Israeli researchers at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa are conducting a study to determine whether or not toxins found in spider venom can be used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Senior urologist Dr. Ilan Gruenwald, of the Rambam neurourology unit and sexual health clinic, explains that the researchers are working with toxins from three types of South American and African spiders, including the Black Widow Spider .
The spiders will be bred in a special habitat and their venom will be milked with a special sponge.

The study was launched after a unexpected discovery; that men bitten by spiders often experienced unusually prolonged erections.

Dr. Gruenwald have approached several pharmaceutical companies and invited them to participate in studies on the subject, and some of the companies have already shown great interest in this new research.
Gruenwald says that:

"This study is the first of its kind, and may help many men".

As we know, Viagra and other PDE5-inhibitors have been the most common treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) during the last decade.
But Viagra is not for everybody. Men who takes nitrate-containing heartmedicines shall not use Viagra, but do they have any alternatives? No, not really, or at least not yet.

Viagra increases the blood flow to the penis, and actually causes a light fall in blood pressure (hypotension). That is why it is dangerous to combine the medicine with nitrates, as they have the same effect.
The mechanisms of the toxins is not yet known or described, but hopefully they do not interact with nitrate-containing heartmedicines.

Of course, it is not likely that a new medicine will replace Viagra completely, but it can be a good alternative, and maybe even a supplement, to the PDE5-inhibitors.