Can Viagra Improve Your Performance Outside of the Bedroom?

Viagra works by hindering the effects of an enzyme which decreases blood flow to the penis.  In regards to erection, this means that more blood can flow to the penis and firmer, long-lasting erections can be achieved.  But, if Viagra can do this to the male organ, then can it have other positive effects on the body as well?

The World Anti-Doping Agency is asking the same question.  Several years ago, they began to test theories that Viagra may also widen blood vessels in other parts of the body, not just the penis.  This would mean that more blood could easily flow throughout the body and cause more oxygen to reach muscles and organs.  Thus, the cardiovascular system would be able to function more efficiently and muscles would gain endurance.

There have been many major clinical studies into Viagra’s other performance-enhancing effects.  One study, which got the attention of WADA, involved athletes from Stanford University.  The athletes were given Viagra and then had to perform physical tests like cycling 10 kilometers.  Some of the athletes using Viagra were able to increase their performance by up to 40%.  However, these improvements only took place when the cycling took place in a simulated high-altitude environment of 12,700 feet.  When the cycling was performed at sea level environments, no significant improvement was evident.

It would make sense that Viagra gives the best full-body performance-enhancing effect at higher altitudes.  Our blood cells constrict at high altitudes which is why it is more difficult to run on the top of a mountain than at its base.  Further Viagra studies also support this effect.  In 2004, a study was performed in Germany involving mountaineers climbing Mouth Everest.  The study found that Viagra helped relieve the men’s problems with blood vessel constriction while on the mountain and also enhanced their ability to exercise. There are now many other studies in effect which aim to determine whether Viagra will have a positive effect on performance at low altitudes as well as high altitudes.

Currently, the World Anti-Doping Agency has not added Viagra to its list of banned substances.  However, there was the infamous incident of cyclist Andrea Moletta getting banned from the Tour of Italy after officials found about 80 Viagra pills in his father’s car.  If Viagra does get officially banned from sports, we can expect a huge protest from athletes’ lawyers.  It would not be surprising to hear arguments which link sexual health to physical health and performance.  Thus, banning impotent athletes from taking Viagra would sacrifice their athletic abilities.

The studies do support that Viagra has performance-enhancing qualities outside of the bedroom.  However, these effects are likely only negligible at best.  When it comes to sports though, this can mean the difference between a Gold and a Silver medal – especially in sports which take place at high altitudes.  What does all this mean to the millions of men who take Viagra and who aren’t athletes?  Well, not much – unless you are going to be climbing a mountain soon!

How to Get the Most Out of Viagra

Viagra is by far the most well known and trusted of all the erectile dysfunction treatments out there.  Even though Viagra is now facing tough competition from the other PDE5 inhibitors, it still remains the first-choice line of treatment against ED for many doctors and patients.

Even though Viagra has been so widely used for over a decade, many people still don’t realize how it should be used in order to get the best effects.  Because of this, men may have a very positive experience with Viagra one time and then have disappointing results another time.  Here is what you need to know in order to get the most out of Viagra:

Viagra and Meals
The medicine info about Viagra tells you that you can take the pills without regards to food.  Yes, this is true that food will not cause an interaction or completely prevent the medicine from being absorbed into your body.  However, taking Viagra with food WILL slow down how fast it gets absorbed into your system.  If you take Viagra while eating or immediately after a meal, it could take up to 60 minutes before you get the full benefits.

Ideally, you should take Viagra on an empty stomach.  Not only with the drug start working faster, but you will get more potent results.  However, there is a downside to this: if you take Viagra on an empty stomach, you can experience more severe side effects.  The best solution is to eat a meal and then wait approximately 2-3 hours until taking Viagra.  This will cut down on the side effects while still giving the best results.

Drink Excess Fluids with Viagra
One of the most common side effects of Viagra is headache.  While this side effect isn’t usually serious, it can be bothersome when you are trying to have a romantic encounter.  To avoid getting headaches, you should drink excess water while taking Viagra.  This is especially true because sexual activity can get your pulse racing and cause you to become further dehydrated.

Avoid Alcohol
A glass of wine can really help get your mojo going.  However, a few glasses of wine can also cause ED.  Alcohol is one of the biggest contributors to erectile problems.  If you already have a chronic ED problem, then it is not the best idea to consume alcohol before your romantic encounter.  Even if you are able to get an erection due to the Viagra, it may not be the highest quality of erection.  Additionally, alcohol can increase some of the potential side effects of Viagra like dizziness. You would not want to end your evening without getting the benefits of Viagra because you were too dizzy to perform!

Wait AT LEAST 30 Minutes
Many men experience the benefits of Viagra after just about 15 minutes.  However, they are not going to experience the MAXIMUM benefits in this short of a time.  With Viagra, it is best to take things slow.  If you wait at least 30 minutes (60 minutes is better), then you will get really great results from Viagra.

The Truth about Viagra, ED, and Penile Fractures

As much as we men love our members, the design is far from perfect.  From a biological standpoint, the penis is a true marvel. It must be able to go from a completely flaccid state to rock-hard in a matter of moments, rapidly increasing in size and shape as it does.  During this process, damage to the penis can easily occur.  A couple years back, “Grey’s Anatomy” viewers got an idea of this possibility when Dr. Sloan has a penis fracture during sex.

Since a lot of the men taking Viagra are older males who may not be having sex as frequently as in their youth, the likelihood of penile fractures, or broken penis, increases.  Also, ED can severely deteriorate the overall health of the penis.  In order for a penis to remain healthy, it must get adequate blood flow and be exercised regularly.  This normally happens in the 3-5 erections that men experience nightly.  Men with ED, however, do not experience these regular nightly erections.

When mild penis injuries repeatedly occur (some so mild that the man might not even notice), it can lead to a condition called Peyronie’s disease in which the penis has a predominant curvature.  Even though penile fractures and Peyronie’s disease are far from new conditions (there have been reports of them since the 10th century), medical professionals are now noticing a new factor related to them: Viagra.

Studies are now showing that Viagra can put some men at risk of getting penile fractures but, with other men, actually can help prevent them.  The way that a penile fracture happens is this: during erection, the penile cavities are rapidly filled with blood.  The penile cavities are surrounded by a tunic which stretches as the penis grows and expands with erection.  If the penis expands too much, then this tunic can snap.

Penis injuries are much more common in young men who have healthy blood circulation systems.  That is why it is strongly recommended against men who don’t have ED to use Viagra recreationally.  The increased erection power could actually lead to penis damage.  Also, it is more likely for a penile fracture to occur if the woman is on top because the wrong shift can lead to strain on the penis and result in a fracture.

However, for older men who have chronic ED, taking Viagra can actually help prevent penile fractures.  The reason for this is that the penis requires a workout in order to stay healthy.  Just like your muscles, if you don’t use it – you lose it.  That means ED can weaken the tunic of the penis.  After prolonged periods of time without getting an erection, the penis tunic can lose its elasticity.  By taking Viagra, men with ED are actually improving their penis health and reducing the chances of damage occurring during sexual activity.

Is the Viagra Risky – or is it the Sex?

Heart problems are one of the leading causes of erectile dysfunction.  However, if you carefully read through the Viagra medication info, you will find  a few precautions that Viagra may not be safe for men with heart problems.  So, how are we supposed to interpret this Catch 22?

Surprisingly, the heart disease precaution about Viagra doesn’t have so much to do with the drug as it does with what Viagra makes possible: sex.  Some very thorough studies have uncovered that 1% of heart attacks occur due to sexual activity.  For 50 year old men who are otherwise healthy, the risk of dying from a heart attack is 1 in a million.  However, this risk doubles when sexual activity is involved.  Still, 2 in a million is very low.  Even when you factor in heart disease, the risk of fatal heart attack from sexual activity is still low at 20 in a million.  In this sense, men with heart disease can feel safe engaging in sexual activity which is made possible from Viagra.

There is also an argument which goes against the precautions about sex in men with heart disease: sex could actually be healthy for the heart.  After all, sex is a type of exercise which gets the heart rate going and may also have you breaking a sweat.  The recent Massachusetts Male Aging Study showed that men who infrequently had sex (less than once per month) had a 45% greater chance of having cardiovascular disease than men who had sex at least twice weekly.  These results are hard to gauge scientifically though.  After all, there are many factors which may cause men to have sex infrequently, such as disease or libido issues.  These factors can also be linked to heart disease.

As an exercise, sexual activity generally doesn’t create the cardiovascular results that you’d get from a jog around the block.  Studies show that sex only gives 70-8-% of the workout as using a treadmill.  In terms of burning calories, sex only will shed 5 calories a minute – which is about the same as strolling on the golf green.

Researchers have determined that Viagra is safe for ED patients with heart problems.  However, that hasn’t stopped them from putting the precaution on the label to be careful during sex.  If you faint during sex, have chest pain, or symptoms of a cardiovascular event, you should stop havingsex immediately and get medical attention.  It needs to be noted though that you should also get medical attention if you have these symptoms while doing any other physical activity!

Luckily for men with both ED and heart problems, the studies about sex are still in your favor.  Even though sex isn’t as great of a workout as jogging, it still can improve your heart health.  So, why not start using Viagra?  Sex definitely beats jogging when it comes to improving heart health!

What to Expect When Generic Viagra Hits the Market

Sildenafil citrate, known as “generic Viagra,” has been available on the global market for almost as long as brand-name Viagra has been in existence.  However, a lot of patients don’t really understand what the difference between a generic and the brand-name drug are.  A generic drug is a drug which is FDA-proven to be the equivalent of the brand-name version.  A generic drug must get FDA approval to be marketed, just like the brand version had to get.  As of now, there is no generic Viagra available – but that is about to change.

The patent on Viagra is about to expire in 2012.  When this happens, you can be sure that tens of manufacturers are going to rush to the FDA to get approval for their generic version of the leading ED treatment.  There are already hundreds of places that you can buy “generic” Viagra online, especially from foreign pharmacies.  Even though many of these generic versions of Viagra are completely regulated by strict health agencies in their respective countries, they do not have the approval to be sold in the US.  To be sold in the US, first the Viagra patent must expire and then the companies must prove their version of Viagra to be the generic equivalent.

Brand-name Viagra is currently really expensive (about $10 or more per pill).  When you see how low the generic Viagra costs at foreign pharmacies (often less than $1 per pill), it can become infuriating.  While the FDA in the US has its hands in just about every aspect of drug manufacture and distribution, it has absolutely no control over the prices that pharmaceutical companies set for medicines.  For this, the FDA leaves the free market.  However, so long as the patent on prescription drugs last, the pharmaceuticals companies have absolutely no legal US-based competition.

On the very same day that the Viagra patent expires, we can expect generic Viagra applications to hit the FDA desks.  The pharmaceutical company Pfizer has already made billions on Viagra sales and other companies will want to cash in on this.  Since all the research and marketing aspects of Viagra have already been done, the generic Viagra manufacturers have low overhead costs and can afford to sell Viagra at prices less than 90% of the brand-name version.

If you don’t want to wait for the FDA-approved Viagra generics to hit the market, you can order your medicines online.  There is always a bit of a risk when ordering generic drugs online though.  It is crucial that the medicines are coming from countries with strong drug regulation agencies.  Try to find online pharmacies which dispense their drugs from any of these countries: Barbados, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Israel, EU, Mexico, India, Singapore, or Curacao.   Even with the high costs of shipping, you can still end up saving huge amounts buy buying generic Viagra.

What to Expect When Generic Viagra Hits the Market

Sildenafil citrate, known as “generic Viagra,” has been available on the global market for almost as long as brand-name Viagra has been in existence.  However, a lot of patients don’t really understand what the difference between a generic and the brand-name drug are.  A generic drug is a drug which is FDA-proven to be the equivalent of the brand-name version.  A generic drug must get FDA approval to be marketed, just like the brand version had to get.  As of now, there is no generic Viagra available – but that is about to change.

The patent on Viagra is about to expire in 2012.  When this happens, you can be sure that tens of manufacturers are going to rush to the FDA to get approval for their generic version of the leading ED treatment.  There are already hundreds of places that you can buy “generic” Viagra online, especially from foreign pharmacies.  Even though many of these generic versions of Viagra are completely regulated by strict health agencies in their respective countries, they do not have the approval to be sold in the US.  To be sold in the US, first the Viagra patent must expire and then the companies must prove their version of Viagra to be the generic equivalent.

Brand-name Viagra is currently really expensive (about $10 or more per pill).  When you see how low the generic Viagra costs at foreign pharmacies (often less than $1 per pill), it can become infuriating.  While the FDA in the US has its hands in just about every aspect of drug manufacture and distribution, it has absolutely no control over the prices that pharmaceutical companies set for medicines.  For this, the FDA leaves the free market.  However, so long as the patent on prescription drugs last, the pharmaceuticals companies have absolutely no legal US-based competition.

On the very same day that the Viagra patent expires, we can expect generic Viagra applications to hit the FDA desks.  The pharmaceutical company Pfizer has already made billions on Viagra sales and other companies will want to cash in on this.  Since all the research and marketing aspects of Viagra have already been done, the generic Viagra manufacturers have low overhead costs and can afford to sell Viagra at prices less than 90% of the brand-name version.

If you don’t want to wait for the FDA-approved Viagra generics to hit the market, you can order your medicines online.  There is always a bit of a risk when ordering generic drugs online though.  It is crucial that the medicines are coming from countries with strong drug regulation agencies.  Try to find online pharmacies which dispense their drugs from any of these countries: Barbados, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Israel, EU, Mexico, India, Singapore, or Curacao.   Even with the high costs of shipping, you can still end up saving huge amounts buy buying generic Viagra.

What’s the Deal with Generic Viagra?

Unfortunately, if you are living in the US, there are absolutely no generic versions of Viagra available to you – at least legally.  The US has very strong prescription drug laws which tend to favor the pharmaceutical companies rather than the rights of patients.  Because of this, the pharmaceutical companies get to monopolize the prescription drug market and charge what they want for drugs like Viagra.

The patent rights on Viagra expire in 2012.  That means patients will finally be able to access generic Viagra in the US.  Generic Viagra must undergo a rigid FDA approval process just like the brand-name drug.  That means you can count on generic Viagra to be completely safe as well as effective.  According to US regulations, generic drugs must be biochemically equal to the brand name drug.

Pfizer, the company which makes Viagra, has the right to set the prices of Viagra to whatever it wants.  As you would expect, they set the price in relation to the country it is being sold.  So, just like Coca Cola costs less in India than in the US, you can count on brand-name Viagra from India to be cheaper.  However, even brand-name Viagra which is sold from foreign pharmacies is never going to be as cheap as the generic version.

Not all countries allow pharmaceutical companies to monopolize the drug industry.  That is why you can find tested, approved versions of generic Viagra in many nations like India, Mexico, Barbados, Israel, and Singapore.  These countries also have very strict prescription drug laws which require manufacturers to keep very high standards for making Viagra.  The medicine also must go through testing to make sure it is safe as well as effective in treating ED.

When the FDA-approved generic drugs hit the market in the US, you will be able to easily buy generic Viagra at your local pharmacy or through a US online pharmacy.  Until then, you will need to buy generic Viagra from foreign pharmacies.  Unless you are heading on vacation, then you will probably be buying the generic Viagra online.

The first thing you need to look for in choose a good foreign online pharmacy is where they are dispensing the drugs from.  Note that, even if an online pharmacy operates out of the US, they are getting the generic drugs from a different country.  You will place your order through the online company.  Then, your order for generic Viagra gets sent to a pharmacy in India, Mexico, or another country.  Make sure that the order is coming from a country which has high medical drug regulations (like one of the countries listed above or westernized nations).  If an online pharmacy doesn’t list the location of the dispensing pharmacy, then you should ask them through their customer service rep.

Generic Viagra is usually about 90% cheaper than brand-name Viagra.  However, since it is coming from foreign countries, you can expect to pay high amounts for shipping.  That is why it is almost always the best deal to buy your generic Viagra meds in bulk from foreign online pharmacies.