Happy birthday, Viagra. You celebrated your birthday last week after a decade of bringing joy, happiness, peace, understanding, and a jolly good rogering to millions of people around the world.
On mountains and in planes, bedrooms, kitchens and flower shops, you've changed lives everywhere.
In addition to the straight-up benefits of helping a generation of men perform without pressure, Viagra, a.k.a. sildenafil, has thrust its way into other areas.
Viagra, developed by accident by scientists at Pfizer Laboratories, was first approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration on March 27, 1998.
Viagra has tackled jet lag (just in hamsters so far), boosted soldiers' cardiovascular performance in high-altitude areas of Afghanistan and extended the life of cut flowers.
It's become firmly established in the popular culture, earning the nickname Vitamin V.
Even the kids are doing it -- dropping E (ecstasy) and V in something called a trail mix, which is meant to heighten arousal and make you a better dancer. It's certainly not advisable but, hey, it's worth noting.
Viagra has also infiltrated bookstores.
Take, for example, The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in America , by sociologist Meika Loe (New York University Press, 2004), and Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman , by Jamie Reidy (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005).
In addition to their clever titles, both books offer some worthy information.
The former book explores the marketing of the little blue pill that could while at the same time establishing erectile dysfunction as a common disorder.
Hard Sell , written by a former pharmaceutical sales rep for the industry giant Pfizer, documents a career spent pushing the little blue soldier and other medications in the competitive world of prescription drug sales. A movie based on the book is now in development.
Yes, Viagra's got staying power.
We can thank a team of chemists at a Pfizer pharmaceuticals research lab in Kent, England, for stumbling on Viagra's unintended side-effects.
At the time, they were studying sildenafil's efficacy in treating hypertension and a specific kind of cardiovascular disease, which is not worth mentioning here because, frankly, we're not here to talk about heart disease and high blood pressure, we're here for the sex.
The unexpected side-effect in the lab? Well, let's just say something else popped up.
The scientists were thrilled with their discovery.
Who wouldn't be? When Viagra hit the U.S. market on March 27, 1998, as an erectile dysfunction drug, it was an instant hit. It then became a worldwide superstar that's now sold in more than 120 countries. An estimated 35 million men have popped the little blue pill.
The drug was approved for use in Canada in 1999, and since then more than 1.6 million Canadian fellas have downed the upper, and about 37 million pills have been prescribed.
That's a lot of satisfied customers.
Viagra also brought erectile dysfunction out of the shadows. For the better, it's put ED into the popular vernacular and the dictionaries.
Iconic advertisements featured euphoric, giddy, heel-clicking, cartwheeling men dancing their ways to work, courtesy of Vitamin V. "Talk to your doctor" -- Viagra's advertising catch phrase -- caught on. Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole and soccer superstar Pele were unabashed pitchmen for the product, for a time.
Interestingly, women were not much featured in these ads alongside their grinning fellas. Perhaps Viagra fuelled more sleepless nights, piled on top of filled-to-the-max days of child-rearing, working and housework, making females less apt to cartwheel down the sidewalk with kids, lunches and book bags in tow.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, has never been fun, aided by Viagra or not.
But in all seriousness, erectile dysfunction is a woman's problem as well as a man's. ED affects the relationship in the bedroom and spills out into every other area of the couple's life, too.
Yes, we sure can talk about impotence, thanks to Viagra. Yet Viagra itself has faced some bumps in the road.
It's had some stiff (sorry) competition. Cialis and Levitra, two other erectile dysfunction drugs, have also since penetrated (again, sorry) the marketplace, following in Viagra's large footsteps. Yet, Viagra was the first on the scene and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Also under the category of bumps in the road: A 2005 New Zealand study found that Viagra can sometimes hurt relationships. Use of the drug can create sexual tension and conflict within the relationship, bring "unwelcome changes to sexual practice," and lead to fears surrounding men's fidelity, the research revealed.
And recently, a south Florida man was arrested when he allegedly brandished a gun in a fight with his brother-in-law over some stolen Viagra.
The man accused the victim of stealing his stash.
Pinching pills aside, Viagra isn't the wonder drug for everyone.
The Viagra folks say side-effects include upset stomach, headache, flushed face and blurred vision.
It should only be used under a doctor's supervision and shouldn't be taken when on organic nitrates, which are commonly taken by people with heart problems.
And there's also the possibility of sustained, long-term erections (think hours long) that, sorry fellas, can actually be bad for you -- not to mention your partner.
And, as funny and improbable as that sounds, it's no laughing matter.
Yet, as we mark the 10th anniversary of Viagra, and as these things generally go, there's a joke to make fun of the situation.
As a male friend quipped: "If I had a four-hour erection, I wouldn't be calling a doctor, I'd be calling a film crew."
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