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Viagra is an erectile dysfunction medicine.
What is Viagra?
Viagra is a medicine used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) in men.
It works by helping to relax the blood vessels in the penis, allowing blood to flow into the penis causing an erection. If you plan to use Viagra, you should take it an hour before planned sexual activity.
An erection is possible for up to four hours after taking it (although that doesn’t mean the erection will last four hours).
It doesn’t cause erections on its own – sexual stimulation is still needed. Viagra does not cure ED, increase a man’s sexual desire, protect from sexually transmitted diseases or serve as a male form of birth control.
If you use Viagra, you should not take any more than one tablet in 24 hours and it should not be taken with other ED medicines.
Does Viagra have side effects?
The most common side effects with Viagra include:
If you are thinking about using Viagra, please discuss it with your doctor.
Very occasionally, Viagra can cause a painful erection or an erection that won’t go away. If this happens, and the erection lasts for more than 4 hours, you should go to the nearest emergency department. Prolonged erections can be dangerous.
Viagra may not be safe to take for men with certain medical conditions, including men who have had a stroke, have heart disease or retinitis pigmentosa (an eye disease).
It can also interact with many medicines, particularly nitrates and blood pressure medicines. Men who use nitrates in any form or are being treated for pulmonary hypertension should not take Viagra.
Buying Viagra.
There are many ways to buy Viagra online, often without a prescription. However, you cannot be certain whether these pills contain the drug or are counterfeit. It’s important to buy ED medications from a store-based pharmacy or reputable online pharmacy that requires a prescription.
See healthdirect’s medicines section for more information about viagra.
Last reviewed: November 2016.
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Treatments with Viagra (Sildenafil citrate) for erectile dysfunction in male patients aged more than 18 years old with multiple sclerosis | Cochrane.
Treatments with Viagra (Sildenafil citrate) for erectile dysfunction in male patients aged more than 18 years old with multiple sclerosis.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Phosphodiesterase inhibitors for erectile dysfunction in patients with diabetes mellitus | Cochrane.
Erectile dysfunction is a common multi-factorial complication of diabetes mellitus. Newer medications, like the so-called PDE-5 inhibitors result in enhancement of penile erection. The introduction of sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra) and tadalafil (Cialis), have altered the management of erectile dysfunction. In this review we assessed the effect of these agents on erectile dysfunction in diabetic people. Eight studies with 976 men randomised to PDE-5 inhibitor therapy and a duration of mainly 12 weeks were evaluated. Compared to placebo treatment, these agents showed favourable effects in scores estimating sexual life, with an increased rate of adverse effects like headache and flushing after PDE-inhibitor therapy. Mortality was not reported in any of the included trials. Quality of life, with the exception of scores for sexual life, was not relevantly affected. If taken as prescribed, PDE-5 inhibitors comprise a valuable treatment option for erectile dysfunction in men with diabetes.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Phosphodiesterase 5 (sildenafil) inhibitors for pulmonary hypertension | Cochrane.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is high blood pressure in the lung circulation. It can occur without a known cause, or it can be caused by another lung disease or be secondary to abnormalities in the left side of the heart. The review sought to determine whether there was evidence that sildenafil (also known as Viagra), a drug which opens up the arteries and increases the flow of blood, could decrease pulmonary artery blood pressure and alleviate symptoms of PH. A limited number of studies of short term i duration indicated that the drug can open up the arteries. One small longer-term study found some favourable effects in terms of symptoms, but in the absence of longer term outcomes, we could not establish whether this meant that the people given the drug felt that their levels of daily activity were better. Future studies should be longer in duration, and should measure the impact of treatment on daily activities, mortality, quality of life and exercise capacity.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Management of sexual problems due to antipsychotic drug therapy | Cochrane.
Drugs commonly used to treat schizophrenia often cause sexual problems.This may affect erection, lubrication, orgasm, desire or libido, ejaculation, sexual arousal or overall sexual satisfaction. This may have serious negative consequences such as putting people off taking their medication or stopping taking drugs at an early stage.Sexual problems may limit a persons quality of life, worsen self-esteem and cause relationship problems.Strategies to manage these sexual problems are taking additional drugs (Viagra TM), short drug holidays when people temporarily stop antipsychotic medication, reduction of dose and switching to another antipsychotic drug. This review includes four pioneering studies with a total of 138 participants lasting between two weeks to four months, meaning all were small and quite short.Two of the studies compared the effects of drugs to treat sexual problems and two compared the effect of switching to a different antipsychotic drug (while remaining on a current antipsychotic). There is some evidence that sildenafil ((ViagraTM,RevatioTM)) may be a good treatment for men who have problems getting and maintaining an erection.It also seems to increase frequency and satisfaction of sexual intercourse.Switching to olanzapine may improve sexual functioning in men and women.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Strategies for managing sexual dysfunction caused by antidepressants | Cochrane.
Antidepressants can have numerous effects on sexual function including altered sexual desire, erection difficulties and orgasm problems. This systematic review investigated different ways to manage such sexual dysfunction. We included 23 randomised studies, with a total of 1886 participants who had developed their sexual problems while taking antidepressant medication. Twenty-two of these studies looked at the addition of further medication to the ongoing treatment for depression. For men with antidepressant-induced erectile dysfunction, the addition of sildenafil (Viagra; three studies, 255 participants) or tadalafil (Cialis; one study, 54 participants) appeared to improve the situation. For women with antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction the addition of bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban; three studies, 482 participants) at higher doses appears to be the most promising approach studied so far, but further data from randomised trials are likely to be required before it can be recommended confidently. We did not find evidence that any intervention led to a worsening of psychiatric symptoms; however, we cannot be confident of this for many of the interventions studied, as only small numbers of participants have been studied so far.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Treatment of seizures for patients with multiple sclerosis | Cochrane.
Epileptic seizures occur in a relatively small number of patients with multiple sclerosis, but can have serious consequences. Because the cause of epileptic seizures in patients in MS may be different from that in other forms of epilepsy, it is uncertain whether patients with MS should be treated differently. We searched for studies on the treatment of epileptic seizures in patients with MS, but found none. Well designed studies that address this issue are needed.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
The effect of amantadine for the treatment of fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis | Cochrane.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease affecting young and middle-aged adults. One of the most common and disabling symptoms of MS is fatigue. Different approaches have been used to try and improve this, including energy conservation, specialised fitness training and drug treatments. Amantadine has been used to try to relieve fatigue in MS. This review found that Amantadine efficacy in reducing MS-related fatigue and its tolerability are poorly documented and more research is needed.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Prostaglandin E1 helps many men suffering from erectile dysfunction to have sexual intercourse | Cochrane.
Men who experience erectile dysfunction (ED) are unable to achieve an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual intercourse. One of the most common treatment is with prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), a naturally occurring PGE used to treat this dysfunction. Men either inject PGE1 into their penis or insert a pellet containing the drug into the end of the penis (into the urethra). The review of trials found that men using PGE1 reported more satisfactory sexual experiences. Higher doses gave greater benefits but also increased the adverse effects. The most common adverse effect is some pain, and men may prefer the urethral medication rather than injections.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Psychosocial interventions for erectile dysfunction | Cochrane.
Authors conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological interventions for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) compared to oral drugs, local injection, vacuum devices, or other psychological interventions. Distinct sources of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) were searched, such as electronic databases (between 1966 and 2007). We also crosschecked references and contacted scientific societies. Eleven trials involving 398 men met the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: there is evidence that group therapy (GT) improves ED in selected patients. Focused sex GT showed greater efficacy than control group. Men who received GT plus sildenafil showed significant improvement of ED and were less likely than those receiving only sildenafil to drop out. In comparing the effectiveness of psychological interventions for the treatment of ED versus local injection and vacuum devices, no difference was found.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
Information provision to help people with Multiple Sclerosis make informed decisions | Cochrane.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are confronted with many uncertainties in all phases of the disease. For example, the significance of a diagnosis for the future disease course remains unclear as up to one third of people will experience a benign disease course with little or even no disability progression. Uncertainty is also present for the effects and adverse effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. People with MS want to receive accurate, recent and relevant information in order to make informed choices on all relevant disease-related decisions and also on personal life planning decisions. For this, balanced information is a prerequisite. It has been shown that disease knowledge is poor in people with MS. Therefore, people with MS should receive interventions that provide information on all aspects relevant for them.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website.
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