Monday 8 August 2022 02:19 PM What is Viagra? Does it work? What are the side effects? How long does it last? trends now
Nearly half of men between the ages of 40 and 70 suffer from erectile dysfunction in the UK - this is around 4.3 million people.
But reports suggest the 'little blue pill' is now becoming increasingly popular with younger individuals in their twenties and thirties.
A 2020 survey of 5,000 people carried out for Upjohn, the maker of Viagra Connect, the over-the-counter version of the drug, showed that 18 per cent of 18-24-year-old men had erection difficulties.
And more recently, the ease of getting the drug without a prescription seems to be fueling its popularity with a younger audience.
According to figures from pharmaceutical company Viatris seen by The Independent this week, more than 60% of Britons using it are between 25-54 years old.
Reports suggest the 'little blue pill' is becoming increasingly popular with younger individuals in their twenties and thirties
The publication added that Viagra Connect sold more than seven million tablets in the UK from May 2020 to May 2021.
An online pharmacist also told the outlet: 'Of our erectile dysfunction custom base, nine per cent are in their twenties and 21 per cent are in their thirties.'
Reports in recent years have seen professional say they have seen individuals as young as 16 express interest in the drug.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020, a specialist nurse from the Sexual Advice Association said: 'I have been in this field for 27 years and 20 per cent of my erectile-dysfunction patients are now aged under 30, compared with two per cent 20 years ago...I'm seeing boys as young as 16, and quite a lot of young men in their 20s.'
But what does Viagra actually do? Who can use it, what are the side effects - and why is it so popular?
Here is everything you need to know about the drug.
Viagra was originally cooked up by Covid vaccine manufacturer Pfizer in 1989, with hopes that sildenafil citrate could treat high blood pressure
Most men occasionally struggle to get or keep an erection due to stress, tiredness, anxiety or drinking too much alcohol.
But up to one in five men in the UK (4.3million) suffer erectile dysfunction - when this keeps happening.
It can be caused by high blood pressure or cholesterol, hormone problems or side effects from medication.
Medicines containing sildenafil, originally developed to treat angina, are often used to treat the condition. It expands blood vessels and boosts blood flow to the genitals.
Viagra was originally cooked up by Covid vaccine manufacturer Pfizer in 1989, with hopes that sildenafil citrate could treat high blood pressure.
But clinical trials in Wales a few years later saw men report an unusual side effect —they got more erections while taking the medication.
The drug was approved in the US and EU in 1998, branded as Viagra, and became one of the fastest selling drugs of all time.
The drug was approved in the US and EU in 1998, branded as Viagra, and became one of the fastest selling drugs of all time
Non-branded sildenafil can be available from the NHS, to treat erectile dysfunction or pulmonary hypertension.
Branded versions - like Viagra - may only be given in exceptional circumstances. You may also get the drug via private prescription but the pills are also available over the counter.
Just this summer Boots has started selling its own-brand Viagra, in a move hailed by doctors amid the cost of living crisis.
The chemist now offers a four-pack of impotence pills for £14.99 — £5 cheaper than the original version.
1989
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer cooks up a compound called sildenafil citrate which it hopes will treat high blood pressure.
1993
When it is trialled in Wales, one tester mentions that he got more erections while on it. The others say, ‘So did we!’ It’s a breakthrough moment.
March 1998
The drug – now branded Viagra – is approved in the US as the first pharmaceutical product ever for erectile dysfunction. It quickly becomes one of the fastest-selling drugs of all time, with 10,000 prescriptions being issued a day.
September 1998
Viagra gets its European licence. From July 1999, the NHS starts prescribing Viagra to men with underlying conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or prostate cancer – but Viagra is more widely available by private prescription or from foreign suppliers on the internet.
July 1999
In Sex and the City, man-eater Samantha dates a wealthy older man who pops the blue pills. Viagra later stars in Ally McBeal and Law & Order.
April 2004
The UK’s first ‘Viagra divorce’ is granted when a middle-aged woman claims the drug made her husband ‘sexually aggressive’.
2007
In England, 1,838,687 prescription items for erectile dysfunction are dispensed.
Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas
January 2010
Michael Douglas says he’s glad his wife likes older men and praises the drug: ‘Some wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few years – Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel younger.’ It also gets its own movie: Love & Other Drugs with Jake Gyllenhaal playing a Viagra salesman.
Michael Douglas praises Viagra for ‘making us all feel younger’. ‘God bless her that she likes older guys,’ he says of his wife, the actress Catherine Zeta Jones. ‘And some wonderful enhancements have happened in the last few years - Viagra, Cialis – that can make us all feel younger.’
June 2013
Viagra’s European patent expires, so with the unbranded drug sildenafil available at a 93 per cent price drop, the NHS allows prescriptions for a wider range of cases of male impotence.
2017
The number of prescription items
