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Article Excerpt
A pilot study of 20 males was conducted with a sample of healthy males selected for normal characteristics. Each was administered an 8-week trial of a supplement using natural nutrients and pro-hormones. Success was measured along a number of scales of independent variables to determine an overall improvement in sex life.
Despite the many advances we have made medically and technically in this century, we lag behind in our knowledge of ourselves. This is particularly true when it comes to the advancement and understanding of our own sexuality, specifically, our poor comprehension and discomfort with the topic and discussion of sexuality. Surrounded by myths, misnomers, and misunderstanding, most men are confused and bound by False knowledge of sexuality. Our shame in regard to sexuality and exploring its dysfunction is the cause of great suffering.
We have little understanding of the complexity of the brain and the enormous role it plays in sexual function. With the demise of the myth of mind/ body separation, we can appreciate how the brain and the entire body mediate sexual function. Sexual function plays throughout the entire body with both biological and lifestyle considerations. No part of the human being is untouched by the experience. Because sex is still such a difficult, embarrassing, and taboo subject for many Americans to discuss, it continues to be a source of pain for many in this nation.
Recent discoveries in the enhancement of sexual function with new products have been a big step in alleviating sexual suffering. The discovery of such products as Viagra[R], Cialis[R], and Levitra[R] have allowed a lifestyle change for many men who thought themselves doomed to spend their days in silent suffering with Erectile Dysfunction (ED). The entry of the pharmaceutical companies into the marketplace has also come with renewed research of old natural formulas that have been existent for centuries. The revisiting of these naturally occurring substances is the topic to be considered here. The new concept of combining time-honored pro-sexual nutrients with pro-hormones is reported and discussed. They are compounded together to improve and help optimize sexual functioning in men. They do not require a prescription, as they are found in nature. Sexual functioning is a fundamental part of man's identity and how he feels about himself. It further has a great deal to do with how a man deals with intimacy and closeness in his relationships. A man's sexual health (or dysfunction) has been found to be a key factor in his capacity for maintaining healthy relationships. People with good sex lives live healthier and longer lives (Aldridge-Westoff & Stein, 2002). Optimal sexual health enhances this capacity, and is thus, an increasingly important topic.
To cover this discomfort we make jokes about sex, a very uncomfortable subject for most Americans to discuss. Intimacy is the other portion of our difficulty with our sexuality. We are equally uncomfortable with our feelings of emotional closeness and therefore have difficulty in discussing feelings. To illustrate, when Viagra[R] first came out on the market, it became the topic of humor for late night television. The jokes went on for years. Yet, this vasodilator and the other products that followed it have become incredible sellers. All one has to do is find the courage to talk to a physician about the need to employ such a medication. For many men this is difficult and maybe even impossible because of the many myths of sexuality and uncomfortable feelings in their confusion about sexuality and shame. It is extremely difficult for a man to face his physician and ask for help with his sexual dysfunction. After all, we are men, and this doesn't exist in the John Wayne School of Machismo. This also helps to explain the lack of compliance with depressed men who have unfilled prescriptions for needed antidepressant medications, or worse, filled antidepressant prescriptions with depression exacerbated by iatrogenic sexual dysfunction. Antidepressant medications inhibit sexual response up to 90%, as does the original condition of depression. Men are embarrassed to discuss this side effect with their physicians. They simply cease to take the medication, and their depression persists along with sexual health.
They do not recognize that not all antidepressants cause ED. From the age of 20, when men are at their sexual peak, they begin to decline sexually. We have trouble understanding and discussing this matter due to the many myths of sexuality we mislearn in our society. Sexual function in this culture is closely tied to our self-esteem. It is not only closely tied to our view of health but to our perception of emotional closeness and intimacy. Emotional health in men is closely tied to their capacity for maintaining sexual function. All of life is about relationships, whether it is with self or others.
More then 40 million men in the United States suffer from low levels of testosterone, leading to a decline in sexual health, self-esteem, potential sexual dysfunction, and ED (Bunch, Abraham, Wang, & Meikle, 2002). Other contributing factors include general fatigue and depression (Nurnberg et al., 2002; Okulate, Olayinka, & Dogunro, 2003: Shabsign, Zakaria, Anastasiadis, & Seidman, 2001); prolonged stress; normal aging: hypertension (Burchardt et al., 2000); chronic illness (Marumo & Murai, 2001); cardiovascular disease (Tan & Pu, 2003); obesity (Chung, Sohn, & Park, 1999), which is now epidemic in this country; and chronic illness. In addition, there are common lifestyle patterns that contribute to a decline in optimal sexual function, which include cigarette smoking, lack of adequate regular physical exercise, excessive regular alcohol consumption, poor sleep, and unmanageable stress both at home and work.
The incidence of ED in one longitudinal study of men ages 40 to 69 was 25.9 per 1,000 man-years (Johannes et al., 2000). At ages 60 to 69, it increased to 46.4 cases per 1,000 man-years. Among other factors to which the authors attributed the abysmal results were poor lifestyle and lower education. Other well-designed studies have confirmed these findings (Blanket et al., 2001).
In studies conducted cross-nationally evaluating...
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