Cialis approved by the FDA...
Found this somewhere... Forget where...
Thought I contribute to the board for once...:D
Longer-Lasting Erection Drug Approved
Look out, America, here comes "Le Weekend." That's
what the French are calling the newest erectile
dysfunction drug approved by the FDA.
It's called Cialis -- pronounced "SEE-Alice." Like
Viagra and Levitra, it doesn't make a man's penis
erect. Instead, the drugs make it possible for a man
who's had trouble getting and keeping erections to
have one when he's sexually aroused.
Viagra starts working in about half an hour, and its
effect lasts for about four hours. Levitra has about
the same window of effect. Cialis gets to work a bit
faster -- a third of men respond in 15 minutes -- but
lasts for 36 to 48 hours in some men (but by no means
all).
Urologist Gerald Brock, MD, associate professor at St.
Joseph's Health Center in London, Ontario, is past
chairman of the Canadian Male Sexual Health Council.
He's treated many patients with Viagra
and, in clinical trials, with Cialis and Levitra.
"Cialis will be an important addition to the way we
treat men with erectile dysfunction," Brock tells
WebMD. "It provides an opportunity for many men to take
a pill and have a window of opportunity that extends
36-48 hours where they will have a significant improvement
in their sexual function."
Cialis is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Co. and ICOS
Corp. Lilly is a WebMD sponsor.
There's another important difference between the three
drugs. Viagra takes longer to work if taken after a
high-fat meal. Cialis and Levitra can be taken on a
full stomach regardless of what you've eaten.
Chad Ritenour, MD, teaches urology at Atlanta's Emory
University. He says lots of patients will want to try
the new drug.
"I tell patients it is going to be like Pepsi vs. Coke
Get ready for the advertising blitz," Ritenour
tells WebMD. "But I don't think anybody can say one
works better than the other. Each drug probably will
work better for some patients than for others."
How They Work
All three drugs work the same way. They block an
enzyme called PDE-5, a natural chemical that's part of
the chain of chemical messages that tell a man's
erection to go away. Brock says that there's more
PDE-5 in the penis than in other areas of the body, so
the drugs have a pretty specific effect.
However, Viagra and Levitra sometimes block a sister
chemical -- PDE-6 -- that affects color vision. Some
men report a slight bluish tinge to their vision; some
become more sensitive to light. These effects go away
in a few hours. Cialis doesn't seem to have this
effect.
Cialis has a different side effect. It blocks PDE-11,
which is found in many parts of the body including the
smooth muscles of the internal organs, the heart,
skeletal muscles, the pituitary gland, and in the germ
cells of the testes. So far, Cialis seems to have no
harmful effect on these tissues. But PDE-11 may be
involved in Cialis' most troublesome side effect: Back
pain. According to a spokesperson for Lilly ICOS, back
pain was reported by 5% of patients taking 10 mg of
Cialis and 6% at the 20 mg dose. Patients taking
placebo reported back pain 3% of the time.
Which one do men like best? In a recent
head-to-head-to-head study of all three drugs taken at
the recommended starting dose by men with erectile
dysfunction:
47% preferred Levitra.
34% preferred Viagra.
19% preferred Cialis.
