Ugly face of Viagra drugs

that the 54-year-old died of a heart attack brought about by the use of Viagra while in the company of two Indian prostitutes in bed.
Over the years, many men have reportedly died after taking the little blue or brown diamond-shaped pill – either from an overdose or because their bodies just could not entertain the wonder sex-performance enhancing drug.
But despite the fatalities or near fatal experiences that have been associated with taking the drugs, there have been continued use of modern “performance-enhancing” drugs as aid to real health problems, masculine egos or as experiments.
It is a story that repeats itself over and over again, in virtually every country and Zimbabwe is no exception.
In fact, over the last few months, death due to heart attack has been reported.
And because it feeds on itself, the rumour mill never stops. “We hear that a guy died atop a ‘small-house.”
“Small-house” being the infamous extra-marital relationship whom many married men keep and run for different reasons.
But because in most cases there will be age difference, the old man or sugar dad often does not function to satiety, the virility having gone with the years.
And most of the relationships are purely sexual and monetary and the better way to match the energy of a “sweet sixteen” is to take a miracle pill that restores the fire.
Unfortunately, some men are alleged to have died ‘in battle’ or soon thereafter, after taking the pill.
“Sadly, the allegations are only about notables,” said Portifa Mwendera a pharmacist with Plaza pharmacies in Harare.
Mwendera said some of the deaths could be prevented if the men were adequately informed about the drugs they take to increase their sexual appetite and prowess.
“We believe that many more men are dying out there from taking such medicines wrongfully, but their deaths go unreported and in some cases we do not have the evidence. Every medicine has a side effect, and some side effects can be adverse, especially if a drug is taken in combination with other drugs that you are not supposed to mix with the drug or with alcohol,” he said.
It is important for people who plan to take performance-enhancing drugs to understand how their chosen elixir works, particularly how it interacts with other drugs or alcohol, Mwendera warned.
“Some people may be on high blood pressure treatment, only a doctor can, after carrying out the necessary tests, help the patient choose the right drug with the right strength,” he said.
Although drugs like Viagra are not readily accessible over the counter in the country, because of the country’s restrictive laws on the use of drugs, another pharmacist with QV pharmacies, Scorn Chipatiso said these drugs are found through the back door.
“Some of the drugs are smuggled from neighbouring countries that have got relaxed registration laws for drugs,” he said.
Chipatiso said, Zambia for example, was one the largest suppliers of blue and brown diamond while real Viagra and performance enhancing drugs are smuggled from countries like Botswana and UK where they are readily available over the counter.
Mwendera said there was also a significant increase of counterfeit drugs, which enhance the sexual appetite and in most cases cause health problems.
But many of these drugs are available on the black market and many people buy and use them without the benefit of professional advice.
“Many of them are people who genuinely need the drugs, these include men with erectile dysfunction or other sexual conditions that call for the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
“But the men could be doing themselves great harm if they take the drugs without a doctor’s advice. Some men even take these drugs for recreation, which could actually be more dangerous as they tend to overdose,” said an urologist at Parirenyatwa Hospital who refused to be named for professional reasons.
He said most men who visit Men’s Clinic have used some form of performance-enhancing drug or other before.
“The guys would have used something before chao jimengnan, Tong Yang, Power One, Mojas and so on,” he said.
He said the problem is that many of the men who take these drugs, especially for recreation, soon develop a dependency on them.
Indeed, Viagra is not available over the counter from several pharmacies in Harare but it can be purchased with a doctor’s prescription, although they are found in abundance through the backdoor.
It comes in strengths of 25mg, 50mg and 100 mg). Other than a casual question about “what strength you want,” the drug is available for cash on request.
The US Food and Drug Administration initially approved Viagra, otherwise called Sildenafil Citrate, in 1998 for prescription for erectile dysfunction.
Soon afterwards, clinical trials showed that the drug also enhanced penile erection, opening a Pandora’s Box as every Tom, Dick and Harry wanted the wonder drug to improve their sex lives.
Fly-by-night merchants set up shops on the Internet, and underground pharmacies thrived.
Most dealers had one thing in common – no warning about side effects.
However, to be fair to the manufacturers, an urologist said people are warned that the drug should not be taken concurrently with organic nitrates as it has been shown to “potentiate the hypotensive effect of nitrates”.
This means Viagra lowers blood pressure, which would already have been lowered by nitrates, thus increasing the chance of death.
“There is a potential for cardiac risk of sexual activity in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease,” he said.
“Therefore, treatment for erectile dysfunction, including Viagra, should not be generally used in men for whom sexual activity is inadvisable because of their underlying cardiovascular status.”
The urologist said most manufacturers list side effects and special precautions for those who use these drugs.
“Serious cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction [heart attack], sudden cardiac death, ventricular arrhythmia, cerebrovascular haemorrhage, transient ischemic attack and hypertension have been marketed post-marketing in temporal association with Viagra . . .
“Many of these events were reported to occur during or shortly after sexual activity and a few were reported to occur shortly after the use of Viagra without sexual activity.
Others were reported to have occurred hours to days after the use of Viagra and sexual activity,” he said.
According to the warning on the packet of Viagra, “There is a potential for cardiac risk of sexual activity in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular diseases,”
Nonetheless, though research into the connection of Viagra and heart attack is so far inconclusive, the sale of Viagra over the counter continues unabated in some countries like Botswana and the end up being smuggled into the country.
Although there is a legislation making it mandatory for such drugs to be sold only on prescription, these drugs continue to find their way to people and as a result causing a health risk.
In this climate, traders take advantage of men suffering from erectile dysfunction and sell ‘herbal’ elixirs from the Orient, everywhere, including from backyard tuckshops, and petrol stations in high-density, low income ghettos and on the black market.
While research into Viagra and other ‘mojo’ drugs is inconclusive, a whole gamut of them is widely available to men with erectile dysfunction and for fun, partly because the drugs are readily available, said Mwendera.
The pharmacist said men should be reminded that they pop most of those sex pills at their own risk.
Chipatiso said, people should realise that when one starts facing erectile dysfunctional means that there is a health problem.
“Unless the person is old, but if one is facing erectile dysfunctional, its important to visit a medical practitioner because it’s a sign of bad health,” he said.