In the mid 1990s a new class of medicines arrived that revolutionized the treatment of erectile dysfunction. These medicines are known as the "phosphodiesterase inhibitors. " They led to further understanding of the mechanism of erection or how the body makes the penis erect. Studies were done on a molecule called Nitric oxide and the ability of this molecule to cause relaxation of the penile smooth muscle. To understand how the medicines work, it is important to understand the way the human...

