Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The dark side of Viagra

As a medication, Viagra has been a clear success but as a social phenomenon it is clouded by many question marks. Here is a medicine that will allow you to have sex again, but it may kill you.
In a startling revelation, health officials in UK reported that the drug has been responsible for 109 deaths. More than 1,000 reports were filed by men complaining of around 1,500 side effects.
Though Viagra has been praised for helping many men with erectile dysfunction, we have carelessly overlooked some bad side effects that can damage the body. In some cases, the adverse effects actually outweigh the good that Viagra can do.
Some rare side effects of Viagra are bleeding of the eye, redness, burning or swelling. Anxiety levels may also increase. Double vision and decreased vision have been associated with Viagra, and in worst-case scenario, it may cause blindness.
One unusual side effect encountered is slight color blindness, in which the patient temporarily becomes unable to distinguish blue from green. Others include tooth ache and hiccups.
According to reports, nearly 31 patients attributed the painful medical condition Priapism to the usage of Viagra. Priapism is a condition in which erection lasts for more than four hours despite the absence of physical and psychological stimulation. This could be termed as potentially dangerous.
Peyronieís disease is also touted as Viagra side effect, where the male organ begins to take shape of a U-bend. Two patients have complained of this problem. Besides these, another two people have turned deaf and blind.
Other less common side effects include an increased risk of heart attack, long lasting and painful erections, and a serious drop in blood pressure.
The drug is popular and prescribed more than one million times annually.
A spokesman of The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) stated that "The submission of a suspected report does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships including the underlying disease that was being treated."

source:www.themedguru.com

No comments:

Post a Comment