5 Surprising Facts About Viagra That Will Blow Your Mind

From thwarting terrorist plots to curing jet lag in hamsters, Viagra has been used for some truly extraordinary purposes over the years. The little blue pill – originally intended to help relieve the symptoms of erectile dysfunction – will be celebrating its 21st birthday this year, so to commemorate its contribution to men’s well-being, here are 5 surprising facts about the sex drug that will blow your mind.

It makes plants stand up straight

Ask yourself this: once you discovered Viagra helps to treat the symptoms of erectile dysfunction (ED), what would be your next move? Explore its other potential clinical applications? See how it can be improved? Don’t be silly. You’d test it on plants, of course.

In the same year Viagra was launched, curious (or perhaps chronically bored) Isreali and Australian researchers turned their attention to the potted plants on their windowsills.

They discovered that small amounts of the drug dissolved in a vase of water can “double the shelf life of cut flowers, making them stand up straight for as long as a week beyond their natural life span”.

But their daring exploits didn’t stop there. They also tested Viagra on strawberries, legumes, roses, carnations, broccoli, and other foods. Eventually, they found that 1mg of sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) was enough to prevent cut flowers from wilting for a week longer than expected.

This is because Viagra slows the breakdown of a molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). cGMP is the molecule that also causes erections to subside in men, so slowing down the rate at which it is broken down allows erections (and plants) to stay stiffer for longer.

If you want to learn more about how erections work, men’s wellness brand Numan have written a whole book on the subject, which you can read here.

It cures jet lag in hamsters 

As if hamsters weren’t notoriously randy enough, scientists discovered that giving them sildenafil helps the little critters adapt quicker to laboratory simulations of a six-hour time-zone change than those who aren’t.

Diego Golombek, one of the scientists who conducted the bizarre study suggests sildenafil helps to fight jet lag because it increases the production of a molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in the body.

This temporarily “speeds up” the internal body clock in the brain, allowing the hamsters treated with sildenafil to adapt up to 50% quicker than their non-treated counterparts.

Golombek believes that taking small quantities of Viagra (but not enough to stimulate an erection) may also help human men overcome the burden of jet lag. However, this has not been fully studied.

Viagra made $400 million within three months of its launch 

Before the launch of Viagra in 1998, there were no oral treatments for ED. The only options available to men were an injection that was shot directly into the penis or a prosthetic implant.

When given the choice between being jabbed in the penis with a sharp needle or swallowing a tiny blue pill, it is not surprising that the latter became as successful as it did.

In fact, it was such a hit that Pfizer (the company who makes Viagra) pocketed a tidy $400 million within the first three months of its release. To put that into perspective, that’s about the same price as 26,000 Ford Fiestas, one hundred and eighty-three Mac Book Pros, or four hundred $1 million houses in the heart of central London.

Since then, Viagra is estimated to have made Pfizer $1.8 billion every year for the last 20 years. This figure is made even more impressive when you learn that Viagra was, in fact, discovered by accident.

Before it shot to fame as the go-to treatment for ED, it had a humble beginning as the blood pressure medication UK92480. It was originally made to combat angina (severe chest pain), but patients quickly noticed that it came with an unexpected side effect – greater erections.

After extensive testing (and many successful erections) Viagra was born. Its effects piqued media interest and it quickly became a cultural icon after being featured in popular television programs, movies, adverts, and songs. Nowadays, Viagra has a whole host of competitors – such as Numan – offering ED treatments at competitive prices. But credit where credit’s due: without Viagra, men wouldn’t have the range of choices that are available to them now to treat their ED.

Viagra is one of the most counterfeited drugs in the world

The black market for counterfeit Viagra is huge. From 2014 to 2015, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confiscated £3,890,516 worth of fake Viagra. This number tripled to £11,205,342 worth from 2015-2016, making up 90% of the counterfeit drugs seized that year.

Further research has shown that up to 77% of Viagra bought online may be fake. Counterfeit Viagra has been known to contain blue printer ink, plaster, and powerful antibiotics – all ingredients that may pose a significant health risk to those it is sold to.

Thankfully it is relatively easy to spot a scam Viagra website. There are three tell-tale signs:

• No MHRA approval: dodgy viagra websites will never have an MHRA approval. The MHRA is the UK authority on medicines regulations. It ensures medicines and medical devices across the UK work and are acceptably safe. A scam Viagra website will never be approved by the MHRA because it sells fake Viagra that has not been licensed to be sold in the UK. On the other hand, all reputable websites will have proof of their MHRA approval.
• Dangerously high doses: the maximum dose of Viagra that can be taken safely is 100mg. Anything higher than this can cause significant health problems. However, scam websites often sell sildenafil in doses higher than 100mg. It is common to see these websites selling sildenafil in doses of 120-200mg – twice the maximum daily dose.
• No online consultation: all reputable online ED treatment companies will ask you to complete an online consultation before you can purchase sildenafil. This is because sildenafil is unfit for people with certain medical conditions, and may interact with particular types of medication. Online consultations ensure sildenafil is safe for you to take and will not conflict with any medication you are taking.Scam websites, however, will not make you take an online consultation. Instead, they will let you purchase sildenafil immediately – regardless of whether you are fit to take it or not. This may be dangerous for some people with pre-existing medical conditions, especially heart conditions. Therefore, it is important to have a consultation either online or with your doctor before buying sildenafil online.

Viagra was used as a secret weapon against the Taliban 

Sun Tzu famously wrote in The Art of War that “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”. In harmony with this ancient wisdom, the CIA came up with a cunning way to procure vital information about the Taliban: give tribal elders Viagra.

An operative on a risky mission to extract information from a clan leader in Afghanistan came up with the idea after noticing the leader had many wives. The tribal elder, who was “weary of Americans”, accepted the pills after a long conversation. Four days later the operative returned and was enthusiastically greeted by the leader. “He came up to us beaming”, the operative said. “He said, ‘You are a great man”. From that moment onwards, “we could do whatever we wanted in his area.”

Bargaining Viagra for details about the Taliban’s supply routes is an especially effective tactic because it guarantees a steadier stream of information. If cash bribes are given to informants instead, they are more likely to go out and “buy the shiniest junk [they] can find” (according to Jamie Smith, a former CIA officer).

But if an informant suddenly “comes into money” others will quickly grow suspicious about where the money came from. If they are not killed, they will become “ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where [they] got it”. That’s why Viagra works so well as a bargaining tool. It is discreet, effective, and – unlike guns, which are often used as a bargaining chip – can’t be used against the side who offered them.

War is not won by firepower alone. Cunning strategy is also needed to triumph over the opposition. Nations will do anything to get ahead, which is why ingenuity, resourcefulness, and sometimes below-the-belt tactics are necessary to gain the upper hand – and give the opposing side a hard time.