How do erectile dysfunction medications work?
A lot of people have heard about a blue tablet called Viagra. Sildenafil, which is the active ingredient was actually a component of a blood-pressure pill that was being tested way back, when and what was happening has an interesting side effect. It was helping a little bit with blood pressure but was actually helping much more with erections. So what happens is Viagra, Cialis, Levitra. All these medications are part of a class of medications called Pde5 inhibitors phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. What it is doing it's it's blocking cyclic GMP and that's causing vasodilation. so blood vessels open up and when blood vessels open up, your blood pressure kind of goes down. that's the principle of some blood pressure medications. But what this particular medication does is that vaso dilates and a very interesting and specific area versus the rest of the body. What Viagra and these medications all require is the presence of functioning nerves, as well as functioning blood vessels.
What happens in terms of erectile dysfunction is testosterone Peaks. Erectile function Peaks you know when we're in our 20s, 30s, but then what happens is there's a progressive decline in testosterone. But there's also a progressive decline in erectile function at about age 40 to 50, 30 to 40 % of people may have some degree of erectile dysfunction, and it parallels the decade of age. So by the time you hit your 60s, 70s, 80s, 60 or 70 percent of people may actually have some degree of erectile dysfunction.
What happens with these medications is when you take them in the presence of functioning nerves and blood vessels, and well as appropriate stimulus? It actually causes an augmentation of the erection. However in some people, is you know, more moderate or severe erectile dysfunction, even viagra may not work, and that might require other medications or more significant help.
