Buyer beware! Online shopping for your favorite erectile dysfunction drug, be it Viagra or its generic equivalent, can make you vulnerable to unscrupulous vendors whose products are counterfeits — a waste of money and frequently hazardous to your health.
The need for prescription medications to treat debilitating illnesses and disorders has never been greater, yet the cost of securing those drugs for yourself or a loved one continues to climb. Often these medications are necessary for your body to properly function, whether it’s a heart medication, insulin, or a pain reliever. Other drugs, however, are only designed for intermittent use as needed. Still, when you need to use them, you want to be able to get those medications for a reasonable price in the amount you need.
The ever-growing demand for prescription drugs, coupled with the often exorbitant prices charged for them, has stimulated the growth of a booming counterfeit medications market. Criminals have seen an opportunity to profit off the needs of others, as they always do, and have taken to the streets of the Internet, selling fake versions of medications to unsuspecting buyers.
One of the most profitable medications for criminals looking to make quick money is Viagra. Used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, Viagra was easy prey for the counterfeit market. The dangers of taking a counterfeit drug, however, are only too real, with many versions containing little or nothing resembling the original chemical compound, while other pills contain far too large of a dose. Taking too much or too little could lead to dangerous situations, including damage to your body, and in extreme cases, death.
The Viagra Revolution
Arguably one of the most popular and most-prescribed medications in the world, Viagra burst onto the scene in the 1990s. Discovered during research into a new blood pressure medication, Viagra is one of a class of drugs called vasodilators. The chemicals that come together to make a vasodilator medication like Viagra act upon the body’s chemistry, stimulating the blood vessels to dilate, or expand, widening the inside and allowing blood to flow more smoothly. The resulting decrease in blood pressure improves the body’s circulation.
With the solid goal of finding a new and successful blood pressure medication, researchers were shocked to discover some of the substance’s side effects during animal testing. The rats who were taking the medication were experiencing physical changes that the scientists had not anticipated: they were achieving erections and appeared to be able to maintain them for a longer time than usual for the rats. Innovative uses for medications are often discovered in the laboratory, so the researchers took note and continued on with testing. When it came time to test it on humans, researchers noted that the same effect was taking place among the male volunteers. Not only were the men able to achieve an erection, but they were able to maintain it for a longer period of time.
Once it was certain that this new medication, by then dubbed Viagra, would be useful as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer decided to put the drug on the market not as a heart medication but as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. The need on the part of the male population was clear, and soon billions of those “little blue pills” were available by prescription.
Success, however, always gives rise to imitators.
Rise of the Counterfeits
As long as we as human beings have been using herbs and science to create medications for ourselves, there have been those who seek to profit from our illnesses by cheating us. Once it is discovered that a particular chemical or compound is capable of treating a disease or curing it, there will always be someone waiting in the wings to latch on and produced low-quality imitations with an eye toward only making the largest profit possible.
Counterfeit medications, including fake Viagra, have become far too common in many countries around the world, especially countries that lack the regulations and monitoring of the United States and Europe. These medications may not only have low or no amounts of the correct chemical compound, but they also may contain very harmful ingredients, such as arsenic. Packaged to look like the authentic medication, these fake versions of medications such as Viagra are very often the same shape, texture, size, and color. Some manufacturers even use printing ink to match the trademark blue of the original Viagra pill. Even the packaging is identical, or nearly, with even experts having trouble telling the real drug from the fake at times.
Chemical analysis is the only sure way to determine if a medication has been counterfeited. Breaking down the chemical components of the compound and comparing them to the authentic drug as created by the manufacturer will quickly weed out the fakes. The chemical analysis takes time and money, though, and too often fake Viagra and other fake medications are slipping through the cracks.
The developing world is hit the hardest by the lucrative fake medication market, with as high as 30 percent of the medications being sold there of a counterfeit nature. Some medications meant to treat serious illnesses, including many forms of cancer and HIV/ AIDS, have all been discovered in these regions to be fake. In the industrialized world, less than 1 percent of medications being sold are counterfeit, but the vast majority of those sales are occurring via the Internet.
Risks of Taking Fake Viagra
The risks of taking fake Viagra medication depend on what is in the medication. If the medication contains less than the necessary amount of true chemical compound, or even contains nothing but cornstarch and sugar, then the result will be a lack of success with the drug. Depending on the reason you are taking the medication, it may not be a serious outcome health-wise.
Taking too much of the medication, however, can be devastating, even deadly. Viagra is, after all, a heart medication, designed originally to treat blood pressure. If fake Viagra pills are found to have too much chemical compound in them, they can lead to a severe drop in blood pressure, even death.
Using the wrong ingredients is also a major issue with fake Viagra pills. Cornstarch and sugar are often used to create the pills, and for those that happen to use some of the actual chemicals used in the authentic drug, there are often dangerous substances finding their way in, including poisons such as arsenic.
Conclusion
New medications are constantly being developed, all with the aim of helping and healing us. And as these medications make their way onto the market and into our lives, so will their fake versions. Awareness is the key to defending yourself against the dangers of fake Viagra and other counterfeit medications. Use your online pharmacy wisely, and never be afraid to consult with your doctor or local pharmacist if you have any doubts about your medication.
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