Before 1998, erectile dysfunction was an absolute downer. Treatments were tough and the subject taboo. All that changed in 1998 when the drug sildenafil, more commonly known as the Blue Pill, was launched. It shot to global fame and racked up blockbuster sales within months. Within a decade, scientists found that sildenafil also improves symptoms of people suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension, a lethal condition of overly high pressure in the blood vessels from heart to lungs. All of these would have been impossible if not for some honest men who confessed unexpected erections as a side-effect. This is sildenafil's journey through the labs and our blood vessels.

(Full talk of Dr David Brown's talk can be found here.)

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Tags:  viagra,  sildenafil,  pulmonary arterial hypertension,  phosphodiesterase inhibitor