Everyone has heard about it and many have used it, some on prescription and some have used it out of curiosity. Viagra is the medical break through of ages.
Human being have been looking for ways and means to be sexually active till they die. Rich and famous men in history have tried various concotations to keep their virility up. Nothing has really worked till the small blue pill came on the scene. Still there are lot of misconceptions about its use and benefits.
Viagra is a revolution packed in 100 mg. A cultural icon, a marriage therapist and a savior of the male ego. Ten years on, Viagra is more than just a drug
Veteran Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson has admitted to popping it before threesomes. Former US presidential candidate Bob Dole took it too during trials and has became its ambassador. Even a woman—Samantha Jones, the fictional character in the sitcom Sex and The City—tried it for greater sexual pleasure.
Closer home, Bollywood’s original Casanova Salman Khan is rumored to be on it, which could explain his untiring cycle of relationships, even after 40.
Powerful and rich men the world over have bowed in solidarity before the tiny, blue, diamond-shaped pill called Viagra, the first oral treatment to correct erectile dysfunction that has just completed 10 years of its arrival in sextopia. And the women have never had such rocking fun.
No wonder birthday celebrations abound for this 10-year-old, with Internet forums spilling over with recounts of Viagra-fuelled “rocket launches’ in otherwise dreary bedrooms. And YouTube is swarming with videos of hawkers selling the pill on streets the world over—from Iraqi traders selling it to US soldiers in Baghdad to a desi artist doing a satirical demo of using the pill to an amused audience in Meerut.
It’s been just a little over two years of Viagra in India though. The pill was launched here eight years after pharma giant Pfizer unveiled it in the US on March 27, 1998. And since then, the inhabitants of the land of Kamasutra are rediscovering their sexuality with Viagra.
Don’t stoop, stand erect
A major sociological impact of Viagra in India, say andrologists, has been the resurgence of geriatric sexuality. Many patients complaining of erectile dysfunction are above 50 years of age. “Indian grandparents are now rekindling their sexual lives, thanks to the availability of an easy treatment of a problem that accompanies old age—a paradigm shift in a culture where separate bedrooms are the norm after 50,” says Sudhakar Krishnamurti, director of Andromeda Andrology centre, Hyderabad.
Krishnamurti’s oldest patient was 86-year-old Gangaram Reddy. Tall, dark and bald with a few grey strands on the temple, Reddy had not been getting firm erections for over three months. His second marriage to 46-year-old Sunita was saved thanks to a prescription of Viagra after which Reddy resumed having normal erections. Since then, he’s been getting refills of the pill.
Age no bar
And a lot of young men use the pill too. Many do so to overcome pre-marriage jitters. For instance, 27-year-old Sushil Mehta consulted Sandeep Vohra, a consultant psychiatrist at Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital a month before his marriage. He was extremely anxious that years of masturbation had reduced his ability to sustain erections. Vohra told him his notion was a myth and all he needed was to take it easy.
But Mehta went ahead and bought Viagra (which should not be sold without a prescription, but is still easily accessible over the counter) and had intercourse with prostitutes till he felt ready for a healthy sexual relationship with his wife. Another case is that of Ventakesh Rao, a 26-year-old software engineer, who was unable to consummate his month-old marriage. He was prescribed Viagra and was eventually able to get an erection. He didn’t need the refills. Viagra, in Rao’s case, was taken only for psychological benefit.
Minors, too, are latching on to the drug. Rahul Kumar, a 17-year-old studying in Class XI, takes Viagra because he is scared of physical rejection from his four sex partners, who have refused to bond with him emotionally. “He tries his best to ensure that he is not dumped as a physical partner,” says Dr Jitendra Nagpal, consultant psychiatrist.
Is such use indicative of abuse? “Anything which is useful in having great sex has a great propensity to be misused,” says Nagpal. Concurring with him, andrologist Anup Dhir says that the highest recall value of any drug after Crocin is Viagra, which very often men carry in their wallets.
A party drug?
Is it safe for a sexually healthy young man to take the pill? What happens if there’s an overdose? Though Viagra is safe unless it is taken with nitrate-laden drugs, its overdose could lead to priapism—a painful, prolonged erection. The condition is rare though and a man can safely take five times the pill’s recommended dose, says andrologist Rupin Shah.
But Viagra is often used as a recreational drug. Rave parties often have Viagra themes where the drug is mixed with alcohol and substances such as ecstasy (in which case the combo is called Sextasy) and cocaine, to be followed by casual sex. Such orgies are based on myths related to Viagra.
For one, Viagra is presumed to be aphrodisiacal which it is not. It neither affects libido nor causes erection. It only prolongs the erection and its quality. “It’s not as if a man will be walking on the street with an erect penis after popping the pill,” clarifies Dr Rajeev Sood, urologist at Max Healthcare, Delhi. Viagra does however, boost confidence and increases the inclination to indulge in sex, as a result of which even a minor stimulus—mental, visual or verbal—could lead to a faster, firmer, longer erection.
No marital fix-it
It’s true that Viagra has been a boon to couples for who were affected with erectile dysfunction in their relationships. At times, Viagra has also contributed to wrecking a marriage. Jitin Gupta, a 40-year-old man who regained confidence through Viagra, was rejoicing at what he thought was the end to his conjugal woes. But his wife was piqued by the fact that her husband had to depend on Viagra, and not her body, for good sex. It was a marriage counselor who figured that the wife’s negative self-image, triggered by her being overweight, was the real spoilsport in the marriage.
In the West, Viagra has also fuelled adultery and divorces. “Older men are more able to perform again, so they’re going elsewhere—to younger, greener pastures,” New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder told the Observer recently. In the US state of Florida, rates of sexually transmitted diseases among elderly men—who have started visiting prostitutes after taking Viagra—are soaring, the paper reported.
Let us make a few things clear. Viagra is not an aphrodisiac, it does not increase libido (the desire for sex). It should only be used on prescription from a doctor.Don't start popping the pill if you are healthy and able to perform without it.
Human being have been looking for ways and means to be sexually active till they die. Rich and famous men in history have tried various concotations to keep their virility up. Nothing has really worked till the small blue pill came on the scene. Still there are lot of misconceptions about its use and benefits.
Viagra is a revolution packed in 100 mg. A cultural icon, a marriage therapist and a savior of the male ego. Ten years on, Viagra is more than just a drug
Veteran Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson has admitted to popping it before threesomes. Former US presidential candidate Bob Dole took it too during trials and has became its ambassador. Even a woman—Samantha Jones, the fictional character in the sitcom Sex and The City—tried it for greater sexual pleasure.
Closer home, Bollywood’s original Casanova Salman Khan is rumored to be on it, which could explain his untiring cycle of relationships, even after 40.
Powerful and rich men the world over have bowed in solidarity before the tiny, blue, diamond-shaped pill called Viagra, the first oral treatment to correct erectile dysfunction that has just completed 10 years of its arrival in sextopia. And the women have never had such rocking fun.
No wonder birthday celebrations abound for this 10-year-old, with Internet forums spilling over with recounts of Viagra-fuelled “rocket launches’ in otherwise dreary bedrooms. And YouTube is swarming with videos of hawkers selling the pill on streets the world over—from Iraqi traders selling it to US soldiers in Baghdad to a desi artist doing a satirical demo of using the pill to an amused audience in Meerut.
It’s been just a little over two years of Viagra in India though. The pill was launched here eight years after pharma giant Pfizer unveiled it in the US on March 27, 1998. And since then, the inhabitants of the land of Kamasutra are rediscovering their sexuality with Viagra.
Don’t stoop, stand erect
A major sociological impact of Viagra in India, say andrologists, has been the resurgence of geriatric sexuality. Many patients complaining of erectile dysfunction are above 50 years of age. “Indian grandparents are now rekindling their sexual lives, thanks to the availability of an easy treatment of a problem that accompanies old age—a paradigm shift in a culture where separate bedrooms are the norm after 50,” says Sudhakar Krishnamurti, director of Andromeda Andrology centre, Hyderabad.
Krishnamurti’s oldest patient was 86-year-old Gangaram Reddy. Tall, dark and bald with a few grey strands on the temple, Reddy had not been getting firm erections for over three months. His second marriage to 46-year-old Sunita was saved thanks to a prescription of Viagra after which Reddy resumed having normal erections. Since then, he’s been getting refills of the pill.
Age no bar
And a lot of young men use the pill too. Many do so to overcome pre-marriage jitters. For instance, 27-year-old Sushil Mehta consulted Sandeep Vohra, a consultant psychiatrist at Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital a month before his marriage. He was extremely anxious that years of masturbation had reduced his ability to sustain erections. Vohra told him his notion was a myth and all he needed was to take it easy.
But Mehta went ahead and bought Viagra (which should not be sold without a prescription, but is still easily accessible over the counter) and had intercourse with prostitutes till he felt ready for a healthy sexual relationship with his wife. Another case is that of Ventakesh Rao, a 26-year-old software engineer, who was unable to consummate his month-old marriage. He was prescribed Viagra and was eventually able to get an erection. He didn’t need the refills. Viagra, in Rao’s case, was taken only for psychological benefit.
Minors, too, are latching on to the drug. Rahul Kumar, a 17-year-old studying in Class XI, takes Viagra because he is scared of physical rejection from his four sex partners, who have refused to bond with him emotionally. “He tries his best to ensure that he is not dumped as a physical partner,” says Dr Jitendra Nagpal, consultant psychiatrist.
Is such use indicative of abuse? “Anything which is useful in having great sex has a great propensity to be misused,” says Nagpal. Concurring with him, andrologist Anup Dhir says that the highest recall value of any drug after Crocin is Viagra, which very often men carry in their wallets.
A party drug?
Is it safe for a sexually healthy young man to take the pill? What happens if there’s an overdose? Though Viagra is safe unless it is taken with nitrate-laden drugs, its overdose could lead to priapism—a painful, prolonged erection. The condition is rare though and a man can safely take five times the pill’s recommended dose, says andrologist Rupin Shah.
But Viagra is often used as a recreational drug. Rave parties often have Viagra themes where the drug is mixed with alcohol and substances such as ecstasy (in which case the combo is called Sextasy) and cocaine, to be followed by casual sex. Such orgies are based on myths related to Viagra.
For one, Viagra is presumed to be aphrodisiacal which it is not. It neither affects libido nor causes erection. It only prolongs the erection and its quality. “It’s not as if a man will be walking on the street with an erect penis after popping the pill,” clarifies Dr Rajeev Sood, urologist at Max Healthcare, Delhi. Viagra does however, boost confidence and increases the inclination to indulge in sex, as a result of which even a minor stimulus—mental, visual or verbal—could lead to a faster, firmer, longer erection.
No marital fix-it
It’s true that Viagra has been a boon to couples for who were affected with erectile dysfunction in their relationships. At times, Viagra has also contributed to wrecking a marriage. Jitin Gupta, a 40-year-old man who regained confidence through Viagra, was rejoicing at what he thought was the end to his conjugal woes. But his wife was piqued by the fact that her husband had to depend on Viagra, and not her body, for good sex. It was a marriage counselor who figured that the wife’s negative self-image, triggered by her being overweight, was the real spoilsport in the marriage.
In the West, Viagra has also fuelled adultery and divorces. “Older men are more able to perform again, so they’re going elsewhere—to younger, greener pastures,” New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder told the Observer recently. In the US state of Florida, rates of sexually transmitted diseases among elderly men—who have started visiting prostitutes after taking Viagra—are soaring, the paper reported.
Let us make a few things clear. Viagra is not an aphrodisiac, it does not increase libido (the desire for sex). It should only be used on prescription from a doctor.Don't start popping the pill if you are healthy and able to perform without it.
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