Tag: erectile dysfuncation

Men have been advised against self medication in treating erectile dysfunction (ED), amidst rising cases of the ailment.

A consultant urologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Dr. Funmilade Omisanjo, gave this advice while addressing pharmacists at a Pharmacy Academy programme. organised by Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals Limited for Retail Pharmacists.

He said there was a remarkable increase in ED, stating: “The figures available suggest that about 40 per cent of men above 40 have some degree of ED while others have mild form of dysfunction. By the time you look at men above 60, 25 percent of them have severe erectile dysfunction. So what that means is that if you sit among a group of 50- year-old, you can expect one in two to have some degree of ED. For most of them it is mild form of ED. Mild in the sense that the men can still have some sexual intercourse, only that the extent of the hardness (turgidity) of the male organ is not what it used to be. This is because ED is measured in the presence of or absence of erection. We also talk about the turgidity of the organ. So it is roughly about one in two in men above 50 years,” he said.

According to Dr Omisanjo, the presence of ED could be a sign of other illnesses in the body, such as, diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular challenges.

Omisanjo said: “For most people, it is basically an age-related thing. As men get older, one expects there will be some deterioration in their sexual function, which is likened to women who attain menopause. In men we loosely term it Andropause. This is highly prevalent in men who are above 50 years. Age and lifestyle are very important factors. Obesity and lack of exercise are related. People with sedentary lifestyle or those who do not engage in physical activity are prone to obesity. This could also predispose people to ED. Things like smoking, alcohol intake, and most of these recreational drugs that people take actually have side effects as they affect erection.

“Then of course you have co-morbidities of other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypothermia, which is a medical emergency that occurs when your body loses heat faster than it can produce, causing a dangerously low body temperature. People who have problems with high level of cholesterol in their system, high blood pressure, people who have problems with their nerves are all susceptible to ED. Then of course there are medications people take for various medical conditions that have various erectile dysfunctions as side effects. These are some of the factors that predispose men to erectile dysfunction.”

On how best to know one is suffering from ED, and the best way out Dr Omisanjo said, “Curiously you may find out that the local things that these men take actually do work, but sometimes even when they work, the results will come at the expense of some other things in the body system. For instance, most of the local things that people take are invariably things that have been soaked in alcohol. Alcohol in itself can be a risk factor for erectile dysfunction, besides that, chronic intake of alcohol can have other side effects on the liver and all that. You can never tell what the concentrations of these things are. So in as much some of these do work they are not the things we prescribe routinely. We don’t encourage men to take herbal remedies for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. We always advise men to try and seek expert opinion and seek treatment at standard clinics or hospitals because we have well proven medications that do work’’.