Viagra was an accident.
Sildenafil was a drug being investigated by Pfizer for treating blood pressure. It flunked the stringent FDA criteria to make the grade, but as the story goes, the men participating in the study began snickering about all the erections they were having. And the rest, as they say, is history.
What is Erectile Dysfunction (ED)?
Erectile dysfunction (ED)—formally called impotence—is a failure to have or maintain an erection, which is sexually crippling. Along with premature and other ejaculatory abnormalities, it is one of the categories of sexual dysfunction in men.
The penis normally has a mechanism by which engorgement with blood expands the flaccid, erectile tissues such that penetration in intercourse is possible. Erectile dysfunction—or, ED—affects up to 40% of men over 40 and 70% over 70.
What’s going on? Is it a mutation? A new type of zombie apocalypse?
Why is ED getting to be so common?
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Hey, here’s a great idea… make it possible for people to get Viagra over the counter! Over-the-counter (OTC) sales would help so many men who are too embarrassed to discuss ED with their doctors.
Viagra, of course, is the “little blue pill” that treats erectile dysfunction (ED). Derived from a research study for a blood pressure medication, it wasn’t good enough to become a standalone hypertension drug, but it did produce the humorous anecdote about so many of the men participating in the study snickering about all the erections they were having. And the rest, as they say, is history. It wasn’t long before other ED drugs hit the market to cash in on the lucrative market, filling the vacuum created by flaccidity. Vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis) soon joined the ranks of options, tweaking the properties and earning patents in their own right.
With Pfizer’s own patent on sildenafil (generic for Viagra) set to run out in ...
