Sildenafil is a substance normally used to treat male sexual problems such as impotence and erectile dysfunction. The active ingredient of this drug, released by the Pfizer pharmaceutical company, is sildenafil citrate. This drug is the brand name of a drug used against erectile dysfunction.
However, by adding this substance to products such as energy drinks and chocolate, human health is endangered under the name of “sexual power-enhancing” food.
WHAT DOES SILDENAFIL DO?
Sildenafil is an oral medication called a phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in World Health Organization (WHO) Group 1 patients.
PDE5 is a substance produced in the lungs and other parts of the body that breaks down another substance called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP). Cyclic GMP causes blood vessels (arteries) to relax and widen. Sildenafil reduces the activity of PDE5 so that more cyclic GMP is available to the blood vessels in the lungs. This causes the vessels to relax or widen.
The relaxation and widening of the blood vessels in the lungs reduces the pulmonary blood pressure to the heart and relieves the burden on the heart. This usually results in the patient being more active in daily life.
COMMON SIDE EFFECTS
- Headache
- facial redness
- dizziness
- heartburn
- Nosebleeds, feeling of fullness in the nose
- Insomnia
- Fire
- prolonged erection
- Increase in respiratory tract infections
- nausea, vomiting
- muscle pain, weakness
- Elevated liver enzymes (News)