A journey from 'impotence' to 'erectile dysfunction'

Impotence, signifying weakness, was a word that could throw a man into the dark hole of disgrace and lifelong loneliness. The word did not have any hope associated with it, like death, impotence meant the END of a man's manhood, or sexual power. The occurrence of impotence was never questioned, just accepted as the normalcy of ageing factor.

Impotence was a customary phenomenon till Viagra came into the lives of common men in 1998. What was the first thing Viagra did about impotence? Viagra, for the first time said that 'impotence' is not the right word; medically the term should be "erectile dysfunction" which is just like any other physical condition with treatments available for it.

As first drug to treat ED or erectile dysfunction without any artificial implant in the penis, Viagra won the hearts of ageing males really fast. So much that the statistical data for the year of 2000 showed that just after two years of its approval by FDA, 280,000 U.S. physicians had since prescribed it for more than 6.1 million men, 18 million prescriptions had been written, 140 million tablets had been dispensed. Moreover 70% of all prescriptions were now for refills. And the brand Viagra was so popular that 93% of the population recognizes the name compared to 96% brand recognition for 'Coke.' The overall clinical trials experience to date totals more than 11,000 patients.

And to the astonishment of the male folk, for the first time it was discovered that impotence or erectile dysfunction is not a disease on its own. It is, like fever, a symptom of other more serious physical conditions and side-effect of certain medicines. For the first time people were well-aware of the causes of erectile dysfunction, psychological and physical. While most of the time other physical conditions like atherosclerosis(hardening of the arteries), diabetes , brain or spinal cord injuries, lower level of sex hormone i.e. testosterone, liver or kidney failure, multiple sclerosis etc cause erectile dysfunction, life style and psychological aspects are also to be taken into consideration.

The term "Viagra" has become so popular that many fake aphrodisiacs now sell themselves as Herbal Viagra and some of them even present these medicines as blue tablets imitating the diamond shape of Pfizer's product Viagra. Viagra is also informally known as "Vitamin V", "the Blue Pill", and by many other nicknames.

The popularity of Viagra in the treatment of ED has gone so far that it has encouraged the non-medical use of Viagra power.

As an aphrodisiac
While there is no clinical evidence, Sildenafil Citrate has frequently been used as an aphrodisiac. People believe that Viagra improves overall sexual performance by enhancing erectile function.

Recreational use
Another fact regarding Viagra is that, its popularity with young adults has increased over the years. And they use Viagra sometimes recreationally by mixing Viagra with methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in an attempt to compensate for the side effect common to many amphetamines of erectile dysfunction, a combination known as sextasy, rockin' and rollin, or trail mix.

Prevention of plant wilting
Another striking use of Viagra has been seen on plants when a low-concentration solution of Sildenafil in water significantly prolonged the time before cut flowers wilt. Another experiment proved a doubling in time from one week to two weeks.

Impotence is no longer a threatening word to the masculinity of a man and also, it is not the end of sexual ardor and gratification. These facts have been very well understood by modern males and females of the Viagra age. Erectile dysfunction, which has replaced the word impotence, is a very much treatable disease. And the blue diamond shaped miracle of the Pfizer is able to treat a man for his erectile dysfunction and give his sexual ability back, even if he has come of an age which is considered an old age.