Debunking some of the common myths about erectile dysfunction

Here at Medical Specialists Pharmacy we deal with thousands of patients every year, many of whom are men of varying ages seeking help with their erectile dysfunction (ED).

Therefore, we hear many assumptions, myths and misconceptions about the subject, and why men suspect they have developed impotence. We have even experienced a certain degree of shame and embarrassment from some men who seek our help, which should not be the case at all as erectile dysfunction is a fairly common health problem.

Since Pfizer’s Viagra burst onto the market in 1998, it has been followed by Eli Lilly’s Cialis and Bayer’s Levitra, all of which offer men a relatively safe and effective treatment to combat erectile dysfunction. As their popularity has skyrocketed in the subsequent 15 years since Viagra emerged, the unrealistic expectations and myths have also increased, which further add to an uncertainty about erectile dysfunction.

Here we breakdown the most common myths and dispel each of them:

MYTH: Erectile dysfunction only occurs in older men.

FACT: Although it is something that happens to approximately 4 in 10 men over the age of 40, erectile dysfunction can actually affect men of all ages and as Medical Specialists reported earlier this week, it is now becoming more prominent in younger men.

MYTH: Erectile dysfunction is just ‘part and parcel’ of getting older.

FACT: The condition may be more common in older men and more stimulation may be required compared to in years gone by, but there is no reason for men to simply accept their sex lives are over once they reach a certain age. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and through the help of oral medications like Viagra, men can still enjoy sex well into their senior years.

MYTH: Erectile dysfunction is not medically serious and is simply an upsetting annoyance.

FACT: The inability to achieve and sustain an erection, although annoying and sometimes distressing for those who want to enjoy sex, may actually be the early signs of an underlying health condition such as diabetes or heart problems such as high blood pressure and atherosclerosis – where the arteries become hardened. Atherosclerosis can result in a potentially fatal heart attack. Erectile dysfunction may mean atherosclerosis is already present in the heart or brain. Typically, many men with erection problems also have one or more risk factors for atherosclerosis, including:

. High cholesterol levels.
. High blood pressure.
. Diabetes.
. Smoking.
. Obesity.

MYTH: Erectile dysfunction means you are not attracted to your partner.

FACT: There could be a multitude of reasons for the inability to achieve and maintain an erection for sex. Not being attracted to the other person could be one, but it is a lot more likely to be another reason, including:

. Lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol consumption.
. A hormonal imbalance.
. Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
. Emotional problems such as stress, anxiety and depression.
. Medications to treat the emotional problems listed above, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been known to cause sexual side effects. Severity can depend on the particular drug and dose, but may ease over time as the person’s body adjusts to the drug.
. The after-effects of surgery for prostate and bladder problems.
. Diabetes – An estimated 35 to 50% of men with diabetes also have erection problems.

MYTH: Those with other medical conditions besides erectile dysfunction cannot take any ED medication.

FACT: Generally, erectile dysfunction medications do not interfere with other medical conditions or medications.  However, men suffering with heart related conditions or taking nitrate drugs should only take ED medications under undergoing a physical examination and seeing their GP first.

Brits still have a poor perception of asthma

Considering there are a staggering 5.4 million asthmatics in Britain, it could be assumed that the majority of us are pretty clued-up on the serious lung condition asthma. Unfortunately, the results of a new survey suggest this could be far from the truth.

Research conducted by supermarket giant Asda showed that whilst 94% acknowledge asthma as a serious health condition, 1 in four respondents could not recognise key symptoms associated with asthma. In fact, 17% incorrectly believed blocked sinuses are a sign of the lung condition.

An additional 15% of those surveyed simply thought feeling dizzy was asthma-related and 13% bizarrely assumed having itchy eyes was somehow a key symptom of asthma. In reality, the primary common symptoms of asthma are having a shortness of breath, wheezing (accompanied by a whistling sound), chest tightness/pain/pressure, coughing (especially at night or early in the morning).
Sufferers usually find their symptoms to be particularly worse at night time, after exposure to cold air, exercise-induced, or brought-on by a reaction to an allergen – similar to hay fever sufferers.

Other wrong assumptions held by Brits include thinking there is a permanent cure for the lifelong condition; incredibly a third of us believe this to be true. Moreover, 15% merely think that asthma is something that only ‘unfit’ people have.

This is clearly untrue though and many are obviously forgetting the countless famous asthma sufferers who have reached the top of their field, such as the multimillionaire and recently retired footballer David Beckham and cyclist Laura Trott, who won gold at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games in the Team Pursuit and Omnium events.

However, asthma attacks still cause around 1,140 deaths each year and a substantial number of those could have been avoided with more awareness about the condition and how to efficiently control it. Only 37% of Brits have a decent knowledge about asthma medication or can differentiate between the purpose of blue and brown inhalers.

Unfortunately, this perhaps demonstrate a worrying lack of awareness about the fact a person’s asthma can be better controlled with regular and correct utilisation of brown preventer inhalers such as the commonly used Qvar Beclometasone and Easi-Breathe inhalers. Over time, the brown preventers are effective at reducing the need for blue inhalers – which are taken immediately to relieve asthma symptoms and essential in treating asthma attacks.

Visit the ‘Asthma and Allergies’ area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website for a full list of all the preventer and reliever inhalers we provide for suitable patients.

If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. You can undergo a quick and easy confidential online consultation with one of our GMC-registered Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription which is passed to our in-house RPSGB–registered Pharmacists and dispensed to a location of your choice, all within just 24 hours!*

*Allow extra time for overseas deliveries.

Reduce teenage pregnancy with earlier sex education say MSPs

Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are pushing for a new national strategy to begin sex education classes for children at a much earlier age as well as calling for children as young as 13 to be provided with free contraception.

The proposed plans by the Health and Sport Committee was included in a report following a six-month investigation and would be introduced in Scotland to combat the huge problem of teenage pregnancies, with Scotland having one of the highest rates in Western Europe.

The report highlighted an existing strategy whereby condoms are freely available to anybody aged between 13 and 24, in addition to arguing that efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy should be implemented ‘as early as possible, preschool even’ as these are ‘formative years’ which influence their experiences during adolescence and beyond.

Approximately seven out of every 1,000 under-16s in Scotland fall pregnant. Rates in the poorest areas are five times higher in comparison to the more prosperous regions, with youngsters in the poorer areas more than twice as likely to not have an abortion. There has been a gradual, small reduction in rates amongst the under-18 and under-20s however.

There are no age limits in place at the moment with regards to sex education, leaving it to parents and teachers to consult with one another to decide the best solution. The committee claim this is causing a lack of nationwide consistency and a drastic variance in advice and services across the country.

For instance, the Scottish Government is also being urged to reconsider how sex education is taught in Catholic schools after arguments that youngsters especially in the west of Scotland are ‘disadvantaged’ by not being told certain aspects of sex and reproduction.

Health committee convener and Labour MSP Duncan McNeill said: “Scotland has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe, which has a long-lasting impact on generations of young parents and their children. This is why this committee is calling for a new strategy to tackle teenage pregnancy. Improved access to contraception or better access to high-quality sexual health education won’t in itself tackle our rates of teenage pregnancy. Our committee is confident that implementing this package of measures will bring about the step-change we need to make a real difference.”

Sexual health group Brook and the Family Planning Association welcomed the committee’s report, saying: “High-quality sexual relationships education does not encourage young people to become sexually active.”

Traffic light food labelling system given green light

A voluntary new universal food labelling system aimed at making it easier and quicker for consumers to make healthier food choices was announced yesterday by the government.

It is one of many initiatives that health ministers are hoping will be affective at reducing the billions of pounds the NHS lose annually due to the nation’s poor diet, leading to an ever-increasing number of obesity-related health conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

The overhaul on how a product’s nutritional information is displayed was agreed upon by the government, food manufacturers and food retailers. The standardised front-of-label packaging will be introduced by December 2014 by those parties who have agreed to sign up to the changes.

Currently, food and drink manufacturers are not forced into stating nutritional information, and as such, those that do decide to state it can vary in what information they give. One of the biggest complaints consumers have about so many differing food labels is that they are simply confusing.

The vast variety of labels has been attributed to growing customer demand for more nutritional information; however there has never been an agreement on a consistent system for displaying this information – until now. The new labelling system will therefore enable people to compare similar foods to easier select the healthier option.

Presently, nutritional information can be stated either on the back, side or on the front of packaging. However, the new standardised labels for food and drink and drink products will be clearly displayed on the front of the product and consumers will be quickly able to see the amount of energy in kilojoules (kJ) contained, in addition to kilocalories (kcal) – known as calories, fat and saturated fat content, the amount of sugar and the amount of salt. ‘Guideline Daily Amounts’ will disappear and the amounts of each will now be explained as ‘Reference Intakes’.

Those amounts will be accompanied with how much of the maximum daily intake a portion of food accounts for. The already commonly used traffic light system for food labelling will be deemed the standard display for a quick glance at a product’s nutritional value in regards to fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt – Red means high, amber means medium and green means low.

The voluntary new scheme, part of the government’s ‘Responsibility Deal’, has received positive feedback from supermarkets and manufacturers that had showed disdain for changes in the past.
Nestle, Mars, PepsiCo, Premier Foods and McCain have all signed up, together with major supermarkets accounting for 60% of food sales in the UK; Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, the Co-operative and Waitrose.

Speaking about the new food labelling, Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said: “The UK already has the largest number of products using a front of pack label in Europe but we know that people get confused by the variety of labels that are used. Research shows that, of all the current schemes, people like this label the most and they can use the information to make healthier choices. We all have a responsibility to tackle the challenge of obesity, including the food industry. By having all major retailers and manufacturers signed up to the consistent label, we will all be able to see at a glance what is in our food – this is why I want to see more manufacturers signing up and using the label.”

Which? Executive Director, Richard Lloyd, also commented about the issue, saying: “For years Which? has been calling for food companies to use traffic light labels so we welcome this big step forward towards making it easier for consumers to make healthy choices. With levels of obesity and diet-related disease on the increase, it’s vitally important that people know what is in their food, and this labelling scheme will encourage food companies to do more to reduce the amount of sugar, salt and fat in popular products. We hope that more food manufacturers will join the scheme so that their labels will be consistent and comparable to those on the front of the retailers’ own packs.”

Bad breath biggest pre-date fear for Brits

The film ’50 First Dates’ may have depicted the issue as one of a light-hearted comical experience, but in reality first dates can often prove a nerve wracking and sometimes stressful experience – and this is before you have even gone on the date!

Brits worry about a whole assortment of factors leading up to the date such as choosing the right attire to wear or if there will be a sufficient number of topics of interest to discuss to mask over any potential awkward silences.

However, a new survey by the makers of revolutionary mouthwash CB12 has found that indeed bad breath seems to be the biggest concern of single Brits before going on their date, with over half who answered the survey stating this is their main worry before the big night.

Perhaps this is an unsurprising reason provided as a concern when bearing in mind that the same survey found three quarters (75%) claim they would be deterred from going on a second date with somebody if they had bad breath (also known as halitosis).

Topping the list however for dating turn-offs was body odour (86%), followed by bad breath, whilst excessive sweating and bad teeth were both given as reasons for being turned-off by 58% of the respondents.

Therefore, to increase your chances of achieving a second date with somebody, it might be worthwhile making sure you are stocked up with plenty of anti-perspirant, toothpaste and neutralise any bad breath for up to 12 hours with CB12 mouthwash!

The survey also discovered that bad skin/spots (34%), over-doing make-up (30%), untidy-looking nails (29%) and too much facial hair (28%) also proved to be big turn-offs for people.

James Preece, a top UK dating expert said: “It’s completely natural for people to get pre-date nerves, especially on a first date when first impressions are so important. Bad breath is clearly causing a huge amount of angst amongst daters, yet thankfully there are products out there such as CB12 which can help.  Confidence is key when it comes to dating as when people ooze confidence they appear more attractive to others – addressing pre-dates concerns boosts chances of having a fantastic date.”
The biggest pre-date worries, in order, were found to be:

. Bad breath
. Choice of outfit
. Looking fat
. Body odour
. Bad hair
. Food stuck in teeth
. Untidy/Ungroomed nails
. Make-up
James has provided 5 tips for unlucky-in-love serial daters to try and follow. They are:

1. Friday afternoon is the best time of the week to message when online dating. People are winding down at work, looking forward to the weekend and are looking for a distraction and possibly a date over the weekend.

2. If you want to attract and date a ’10,’ you’ve got to become a ’10′ yourself. This needs to be in every way – mentally & physically. So always dress to impress and never stop looking at ways to improve and enrich your life.

3. Mint can really enhance a kiss as the cooling sensation when air hits your mouth is a fantastic feeling. This can make it more memorable and give you more chance of getting another!

4. Kissing involves three senses at once – touch, taste and smell. So if you don’t have fresh breath you’ll spoil it for both of you.  Before your date, make sure your breath is fresh by using a mouth rinse so you can be confident you’ll have fresh breath throughout your date and especially for your first kiss!

5. A smile shows empathy and showing your teeth is a primitive display that you are not a threat.   So if a person gives someone a genuine warm smile it shows they are interested and comfortable talking to them. Studies have shown that teeth don’t need to be overly white to be considered attractive, just clean and natural looking. If you have bad teeth or bad breath then it suggests you are lazy and don’t care about your appearance, so definitely work on this if necessary.

More younger men are now suffering from erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as male impotence, is a very common condition affecting almost half of men between 40 to 70 years of age on at least one occasion.

The inability to achieve and maintain an erection satisfactory for sexual intercourse is often mistakenly assumed to be an ‘older’ man’s condition and something that surely could not affect a male under the age of 40…wrong!

In fact, Medical Specialists Pharmacy deals with thousands of patients every year who are requesting ED treatments such as Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. The stigma attached to this genuine health problem seems to be finally subsiding as men banish their worries and embrace these highly effective treatments.

And now, a new study published in the The Journal of Sexual Medicine has revealed that approximately a quarter of men under the age of 40 are seeking treatment to combat erectile dysfunction, and almost half (48%) of these men were actually suffering with severe ED.

“Erectile function, in general, is a marker for overall cardiovascular function — this is the first research showing evidence of severe erectile dysfunction in a population of men 40 years of age or younger’ Irwin Goldstein, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, commented in a statement.

Goldstein continued: “Clinically, when younger patients have presented with erectile dysfunction, we have in the past had a bias that their ED was primarily psychologic-based and vascular testing was not needed. We now need to consider regularly assessing the integrity of arterial inflow in young patients — identifying arterial pathology in such patients may be very relevant to their overall long-term health.”

Prevalence of ED would seem to increase in correlation with age; however studies of younger men have painted a confusing picture of the true extent of the problem, with prevalence rates varying from between 2 and 40%.

Therefore, Paolo Capogrosso, MD, of the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, in Milan, Italy, and a team of researchers assessed the clinical and sociological factors of 439 men who had attended one particular academic outpatient clinic requesting first-time medical assistance for impotence problems between January 2010 and June 2012.

From the 439 men, it was found that 114 (26%) were aged 40 or under. Younger patients were determined to have a lower average body mass index, a higher average level of testosterone in their blood, in addition to a lower rate of any other medical issues. However, they generally smoked more cigarettes and took more illicit drugs compared to older patients; both have been known to contribute to impotence problems in men.

Another common problem for men – premature ejaculation – was found to be more prominent in younger men, whilst Peyronie’s disease (where scar tissue causes a bending/deformity of the penis) was more common in the older patients.

More studies may have to be conducted that cover a much large, varied demographic, but the findings of this study could suggest that the condition may be affecting a lot more younger men than health experts predict.

It could be that some men may not wish to share their problems with anybody else, especially their own GP, and this may explain why at Medical Specialists we are seeing a rapidly increasing number of men turning to us for help in treating something that can be deeply distressing and can have a major impact on a man’s self-esteem and relationship with his partner.

For information on how to obtain the previously mentioned treatments for erectile dysfunction; Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, in addition to premature ejaculation treatments such as Priligy and Stud 100 spray, visit the Men’s Health area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website.

Liver disease patients found to have hospital discrimination

A report into patient deaths across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has concluded that the NHS has been guilty of showing a dismissive, negative and discriminative attitude towards people who are suffering with alcohol-related liver disease.

The findings are part of a new report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD), which state there are poor levels of care in the health service, not enough specialist doctors, as well as shortcomings in regards to screening, managing patient’s drinking habits and caring for acutely ill patients.

NCEPOD assessed almost 200 hospitals and thoroughly examined the cases of 385 patients who had died from alcohol-related liver disease.

The research found that as many as 32 of the deaths – one in 12 of those examined – could have been prevented if the patients had received better quality care, and shockingly, under half of the patients reviewed were deemed to have received what could classed as ‘good’ care.

It was found that despite three-quarters of the patients being admitted into hospital more than once; a third had never been referred to alcohol support services for help in stopping their drinking.

In addition, a quarter of the patients whilst in hospital had never been given the chance to see a specialist in diagnosing and treating liver disease – a gastroenterologist or hepatologist. In fact, the presence of consultant hepatologists were only discovered at 28% of the 191 hospitals studied in the report.
The NCEPOD strongly argue that every patient who attends hospital should be screened for alcohol misuse and any patient with worrying drinking behaviour should be given alcohol support services. The report also says that anybody suffering with urgent alcohol-related liver disease should never have to wait more than 24 hours before being seen by a specialist such as a gastroenterologist or hepatologist.

Report author Dr Mark Juniper, NCEPOD clinical co-ordinator and consultant physician at the Great Western Hospitals Foundation trust, said: “Many people with alcohol-related liver disease have multiple admissions with this condition. This gives clinicians an ideal opportunity to offer appropriate treatment and advice to patients to help them stop drinking and improve their future health. Unfortunately, this isn’t happening and in over a third of patients reviewed in this study, referral for support to stop drinking was not made, despite most hospitals reporting to have alcohol liaison services. This is partly because the services are not available at all times that they are needed.”
Dr Juniper, a consultant physician the Great Western hospitals NHS foundation trust, Swindon, continued: “Similarly, patients were not always seen by a specialist in liver disease, and when they were, this was often not for several days after admission. We know that abstinence works, and that when simple advice is offered to patients, one in eight will reduce their harmful drinking levels – that’s better than the results from ‘stop smoking’ support services. There are misunderstandings. It is quite difficult to predict the patients who will do well and who will do badly once they get into hospital and are very sick…there are patients who are being denied intensive care and aggressive treatment who do have the potential to survive.”

Liver disease, also known as ‘hepatic disease’, is where the liver is damaged or develops a disease. Alcoholic liver disease is just one of many varying types of liver disease and covers numerous conditions and associated symptoms that emerge after the liver becomes damaged because of alcohol misuse.

Unfortunately, symptoms of alcoholic liver disease do not often appear until the liver is severely damaged so it is important to monitor drinking levels before it is too late.

Alcohol misuse can lead to alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. All have a number of symptoms but common signs are loss of appetite, nausea, weakness and abdominal pain. However, when cirrhosis reaches its more serious second stage, the person will experience total loss of liver function, known as liver failure, and other symptoms can include: personality changes (as a result of toxins in the bloodstream interfering with the brain), vomiting blood, rapid heartbeat, staggering when trying to walk, dark urine, jaundice, hair loss, muscle cramps and more weight loss.

If you are misusing alcohol, you could still have liver damage even though you are displaying none of the above symptoms. Medical Specialists Pharmacy recommend that if you are drinking too much alcohol, contact your GP as soon as possible and request a liver function test in addition to a blood test to detect enzymes that are usually only present in the blood due to liver damage.