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Sex and Uprima
By David Jay Brown
Uprima (Apomorphine Hydrochloride) is a prescription drug that enhances
a man’s ability to achieve and maintain an erection about as reliably as
Viagra, yet most men in America don’t know about it because it’s used
primarily in Europe.
Uprima is a chemical relative of morphine, although it has no
morphine-like effects, and is, in fact, a stimulant. It was developed as
a treatment for Parkinson’s Disease, but, early on, it became clear that
it might have other uses after many of the Parkinson’s patients began
getting erections when they received the drug. Marketed in Europe under
the trade name Uprima, it is now widely prescribed by physicians in
Europe as an effective treatment for male erectile dysfunction (ED) or
impotence.
Uprima was the first oral therapy to be approved by the European
Commission for the treatment of ED, and although Uprima has not yet been
approved for sale in the United States, U.S. residents are legally
allowed to order a (up to 3 month) personal supply of the drug from
European pharmacies because it is not a controlled substance, and it
meets the FDA Medication Import Policy guidelines.
Uprima is a type of drug known as a dopamine receptor agonist, and it
works differently than Viagra does to facilitate erections. (Dopamine is
an excitatory neurotransmitter, a chemical that causes excitement in the
brain.) Viagra works by enhancing the effect of a chemical in the body
called Nitric Oxide, which effects the vascular system, and temporarily
widens arteries, thus increasing blood flow to the penis.
Uprima acts through the dopamine receptors in the mid-brain, and a part
of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is the region responsible
for initiating erections. When Uprima stimulates the hypothalamus, it
inhibits the body’s smooth muscle contractions, and this allows for more
blood to enter the penis, so erections occur easier and more frequently.
However, like Viagra, Uprima will only work to facilitate erections when
sexual stimulation is present. It does not increase sex drive and it is
not an aphrodisiac.
In recent
studies, Uprima produced erections in men with erectial dysfunction about
as reliably as Viagra (between 70 and 90 percent of the time), and it has
been clinically shown to help men achieve an erection two to three times
faster than Viagra. Uprima starts acting within 15 to 30 minutes (around
20 minutes on average), while Viagra usually takes between 30 minutes and
an hour.
This is because Uprima tablets are taken sublingually--that is, they
dissolve under the tongue. Viagra, on the other hand, is swallowed as a
pill, which takes longer to enter the blood stream. Because of the
sublingual mode of delivery, one of the benefits to using Uprima over
Viagra--besides the fact that it works faster--is that you can take it
after eating, without lessening the effects of the drug.
Like Viagra, Uprima shouldn’t be used by people with hypertension or heart
problems. In clinical trials, the most commonly reported adverse reactions
to Uprima were nausea, headache and dizziness, which were said to be
generally mild and transient in nature.
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