| Chicago office of urologist Dr. Kevin McVary has been crowded over the last month with men anxious to try the new erectile dysfunction drug, Levitra. McVary's patients - many of whom were disappointed by their experiences with the so-called wonder drug Viagra - have high hopes the little orange pill that just hit the market will help them with their impotence problems. "All those guys are coming in looking for the magic bullet," said McVary, associate professor of urology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. "Many men who failed with Viagra are wondering if Levitra will be better, if there will be fewer side effects." McVary estimates that the number of prescriptions he's written for the new drug outnumber requests for Viagra by five-to-one, a result of the multi-million-dollar marketing blitz from Levitra's manufacturers Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline. But Dr. James Cummings, director of urology at St. Louis University School of Medicine, hasn't yet written any prescriptions for the new drug. None of his male patients have requested it, so the urologist continues to give out free samples and prescriptions of Viagra, the little blue pill that has revitalized the sex lives of millions of men for the last 5 years. "I don't see any reason to recommend Levitra and nobody has asked for it by name," Cummings said. While some doctors like Cummings see enzyme-blockers such as <a href="http://www.bestdrugsnow.com/levitra/">Levitra (vardenafil HCl)</a> and Viagra (sildenafil citrate) as "basically interchangeable" in the way they treat erectile dysfunction, the newcomer is off to a blockbuster start in the United States following its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in August. In less than a month, Levitra captured half of all new prescriptions written for impotence problems. An end to the stigma? Levitra's out-of-the-gate success says as much about the widespread nature of erectile dysfunction as it does about the racy advertising that's accompanied the tablet's arrival. For example, in one Levitra commercial a handsome 40-something man repeatedly tries to throw a football through a tire hanging from a tree. When he finally succeeds, he's joined by a beautiful, smiling woman. The voice-over says, "Sometimes you need a little help staying in the game. When it gets in the zone, it's good." Even though the phenomenal publicity around Viagra has made it synonymous with sexual potency, most men who suffer erection problems don't get help for them. Over half of all males between 40 and 70 years of age experience erectile dysfunction, making it the most common chronic condition affecting men. ED can be caused by diabetes, blood pressure medications, prostate cancer surgery or numerous other conditions. Whether because of embarrassment or lack of information about treatment, as many as 90 percent of men with the condition don't get help, experts say. "One of the most difficult things for a doctor is to ask patients about their sexual health," said Cummings. That's why doctors are supportive of Levitra. Whatever gets those men who can't throw the football through the tire to ask their doctors for help is good thing, they say. |
