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| doctors section | You are here: Treatment - Viagra and TRT |
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TRT key points
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VIAGRA + TESTOSTERONE = AN END TO E.D. - A Giant Leap for Mankind In the treatment of erectile dysfunction (E.D.) Viagra is ‘a giant leap for mankind’. Probably more men care about putting the manhood back in the man than putting a man on the moon. In fact, this drug can put a man and woman over the moon by ending the dreaded ED and the misery this causes. In terms of media attention, it seems to have caught the public imagination just as much, and not even NASA’s triumph made the cover of the two American magazines Time and Business week simultaneously, as Viagra did in 1998. Does it deserve this degree of hype? It seems to do so, both as a major advance in a long neglected area of men’s health, and as the official dawn of a ‘New Era of Lifestyle Drugs’. How Good is Viagra? In over 4,000 patients in more than twenty different research studies World-wide, Viagra has been shown to be highly effective in ED of many different types, whether due to psychosocial problems, diabetes, or prostate cancer operations. The benefits are dose related, just over 60% responding to the 25mg dose, over 70% to 50mg, and 80% to 100mg.
How Bad is Viagra? The side effects of Viagra are also dosage related, and the figures shown are on the strongest dose of 100mg. Fortunately, they are usually mild and short-lived, and with experience, its usually possible to adjust the dose for maximum action and minimum side effects. In the trials, only 2-3% withdrew because of unwanted reactions to Viagra, and generally it is considered a very safe drug.
Viagra and the Andropause Viagra only treats one symptom of the male menopause or andropause, that of E.D. The others of low sex drive, reduced mental and physical energy, irritability and night sweats would all go untreated by Viagra alone. Also, all the research studies agree that it is not an aphrodisiac, and will not work if the desire is not there. Testosterone is the hormonal basis of desire in both men and women, and if it is low, so is the libido. It is the desire and sexual excitement that generates the nitric oxide that increases genital blood flow and lubrication in both sexes, producing erections in the male, and by slowing its breakdown, Viagra prolongs these responses. This is why both in theory and in practice the two work better together, as clinical experience is showing. Also, as was recorded in two key articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association over fifty years ago (Werner, A.A., JAMA, 1939 and Heller, C.G. and Myers,G.B. JAMA, 1944: 126:472), testosterone treatment on its own can restore potency in the majority of andropausal men. In over a thousand such men studied in London over the last ten years, in 65% erectile function improved with the male HRT treatment alone to the point where intercourse was satisfactory. Only in the remainder, the group now most likely to receive additional benefit from Viagra, was treatment needed with methods such as the now thankfully largely superseded penile injections. Also the initial findings of work on the combined treatment suggests not only a higher response rate (over 95%), but that Viagra works at lower doses, and longer and stronger with additional testosterone. Also of course Viagra has none of the preventive medical benefits of male HRT with testosterone, especially to the heart and circulation, muscles and bones. Like oestrogen, testosterone has recently been shown to increase nitric oxide production in blood vessels all over the body, which as in the penis relaxes them and improves blood flow. This is likely to be important in slowing aging changes in both heart and brain as papers presented at The First World Congress on the Aging Male held in Geneva this February (1999) confirmed. back to top Viagra Plus Testosterone is the logical answer to the commonest cause of E.D., the andropause.
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