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Viagra

Viagra Properties

Sildenafil citrate was discovered during the 1990s by Pfizer chemists developing a treatment for hypertension. The drug they created had little impact on hypertension, or increased blood pressure, but it was noted that the drug routinely resulted in increased ability to achieve an erection. Further research was completed, and the drug was patented in 1996. The most common brand of sidenafil citrate is Viagra.

Sildenafil citrate-based drugs, such as Viagra, work because they have a similar molecular structure to PDE5. This allows the drug to replace the PDE5 with itself, and encourage a smoother relaxation of muscle in the arteries of the penis. This, in turn, allows blood to flow into the penis more easily and an erection can be formed. The drug acts upon the system by taking part in the erectile system and, as such, does not cause erections to develop unless arousal has already taken place. Viagra also benefits from having no known, major side-effects.

Viagra was the first pill approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating erectile dysfunction, and made sales totalling $1 billion in its first two years on the market. The drug has since become widely available all around the world, and is now the best known of all erectile dysfunction treatments.

Viagra is available in the US and the UK on prescription, and online without any medical consultation whatsoever. There has been a pilot project in the UK which entailed selling Viagra over the counter after a short consultation with the chemist. There is also a wealth of 'fake' Viagra available online, that are mostly herbal-based treatments and are often named ’herbal Viagra’.