Viagra is the first orally administered
phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor and was approved
by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 as the
first truly effective oral medication for the
treatment of erectile dysfunction.
In the short
time since its approval, Viagra has literally become
a household word.
It is one of the fastest growing drugs in terms
of sales and it has set many records for the number
of prescriptions written. At the same time, it has
spawned a host of urban legends. As a matter of
fact, the mystique surrounding Viagra includes
stories about women who have been attacked by
sex-crazed husbands taking the drug and about men
that have had heart attacks as a nasty side effect.
This article is to review what is currently known
about Viagra, including its safety record and
appropriate warnings about taking it. However, your
physician is the best person to advise you about
whether a drug is right for you based on your own
medical history and current condition.
At first, Viagra was simply a byproduct of
pharmaceutical experiments and was initially used as
a treatment for high blood pressure. In its early
tests as a hypotensive drug among young, male,
medical students, it produced what is called an
adverse event, an erection.
Researchers worked to determine the ingredient
that caused this surprise effect and Viagra was
reborn.