Is generic Viagra a viable option for brand Viagra?

According to medicine, a man is said to be impotent when he loses the ability to achieve or sustain an erection that is long enough to penetrate a partner sexually. Impotence or erectile dysfunction, as it is commonly referred to in the medical parlance, is generally not seen as a problem when it is occasionally experienced, this however becomes a problem when it becomes frequent.

ED is a condition which affects all age group, but is more predominant among the older people.

Erectile dysfunction in the past was seen as either a psychological problem or a natural consequence of growing older, and its discussion as a subject was considered a taboo. The recent changes and a better understanding of the condition have, however, resulted in changes in attitudes towards erectile dysfunction.

Treatment for ED in the past were with traditional drugs that have aphrodisiac properties, injections of the penis with such drugs like Prostaglandin E1, drugs administered through the oral or topical, etc. However, because none of these drugs were entirely convenient or their side effects and interactions with other drugs were not well known, they were not popular.

Sildenafil citrate – invented and marketed by Pfizer, Inc., under the brand name Viagra – was introduced into the market in 1998 as the first oral ED treatment to the good effect of solving these existing problems. Not only was the oral route of administration convenient for its users, the side effects and interactions of Viagra tablets with other drugs were extensively documented.

Some medical conditions that were contraindicated for Viagra tablets have been well publicised to boot.

Proved to be an enormous success since being introduced into the market, Viagra tablets have generated such enthusiasm among the impotent populace that the willingness of doctors to prescribe the drug saw millions of men using the diamond-shaped blue pills in just its first year of entry. Not a mean feat by any stretch of the imagination for a relatively new drug, one would think.

Such is the impact of Viagra tablets that pharmaceutical companies the world over have expended enormous funds on extensive studies and researches to develop drugs that would rival Pfizer’s Viagra. Indeed, the efforts of these companies have begun to yield fruits as a survey of the ED market would equip one with knowledge about the new oral ED drugs that have been introduced into the market after Viagra. Leading the line of new ED drug entrants in the market are the other two phosphodiesterase (PDE 5) inhibitors – Cialis and Levitra. Also in the group of the new drug entrants is the generic Viagra, a group of oral ED drugs that have sildenafil citrate as a common active ingredient.

Generic Viagra and brand Viagra.

Loosely speaking, generic Viagra and brand Viagra are basically the same because of the sildenafil citrate active ingredient that is common to both drugs. However, some differences exist between the two drugs that set them apart from each other. While brand Viagra is the trademark of the giant drug maker Pfizer, generic Viagra is a group of Ed drugs that are manufactured by different companies under different names.

Also, because a lot of money is spent on the manufacture and advert of brand Viagra, the market value of the drug could be forbidden to some certain group of people. Generic Viagra, on the other hand, can be purchased by the majority of those who are looking for cheap Viagra tablets because no money is spent on the manufacture and advert of the drug.

However, while the byword for ordering real Viagra tablets could be said to be premium, the major snag to buying generic Viagra is that not much is known about most of the manufacturers of this group of drugs.