General
Description & Use
Used to treat erection problems in men. Vardenafil is a PDE5 inhibitor
used for treating impotence (erectile dysfunction) that is sold
under the trade name Levitra (Bayer AG), (GSK), (SP) .
Vardenafil
was co-marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals,GSK, and SP under the
trade name Levitra. As of 2005, the co-promotion rights of GSK
on Levitra have been returned to Bayer in many markets outside
the U.S. In Italy, Bayer sells vardenafil as Levitra and GSK sells
it as Vivanza, thus, because of European Union trade rules, parallel
imports might result in Vivanza sold next to Levitra in the E.U.
Vardenafil's
indications and contra-indications are the same as with other
PDE5 inhibitor; it is closely related in function to sildenafil
(Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis). Structurally, the difference
between a vardenafil molecule and the others is a methyl group
and a nitrogen atom's position. Vardenafil's relatively short
effective time is comparable to sildenafil's.
Adverse
drug reactions
The common, adverse drug reactions (side effects) are the same
as with other PDE5 inhibitors. The frequent vardenafil-specific
side effect is nausea; the infrequent side effects are: abdominal
pain, back pain, photosensitivity, abnormal vision, eye pain,
facial oedema, hypertension, palpitation, tachycardia, arthralgia,
myalgia, rash, itch, and priapism. One possibly serious, but rare,
side effect with vardenafil is heart attack. Also in rare cases,
vardenafil use may damage penile tissue, resulting in permanent
impotence.
Also
see Viagra, Intagra, Tadalafil and Kamagra
