Popular ways of treatment of erectile dysfunction

Treatment of erectile dysfunction has advanced significantly. It has moved out of the urologist’s office, and family physicians are now often the first-line management for many cases. Part of this advance has been the advent of PDE5 inhibitor medications which are well-tolerated, have a good safety profile and work well. The PDE5 inhibitor medications are described in detail in following sections.

Treatment is often stepwise, with an initial history and examination, followed by any needed investigations. Depending on findings, a PDE5 inhibitor drug is often attempted initially, and failure of that leads to trials of other approaches. These other methods are often not as easy or effective, but may provide assistance for more difficult-to-treat cases.

Traditional treatments

Herbal medications (for example ProcalisX herbal aphrodisiac) and stimulating tablets for erectile dysfunction have existed for centuries. Sometimes they are marketed as general aphrodisiacs, others are advertised more directly as treatments for erectile dysfunction.

The FDA (the USA Food and Drug Administration) does caution that many of the herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction haven’t had the same level of testing as some of the other pharmacological agents.

That said, some of the medications for erectile dysfunction are derived from natural sources. For example, Yohimbine is a classic drug for erectile dysfunction and is derived from the bark of a tree in Africa. Yohimbine is described in more detail in a later section.

Analysis of some of the compounds in other herbal products for erectile dysfunction have shown interesting results. When the compounds are studied with spectrometry, some contain traces of chemicals that are similar in structure to the PDE5 inhibitor medications such as Viagra, Levitra or Cialis.

Overview of PDE5 inhibitor drugs

Viagra sildenafil, Levitra Vardenafil and Cialis tadalafil form a group of prescription medications called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors.

The PDE5 inhibitors work by aiding the vascular part of the erection process. As part of the mechanism of normal erections, there is a release of nitrous oxide, which causes an increase in cyclic GMP (cGMP) within the cell. This cGMP relaxes the smooth muscles of the arteries, allowing blood to flow into the penis and thus swell into an erection. A PDE5 inhibitor works by preventing the breakdown of that cGMP, so that the erection is maintained.