A New Drug for Erectile Dysfunction

February 13, 2006

We have Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. The Vivus Corporations is

testing a fourth drug called Avanafil. It is supposed to work much

within 30 minutes. You may know that Vivus also produces a

drug called MUSE, a small pellet which is inserted into the

uretha to cause an erection. This drug has not been very

effective. They think that the Avanafil will be a much better

alternative.

Note that all of the Erectile Dysfunction (ED) drugs all have brand

names and the suffix of fil on their generic names- Viagra is

sildenafil, Cialis is tadalafil and Levitra is vardenafil. Vivus has not

yet announced a brand name for their Avanafil.

All of these drugs are Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors (PDE5). We

only need a lot of blood in the penis on certain occasions. So normally

when a man is not sexually aroused, the PDE5 enzyme causes the

blood vessels of the penis to contract. There are slight differences

in each of these drugs.

Since many of us are no longer normal, we seem to have a lot of

PDE5 most of the time that keeps the little guy as limp as

overcooked spaghetti. This may be due to our therapies for PCa,

to diabetes, other diseases, drugs we may be taking and many

of us have Erectile Dysfunction (ED) due to the simple fact

of old age.

Just a few years ago, the richest or most powerful man on earth

could not have sex if he could not achieve an erection. Today

we are very fortunate to have these drugs and other modalities

to help us have sex.

One problem with the PDE5 Inhibitor drugs is that they are

very expensive. Most insurance health plans do not cover

them, or if they do will only allow three or four pills per month.

One would think that with the additional companies producing

these drugs that the competition would cause a drop in the

prices, but don't hold your breath. If were a cynic, I might

conclude that there is a bit of collusion and price fixing

among the companies. But of course that would be a

violation of the laws- and large corporations would never

do that.

I wish you all the bestAubrey Pilgrim, DC (Ret.)Read my book for free at http://www.cancer.prostate-help.org/capilgr.htm

Recommended Posts