Name: How Viagra changed the world | BBC Ideas
Uploaded: 2025-07-26T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 4 min 29 s
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Viagra was discovered by accident, but its impact has been huge.

The search for something to help men get it up is as old as history itself.

From eating roasted wolf penis, to electric shocks, to silicon implants inserted into the shaft.

But the story of how Viagra was discovered was quite unexpected.

A number of men in a trial for sildenafil, a drug to treat angina, report unanticipated side effects.

The urban myth, which happens to be true, is that the men who had it refused to return their unused tablets because their sex lives improved so much.

The first clinical trials for it as an erection drug are held in Swansea in 1994.

And it was clear then, after the first patient, that we had something special then.

So we had these ordinary, middle-aged, Swansea men, able to have sex for the first time in years, after just taking a tablet.

And four years later, Viagra, as it's now known, comes to market.

Before the 90s, the condition Viagra can treat was known as impotence.

Which is not a great word if you're trying to sell a drug to men, as it literally means lacking in power.

So the marketing team hones in on a new term, erectile dysfunction.

And enlists key figures, including Brazilian superstar footballer Pelé and US presidential candidate Bob Dole, to open up and normalise erection difficulties, particularly for older men.

Viagra, the little blue diamond, becomes one of the fastest-selling drugs ever.

Men who'd struggled for years with their erections, but had been too afraid to talk about it, finally had something that could help.

Just like erections, studies into erection difficulties can vary widely and are often unreliable.

One UK study found that around 8% of men under 44 had had trouble getting or keeping an erection.

Older men are far more likely to be affected.

The figure rises to 30% for men aged 65 to 74.

It's strongly associated with health conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and also depression and life events such as unemployment and relationship difficulties.

Some argue Viagra was as revolutionary as the introduction of the contraceptive pill.

Instead of opening up discussions around sex, critics say Viagra has doubled down on a really narrow idea of what sex is and reinforced stereotypes about masculinity.

Before Viagra, male actors would be chosen for their ability to get hard and stay hard.

But porn films were more realistic and often featured flaccid penises too, because that's the reality.

Now it's younger, harder, more athletic men.

Sex scenes are longer, rougher and involve more penetration.

This adds to the expectation that men's role in sex is to get hard and perform.

So, many younger men have performance anxiety.

Stress plays a huge role in inhibiting erections, so, ironically, stressing about erections can make it harder to get hard.

It's actually normal not to be hard all the time.

And when we talk about hard, how hard do we mean?

Not all sexual activities require a rock-hard penis.

And if we really want a hard penis all the time, we can buy one and keep it in a drawer.

If you want to have a good sex life, then talking about sex with your partner, trying new things, and being comfortable about what your body can and can't do is the best way to get there.

And just as sildenafil, to use its clinical name again, was never originally intended as a drug to help with hard-ons, it could have some other potential uses too.

One small study found promising evidence to suggest it could help with period pain, but efforts to explore this further have never been funded.

And early studies suggest it could potentially be useful in treating Alzheimer's.

So, could Viagra change the world in a totally different way?