The ‘father’ of viagra, which denies the blue pill
As if by magic, a little more than 17 years, Michael (51 years) put out the light of his chamber, and 40 weeks after the birth of their miracle, which they christened with the same name. Nothing strange if it were not because he is a paraplegic. “I found it impossible to ejaculate, a condition that goes in the package almost all that have a spinal cord injury,” he says. But that day, on the recommendation of the doctor, between his sheets acted the effect of the blue pill. Nine months later, his son became the first baby born to a father in a wheelchair thanks to the viagra. Today, this drug is 20 years in Spain.
Miguel -neither he nor his family have wanted to be photographed for this story – it is one of the 66 million men have used sildenafil (Viagra, reference to force and Niagara) around the world. In their circumstances, without the effect of this formula, it would not have been able to procreate. In this type of impacts, what happens is that “part of the cord is disconnected from the rest of the central nervous system and in function of the height at which the occurrence of the injury, the damage may be greater,” argues Antonio Sanchez Ramos, now 30 years was the architect of the unity of Sexuality and Reproduction, the National Hospital of Paraplegics of Toledo. In addition to the motor paralysis that prevents walking, and other disorders, “also the sexual function is altered, in terms of erection, ejaculation and orgasm. Only between 2% and 4% of these people fail to complete the relationship, so the chances of paternity are reduced”.
But the capsule heavenly enters the scene and returns to people like Miguel an active sexual life and standardised, and, in addition, gives them the illusion of expanding the family. “A true revolution of sexual medicine,” stresses Sánchez Ramos, who recalled that, according to the clinical trials, “about 80% of people with sci who have used viagra have got erectile responses satisfactory”.
Increase the quality of life
A blessing not only for them, also for their partners. “We’ve done studies that show a significant increase in the quality of sexual life both for the patients and for their women”, clarifies the specialist.
Until the departure of the blue diamond, those affected by spinal cord injury “had little access to a satisfying sex life and this was causing suffering”, points out Sánchez Ramos. Your only options passed by “injections intracavernososas with vasoactive substances (Caverjet) that elicited erections very long, but few have resorted to them. It was not very nice method”.
Michael came to use: “Apart from the puncture, having to load the syringe and inject it before you start a sexual relationship was something cold, took naturally to the context”. In addition, “the erection is very fictional, have the erection you are or not excited. Viagra what makes it all the more simple, natural and satisfactory”.
Its success has a biological explanation. Acts on the molecules of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in the interior of the cells to relax the muscles that exist in the arteries of the penis and thus promote the entry of blood, which helps maintain the erection after the sexual stimulation.
With the arrival on the scene of viagra, “a whole new world opened up,” says Sánchez Ramos. “It was easier, less aggressive and more natural. You were going on the pill 20 minutes before and the duration of the erection was normal. Over the next 24 hours, you could re-repeat”.
class=”icon-foto_16_g”> GALLEGO & REY
A media phenomenon unparalleled in the history of medical journalism. According to Monica Chira, director of communications of Pfizer, “Viagra is, with difference, the drug of this pharmaceutical that more citations it has received in the media. Practically every day has any impact in the press. In addition, it is mentions that not have been the result of a diffusion of Pfizer. However, despite the major impact it has in the media, it’s not the drug that more income has resulted in the pharmaceutical company. Other drugs, like Viagra, have already lost their patent, Lyrica or Lipitor (atorvastatin), have been most used by the patients and have generated more revenue”.
Competitors and black-market
The revolution was such that, while other pharmaceutical began to work on jumping on this bandwagon of the vigor of sexual (Levitra, Bayer; and Cialis, Lilly and Icos), a market of illegal selling began to emerge, especially through the Internet. Sildenafil is the medication that have been detected more copies to be fraudulent by the competent authorities. In 2005, there were counterfeits of sildenafil accounted for 70% of the total number of counterfeit medicines detected.
To this dark side of the trade come to people who are looking for treatments cheaper or shame to tell her disease to a doctor. They do not want that nobody of your family knows of his problem and fear that the specialist is reluctant to prescribe the particular medication. The fraudulent version of sildenafil may pose a risk to health. As they argue experts from Pfizer, “are made in places that do not meet the standards of manufacturing, biomedical and can be contaminated, tampered with, stored improperly or expired. May not produce the desired effect or contain ingredients hazardous to your health.”
Myths and comics
Or sildenafil provides an erection continues for hours, nor is it just for older people nor increases the risk of a heart attack. As noted by the experts, “test profile of cardiovascular safety of sildenafil is the existence of numerous reports on its use for the treatment of various forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension, both in adults and in children. Hence the provision in the market of Revatio, a medication that treats this disease.”
In the words of Moncada, “has very few contraindications. We can’t medicine to those who are taking medications with nitrates, that is to say a very small percentage of patients coronary”. For them, there are other options such as injections always or the implant of the penis, but to be more invasive approaches, many waive it.”
side Effects and symptom sentinel
As a medication vasodilator, can cause headache, redness of the skin of the face or plugging of the nose, but “it dilates the coronary arteries, is a safe drug,” says the president of the Spanish Association for Sexual Health.
What there is to take into account, argues this expert, is that the sexual dysfunction is a symptom centinela of cardiovascular problems. That is to say, thanks to this effect, “we discover that the patient has diabetes, or undiagnosed hypertension, for example.” This is why the vast majority of health authorities to maintain Viagra with prescription. “No, not dangerous, but because it helps us to identify other health problems”. It is not the case of the Uk, where it can be purchased without a physician’s signature before the end of the year.
All the doctors consulted by this newspaper agree: “Viagra has been a great revolution in the history of medicine”.
so Much so that even “I think all of the doctors tested when it came out, to see what it was”, recognizes the urologist Fernández Lozano. A media phenomenon and social in the beginning only used by the Armed Forces of the united States and now returns smiles to some 66 million people around the world.
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