Viagra and Related Drugs
Viagra is a drug that acts on phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5 drug). PDE-5 drugs prevent the enzyme phosphodiesterase type 5 from performing its usual function. Normally, phosphoesterase type 5 breaks down other body chemicals to help end an erection.
The three PDE-5 drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating erectile dysfunction are:
- Viagra (sildenafil)
- Levitra® (vardenafil)
- Cialis® (tadalafil )
Because these drugs act by blocking phosphodiesterase type 5, they do not create sexual desire. They also do not enable a man to have erections no matter what the situation, and they do not stimulate erections. Instead, they improve a man’s existing ability to develop an erection while feeling sexually aroused, and they extend the time that the erection lasts.
Viagra was the first of these drugs to be approved by the FDA (1998). Levitra and Cialis were approved in 2003. All of these drugs depend on a man feeling sexually aroused before they can work.
Because the PDE-5 drugs represent a remarkable advance in ED, it’s easy to assume they can do much more than is actually possible.
PDE-5 drugs cannot:
- Cure erectile dysfunction
- Increase sexual desire in men
- Change the natural size or shape of the penis
- Reverse nerve or arterial damage that is interfering with erections
- Protect anyone from sexually transmitted diseases
- Act as birth control
What the PDE-5 drugs can do, in certain men who can use them safely, is slow down the body’s mechanism for ending erections and make it a little easier for the natural body mechanism for developing erections to go forward.
How the PDE-5 Drugs Are Used
Protect Yourself: What You Should Know About PDE-5 Drugs