Sexual enhancement drugs, like Viagra, seem like a win-win for husbands and wives across the globe. Men are undoubtedly thrilled to have their sexual health and wellness restored, so surely their respective female counterparts enjoy a healthy boost to their sex lives too. While Viagra increases men’s ability to have sex – and that’s by no means a bad thing for men or women – it enables men to have, and want to have, sex a lot, and therein lies the problem. Drugs for erectile dysfunction (ED) are so readily available, so much a jokey part of the cultural landscape, that we don’t really know how they work and what the potential dangers are. This can lead to misuse — not so much wellbeing-threatening as knuckle-headed.
A man gets an erection when the blood vessels in the penis dilate, and blood flows in. However, in ED, an enzyme counteracts the dilation, preventing an erection. Therefore, the purpose of ED drugs is to inhibit that enzyme, allowing easier and longer-lasting dilation. ED drugs also work to diminish a man’s refractory time, meaning that he can get an erection after orgasm more quickly. The one thing the general public seem to know is that Viagra and its cousins are not OK to take if you also take nitroglycerin, which is a common medication for heart patients that also dilates the blood vessels. However, when you ask around, this little knowledge we have has translated into ‘Viagra is bad if you have a heart condition’ – not so, says Arthur S. Agatston, MD.
According to Dr Agatston, a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Prevention editorial advisory board member, Viagra actually helps to keep your blood vessels from becoming sticky and enables the blood to flow through them more smoothly. This isn’t just the case in the penis but throughout the body – in men and women. Dr. Agatston even asserts that, for this reason, it’s not just nitroglycerides that men have to avoid when taking Viagra, nor is the little blue pill just bad for you if you have a heart condition. Rather, men have to be careful with anything that dilates the blood vessels, including drinking and lying in the sun. Dr. Agatston explains that taking Viagra with too much alcohol could make a man pass out.
However, the more damaging ignorance around Viagra is how it can affect you as a couple. Steven Lamm, MD, an internist in New York City and author of The Hardness Factor, notes, ‘There is something about a hard erection that is extremely important to a man’s identity, and of course most couples would prefer that the man be able to have one. But there are some who may have adjusted to life without sex. Perhaps the woman doesn’t really want it anymore, for one reason or another. And for those couples, the introduction of an ED drug can throw them seriously out of sync.’
This can be considerably daunting for older widows or divorcees who are re-entering the field of dating. Marjorie P., a 60-something woman who complained about the drugs on a 50+ Web site, comments, ‘Men have been saved from their middle-age sexual issues by Viagra and Cialis. They can be thirty again, while I have to deal with the sexual issues of being my age. It’s put the world on “tilt.”’ Andrea D., a twice-divorced physician and over-50 dater, adds, ‘Viagra has been liberating for men, but unless a woman is taking hormone therapy, she may have vaginal dryness and really not be that interested in the kind of driving, pounding intercourse he’s now capable of.’