Viagra. That little blue
pill, cherished by millions of men (and presumably by their partners, too). The
answer to every guy's deepest and most personal fears. The magic elixir that
can turn back the hands of time, turn a graying couch potato into a super
Romeo, and revive a ho-hum marriage.
Viagra is one of the
best-selling drugs on the planet. But what is this stuff? How does it work?
Viagra is the trade
name used by Pfizer for a compound called sildenafil citrate. It was first
synthesized by a group of pharmaceutical chemists working at Pfizer's research
facility in Sandwich, England. Sildenafil citrate was originally developed for
use in hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina pectoris (a symptom of
ischaemic heart disease). The first clinical trials suggested that the drug had
little effect on angina, but that it could induce male erections. The drug was
patented in 1996 and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March
27, 1998 for use in erectile dysfunction. Viagra was the first oral treatment
approved to treat erectile dysfunction in the United States. It was a huge
success and sales quickly exceeded $1 billion annually.
How does Viagra work?
It's a complex chemical process, but male arousal depends upon the release of
nitrous oxide into the blood stream. This eventually leads to increased levels
of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which causes smooth muscle relaxation
(vasodilation) of the intimal cushions of the helicine arteries, increased
inflow of blood, and an erection.
An enzyme called cGMP
specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibits the release of cGMP. If there
is too much PDE5 present, cGMP is suppressed, and therefore no blood flow and
no erection. Sildenafil citrate suppresses PDE5. This allows the cGMP to go to
work.
Cialis (generic name
Tadalafil) and Levitra (generic name Vardenafi) also inhibit PDE5 and achieve
the same results, with differences in time release.
Amazingly, there is a
natural compound that accomplishes the same thing. Unfortunately, it's in the
venom of certain spiders, including the black widow spider and the Brazilian
wandering spider. In addition to other serious effects from the venom, men
bitten by these spiders often suffer from priapism, which is a potentially
harmful and painful medical condition in which the male member becomes erect
and does not return to its flaccid state.
In May, 2007 the BBC
reported that scientists were examining the venom of the Brazilian spider as a
possible treatment for impotent men. After a two-year investigation, it was
determined that the venom contains a toxin called TX26 that causes erections.
The toxin has been tested successfully on animals but further tests are being
carried out at the Medical College of Georgia in the United States before
approving it for human use.
If your partner uses
Viagra and your romance fizzles, take heart. There is evidence that his Viagra
pills will extend the life of cut flowers. A low-concentration solution of
sildenafil citrate in water can double the life of cut flowers from one week to
two weeks. The mechanism is similar to that in humans: nitric oxide leads to
the production of cGMP, whose degradation by PDE5 is inhibited by sildenafil.
So if your ex-lover leaves his Viagra behind, grind up those little blue pills
and dump them in your flower vases!
User Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus