occur among people aged 15-24. When the target is narrowed to HIV-AIDS, however, people aged 40-49 compose the largest group of new infections annually, followed by people 50-59.

HIV infections were among the most noticeably correlated to ED drugs, the researchers noted. While the rate of infection for all STDs among ED drug users was 2.8 times greater in the year preceding treatment and 2.65 times higher during the year after treatment began, HIV infection rates were 3.32 and 3.19 times higher, respectively, in the years before and after beginning treatment. Those taking ED drugs also experienced higher chlamydia infection rates.

Researchers were unable to determine the subjects’ sexuality or marital status from their insurance claims.