The Nobel Prize and Viagra

If you’ve ever thought to yourself “The discoverers of Viagra should be given a Noble prize” you would not be wrong. The journey leading up to Viagra did result in such an award.

In 1998 three American scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. The award was in recognition of all the work that they had done towards contributing to the treatment of cardiovascular conditions and erectile dysfunction in men.

Chief amongst their findings was the important fact that Nitric oxide can be used for the stimulation of blood vessels in various body organs when introduced.

The results of their work led to important breakthroughs in the development of cancer treatments, new discoveries in cardiovascular diseases and an even better understanding of the complex process and chemistry behind the working of the male erection.

In relation to the latter, it was the efforts of these three scientists that allowed Pfizer discover the secret to unlock male impotence.

All three of the scientists who were presented the world are professional pharmacologists.

Ferid Murad who is from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston,  Robert Furchgott from the State University of New York and lastly, Louis Ignarro, a pharmacologist at the University of  California, Los Angeles.

Dr Robert Furchgott, the oldest of the three winners was recognized for his discovery that a group of drugs were able to dilate blood vessels on some occasions and trigger contractions in others.

It was he that first drew attention to the possibility that an outside factor was contributing to these variances.

Dr Murad’s discovery in 1977 provided contributing information towards the resolution of this mystery with his discovery that muscle cells emitted Nitric oxide when they relaxed.

However it was Dr Ignarro, the youngest of the trio who successfully linked both discoveries and settled on the important conclusion that Nitric oxide was the telling agent in both Dr Furgott’s and Dr Maud’s  observations.

Today, thanks to the discoveries of the three men, it is now known that an increase in nitric oxide in the body, results in a similar increase in the flow of blood within the body.

With this information, remarkable progress has been made in the treatment of conditions that require an increase in blood flow. i.e. Lung disease, impotence and shock.

All three scientists shared the prize money of $750,000.

Viagra is the world’s very first anti impotence pill. It achieves a restoration of normal erectile functions to impotent men by increasing the amount of nitric oxide found in the penile areas.

This increase causes the various blood vessels related to the process of erection to enlarge thereby allowing more blood flow into the male organ. Erection is thus able to occur.

In this same vein the actions of Viagra have also been shown to be beneficial when used in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension—a condition that is also characterized by a failure of blood vessels to provide adequate blood.

The Nobel prize is held every year to reward people who have provided exemplary contribution to man and the furtherance of arts and science.