From Aspirin to Viagra, insulin to penicillin, and vaccines to vitamin supplements, drugs have become part of our everyday lives. This staggering global industry wasn’t born overnight; advancements in pharmaceutical science have been happening for a long while, over the course of decades and even centuries. This book tells the history of ten prominent substances and how they came to be common household names. It shows how the creation of such influential drugs often began with the right person at the exactly right—or wrong!— time. The chapters tell the stories of geniuses and charlatans; scholars and amateurs; advances won through hard work or pure luck; and ultimately, the handful of resounding successes that revolutionized a global industry. Beyond the pioneers of the most famous drugs in our culture, the book analyzes how our perspective on medical treatment has shifted over the decades. Modern standards for testing and administering substances have created a new set of advantages, setbacks, and stigmas, all of which are discussed herein.

Drawing on interviews with men who take the drug, their wives, doctors and pharmacists as well as scientists and researchers in the field, this fascinating account provides an intimate history of the Viagra's effect on America.

Jamie Reidy is the guy who's been there, done that, and walked away with the insider stories. Inside Hard Sell: Now a Major Motion Picture LOVE and OTHER DRUGS, you'll find yourself rooting for Reidy and shocked by the realities of the world that paid his salary. This comedic expose traces Reidy's experiences from Pfizer training to life as the "V-Man," when Reidy became Pfizer's number-one drug rep during the Viagra craze. With equal parts self-confidence and self-mockery, Reidy takes the reader on a hilarious romp through pharma-culture while revealing the controversial side of the drug industry. From viewing a circumcision to gaining a doctor's rapport to providing insight on why doctors choose to prescribe Drug X over Drug Y, and from how to bargain "sigs" and "scripts" to why the Viagra pill is shaped as a diamond, Reidy discloses everything. A witty, behind-the-scenes look at an industry that touches everyone in America with a prescription, Hard Sell uncovers truths about the pharmaceutical industry you'd rather not know and practices you'd like to believe weren't employed. Hard Sell has been adapted into a major motion picture starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.

As revolutionary as "the pill" and more controversial than Prozac, potency-promoting Viagra has quickly become the most successfully launched drug in pharmaceutical history. Since its FDA approval, the oral medication has proven nearly 80 percent effective---riveting the sex lives of hundreds of thousands of couples, while finally bringing the age-old problem of erectile dysfunction out from under the covers. Now in "VIAGRA," lauded psychiatrist Susan C. Vaughan, M.D., clearly explains the full potential of America's favorite new drug---and its possible ramifications.

This drug is a landmark discovery, which consequently has become the definitive therapy for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). Following the major breakthrough in the field of nitric oxide (NO)-physiology and pharmacology leading to sildenafil being marketed, the most current information is presented in this reference book, including ongoing research from several disparate groups about NO as endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) and also as a neurotransmitter for nerves innervating erectile tissue in mammals. The development of sildenafil as an oral phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor drug for the treatment of ED resulted in one of the first products, which made its way successfully from basic NO research to routine clinical therapy. This volume addresses all fields of sildenafil application in both men and women. In a highly competitive research environment with a critical medical need for drug improvements the reader will learn more about clinical resistance to sildenafil treatment and the modalities to overcome the failure rates. The individual chapters cover clinical use, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, biochemistry, and cultural aspects. They are written by leading experts in their respective fields. Therefore, readers a?? whether professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, physicians treating ED, biochemists, chemists or pharmacologists a?? will find a detailed and up-to-date knowledge base about current research activities and an excellent overview for further research on this compound class and its cultural impact.

Maturing Masculinities is a nuanced exploration of how older men in urban Mexico incorporate aging, chronic illness, changing social relationships, and decreasing erectile function into their conceptions of themselves as men. It is based on interviews that Emily A. Wentzell conducted with more than 250 male patients in the urology clinic of a government-run hospital in Cuernavaca. Drawing on science studies, medical anthropology, and gender theory, Wentzell suggests the idea of "composite masculinities" as a paradigm for understanding how men incorporate physical and social change into gendered selfhoods. Erectile dysfunction treatments like Viagra are popular in Mexico, where stereotypes of men as sex-obsessed "machos" persist. However, most of the men Wentzell interviewed saw erectile difficulty as a chance to demonstrate difference from this stereotype. Rather than using drugs to continue youthful sex lives, many collaborated with wives and physicians to frame erectile difficulty as a prompt to embody age-appropriate, mature masculinities.

After the hype, a thoughtful, responsible approach to improving sexual function. The viagra revolution is here, and while the drug truly can help many of the millions of Americans who seek it, it can create as many problems as it can cure. Here is the first book to help readers-men and women together-understand some of the common root causes of sexual dysfunction and determine whether the quick fix of Viagra will help them, or possibly make their situation worse. Dr. Melchiode, who participated in some of the early clinical trials of Viagra, gives the reader a tour of the sexual psyche, pointing out the obstacles and pitfalls posed by treatment, whether with drugs or through other means. Most important, he makes the critical point that men must involve their partners in the treatment, and offers sage advice on how to do so in a positive and loving manner. He also discusses such thorny issues as the role of the physician, the relationship with one's insurer or HMO, and the potential impact of Viagra-both good and bad-on male-female relations, and society in general.