How to Choose the Right Medication for Erectile Dysfunction
Helping You Pick the Right Prescription
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Erectile dysfunction (also known as ED or being impotent) is a condition that affects millions of men though out America each year. As can be seen on almost any television channel, at any time of the day, there are a variety of drugs - names like Cialis, Viagra and Levitra - that are used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Impotence can an emotionally painful and extremely embarrassing. The penis is very sensitive issue in American culture and the anatomy of the penis has only been publicly discussed recently. However, in the last decade the medical establishment has made inroads into understanding and correcting problems with men who could not maintain an erection. Causes of the disorder range from urological problems with blood vessels in the penis to psychological tensions within one's life. There is however, little reason to fear this all to common ailment.
Before using any medications, it is highly recommended to first consult a physician, perhaps a urologist, or other medical professional. It is also wise to educate yourself on the side effects of these drugs.
Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction
- Cialis, according to the manufacturer, "is the only ED tablet clinically proven to both work up to 36 hours and work in some men as fast as 30 minutes."
- Viagra is one of the leading medications on the market to treat erectile dysfunction. One of its strongest points is that it works with men who also have a wide range of health issues.
- Levitra is another commonly prescribed and heavily advertised medication for treating erectile dysfunction.
What is Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction, also known as "impotence," is the repeated failure to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. The word "impotence" can be used to describe a variety of other sexual interferences and reproduction, such as a lack of sexual desire and problems with ejaculation or orgasm. Thus to differentiate from these other problems we use the term erectile dysfunction to focus primarily on the failure of an erection.
Erectile dysfunction, abbreviated as ED, can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability become aroused, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. These variations make defining ED and estimating its incidence difficult. Recent studies and estimates range from 15 million to 30 million, depending on the definition used. According to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), for every 1,000 men in the United States, 7.7 physician office visits were made for ED in 1985. By 1999, that rate had nearly tripled to 22.3. The increase happened gradually, presumably as treatments such as vacuum devices and injectable drugs became more widely available and discussing erectile function became accepted. Perhaps the most publicized advance was the introduction of the oral drug sildenafil citrate (Viagra) in March 1998. NAMCS data on new drugs show an estimated 2.6 million mentions of Viagra at physician office visits in 1999, and one-third of those mentions occurred during visits for a diagnosis other than ED.