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Rub-on 'instant Viagra' on the way
A lotion that promises almost instant results and without the side effects of Viagra is being developed by scientists.
Viagra, and other drugs of the same type, including Cialis and Levitra, work by blocking the effects of the enzyme phosphodiesterase type 5, thus allowing blood to flow more freely by helping arteries to relax.
The side effects of these so-called phosphodiesterase inhibitors range from headaches and vision problems to more dangerous complications, with men who have previously suffered a heart attack or stroke being warned to use them with caution. They also require between thirty minutes and an hour to take effect, and one in three men report that they don't work at all.
But a research team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, New York, has developed a way to deliver the medication direct to the 'affected area' by containing it in nanoparticles, invisible to the naked eye, in lotion form. In tests performed on rats, the new method proved successful in nine out of ten cases.
Although it is thought that the new drug will take ten years to be commercially available, Kelvin P Davies, co-author of the study, published in Sexual Health, said: "The response time to the nanoparticles was very short, just a few minutes, which is basically what people want from erectile dysfunction medicine."
