Not only are many dietary supplements marketed for erectile dysfunction and other male sexual health problems ineffective, they may not even be “natural.” This is according to a recent report published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which found that a number of these supplements are adulterated with the very prescription drugs they claim to replace.
Written by Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, the report looks at several alarming incidents in which over-the-counter sexual enhancement supplements were found to contain other substances. A Singaporean study, for example, noted that 77% of so-called natural sex supplements on the market contain undeclared pharmaceutical drugs, often in higher-than-recommended doses. Another study from 2012 revealed that a supplement called Rock Hard for Men contained a diabetes drug.
Not only do your natural supplements threaten your wellbeing with drugs designed for health concerns you don’t have, but they may contain analogues, or chemical variants, of prescription drugs like Viagra. According to Cohen, more than 45 new analogues have been identified in sexual supplements. He cites a Dutch study in which it was found that almost 75% of the products sold in the Netherlands. When the US Food and Drug Administration recently analysed a product called Mojo Nights, the organisation discovered three analogue drugs, as well as counterfeit Viagra.
Other tainted supplements include Vicerex, Bullet Proof and Lightning ROD – but what’s so worrying about the analogues or Viagra they contain? Cohen explains that analogues have never been tested in humans, so their potential side effects remain a mystery. However, the wellness risks of prescription medications such as Viagra and Cialis are well-known. Also known as PDE-5 inhibitors, these drugs can cause headaches, nasal congestion and vision problems – and they can have dangerous interactions with the heart medication nitroglycerine.
When used without supervision of a doctor, you have no real way of knowing whether a sexual enhancement product is adulterated with PDE-5 inhibitors or other drugs that could have harmful effects. Cohen comments, ‘It is my hope that by educating men, deaths from sexual enhancement products can be prevented in the United States.’ He advised men with sexual dysfunction to avoid sexual health supplements altogether, but instead to consult your doctor.