Pills and bottles promising to boost your sex life may be appealing, but you might want to think twice before buying or using one.

While their claims are tempting, they may not be backed by evidence and may even lead to unwanted side effects.

Indeed, some medical experts say using sex stimulating drugs have both positive and negative implications on human health.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that though the drugs have benefits to human health, its negative implications far outweigh its benefits.

NAN reports that sex enhancement drugs, also known as erectile dysfunction medication, are mostly patronised and used by men than women. It also reports that erectile dysfunction is the inability of a male to get or keep an erection firm enough to have sexual intercourse.

Speaking on the issue, a Consultant Gynaecologist, Dr. Ayodele Ademola, said it is not advisable to use sex enhancement drugs, except if it becomes exceptionally necessary, and must be used under strict medical prescription and supervision.

Ademola said that sex enhancement drugs could cause cardiovascular diseases such as:

• Abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias
• Aorta disease and Marfan syndrome
• Congenital heart disease
• Coronary artery disease (narrowing of the arteries)
• Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy)

According to him, there are many instances where people who used sex enhancement drugs ended up losing their lives. “I have had a situation where two elderly couple who took erectile dysfunction drugs simultaneously had heart attack and died.

“Also, a young man of about 45 years of age who took overdose of tramadol with the aim of enhancing his sex performance also died in the course of having sexual intercourse.

“If anyone has potency problem, it is advisable that such person seeks medical attention, rather than using sex enhancement drugs, because it has many underlying side effects which may result to eventual loss of life,” Ademola said.

The expert, therefore, advised people who have potency problem to avoid self-medication or use of enhancement drugs, urging them to seek medical attention for proper diagnosis and treatment.

He said that hypertensive, diabetic and aged people are at higher risk of developing complications if they use sex enhancement drugs, advising them to completely avoid using one, saying that they might die in the process.

Also speaking, chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Lagos chapter, Dr. Joseph Akinde, advised people to desist from abusing drugs with the aim to enhance sexual performance.

Akinde noted that some people take excessive amount of it in order to enhance sexual performance, noting that most of the drugs sometimes are not specifically made for potency improvement.

He decried the use of tramadol, intake of excessive alcohol, over-the-counter sex stimulants and other intoxicants to boost sexual drive, adding that such approaches are typical drug abuse and could result in more harm than good.

Akinde listed some health implications of over-the-counter male sex enhancement drugs to include damage to the urethra, permanent difficulty maintaining an erection, permanent problems with urination, penis fractures causing bleeding and requiring surgery and dangerous drop in blood pressure.

Also, a general practitioner at Mercy Way Medical Centre, Ejigbo, Dr. Patrick Omogbohun, urged people to be very careful of what they eat, saying that diet and lifestyle could contribute to impotence.

Omogbohun said that diets high in saturated fats have been linked to heart disease, adding that men with heart disease are more likely to experience erectile dysfunction.

He said that changes to diet, exercise, reduction in smoking and alcohol consumption could reduce the risk of developing conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases that could lead to erectile dysfunction.

“Healthy lifestyle habits like getting regular exercise, eating a varied and nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption and avoiding tobacco use should be maintained,” Omogbohun said.

Also, a General Physician, Dr. Tunji Akintade, advised people with heart challenges to avoid using sex enhancement drugs, saying that such drugs portend dangers, which could be deadly.

He said that such medication could cause user’s blood pressure to “dangerously drop to low level’’.

The expert also warned people with severe liver impairment or end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis to avoid sex enhancement products, as continuous use of such medications might lead to chronic fatigue syndrome or erectile dysfunction for men and women.

A Medical Parasitologist, Dr Adeniyi Adelodun, said that the most common side effects of sex enhancement drugs are headaches, upset stomach, nasal congestion, muscle pain, and facial flushing; noting that most of these symptoms are relatively mild and go away after few hours.

“ED drugs can make blood pressure to temporarily drop; so, never use them along with medications that contain nitrates.

“Users may also experience priapism (long-lasting and sometimes painful erection) low blood pressure, if Viagra is taken with certain other medications.

“Users may also experience cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack, irregular heartbeat or stroke occur mainly in people with heart disease,” he said.

Also, Dr Olamide Olowoyo, a Consultant Physician and Nephrologist, advised individuals with erectile dysfunction to seek medical help instead of taking concoctions and medications for sexual enhancement.

Olowoyo, who works at the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta in Lagos, said that concoctions or medication to enhance sexual performance could result in unpredictable health hazards.

“We have seen a lot of cases of people, most especially men, taking a range of products to enhance sexual performance. Some take herbal concoctions without prescription, and this is very worrisome because of the adverse effects on their body.

“For some people, it increases their blood pressure, causes angina (chest pain), heart attack; and for some, it affects their kidneys because of toxin and others.

“For the kidney, toxins in herbal concoctions affect the kidney and shut the kidney down and some of these individuals will have to go for dialysis to flush out toxin. Even, after going through dialysis, due to the injury to the kidney, it can progress to acute kidney diseases.

“In Nigeria, young people are coming down with advanced kidney diseases, because some of them have been taking herbal concoctions for a long time,” she said.

Olowoyo called for regulation that would help regulate the usage of medication in the country. “We don’t really enforce regulation for drugs, as people can obtain any drug over the counter without any prescription from the doctors. This is a cause for concern that should be tackled urgently,” she said.

(NAN)