| Oral Therapy with Sildenafil for Impotence |
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The active principle of the drug, SILDENAFIL, originally studied as an anti-anginal, is that it operates on the level of the corpus cavernosis, countering the vascular structures that realise the erection. It favours the flow of blood and the "sequestering" inside such structures. The erection therefore is facilitated in the initial phases of induction, in the rigidity, and in its maintenance during sexual activity. Moreover, a second erection becomes easier. The drug is therefore a vascular "catalyst" of the erection. It has no functional effect on sexual desire.
Who Can Gain from the Treatment?
It may be effective in all cases of erectile deficit, including the form defined as "psychogenic" in which there is a residual vascular functioning, as well as in association with other andrological therapies (to the exclusion of the treatment with vasoactive intracavernosis); in case the impotence is caused by a complex pathology, the treatment could be ineffective. The specialist will be able to know when the cure may obtain the desired results and will point towards a personalised dosage in order to reduce the side effects to a minimum (headaches, sudden heat flashes, a sensation of a blocked nose, inconsistently demonstrated in 2-3% of the cases; disturbances of perception of colour with an accentuation of the blue-c.d. tone, the "Puff effect" - are rare and disappear rapidly).
In Which Cases Must One Absolutely Refrain from Usage?
1) For patients who have had a recent heart attack or for whom sexual activity has been advised against.
2) When the Patient is taking nitro-derived medicine.
3) When the Patient is affected with "Retinitis Pigmentosa", a rare form of ocular disease.
4) For those under 18 years of age.
How Does One Take the Medicine?
It is better to stay away from meals 40-60 minutes after taking the pill and allow the medicine to settle in the corpus cavernosis in an efficient concentration. This takes approximately 3-6 hours. During such a period, the erection is endowed with a natural excitation, of facilitated results. This does not cause any danger of excessively prolonged or painful erection (called "priapism"). If there is no excitatory stimulation, there will be no spontaneous erection. It is not necessary to take the prescribed dose for more than once a day. During treatment, one should be in touch with the Doctor who is prescribing the therapy, above all, if he is a cardiologist. In case of medical emergency, it is necessary to always give warning of taking the medicine.
For How Long May One Take the MEDICINE?
As for all medicines, the period of administration may be, nonetheless, limited to a necessary minimum, in consideration also of the decisively high costs. At present, there have been no damaging effects revealed due to a prolonged treatment, nor any form of "addiction" to the medicine. It is an efficient therapy and, if followed under correct clinical supervision, a brief period of treatment is generally sufficient for the restoration of normal sexual activity.
FOR THE MAXIMUM SAFETY OF USAGE:It is absolutely advised against to take the drug autonomously, without medical control.
As in all drugs, the treatment should be prescribed by a Doctor who, with specific competence, is capable of making a correct diagnosis. In this case, such a specialist would be in the field of Andrology!
Let us not forget that sometimes impotence can be a valuable alarm bell of an important pathology and indicative of the general health of the Patient (diseases of the arteries, the nervous tracts, and the glandular and endocrinal system, as well as pathologies of the neoplastic kind).
In these cases, a superficial prescription, that is, one followed without researching the causes of the erectile disturbance, may mask the situation and delay the diagnosis with the possible negative consequences for the Patient's health, as we can see outlined in the medical press (read the article on "Tuscana Medica", April 2000). We should also bring to mind once again that the erectile deficiency is simply a symptom, a sign therefore of something that does not function correctly in the organism. The task of the doctor, as in all sectors of medicine, is to distinguish the causes and to apply, whenever possible a therapy to "cure" the organism. In so doing, the organism may recover its psychophysical wellbeing, without being simply limited to the removal of a symptom.
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