Common Prescription Drugs May Reduce Healthy Men’s Libidos
There are now thousands of men purchasing prescription medicines online to treat a wide range of health problems from premature hair loss and obesity to depression and lack of libido.
The open market of these drugs online means that millions of men do not fully understand the serious side effects that these medicines can cause even to healthy men.
The latest men’s health scare comes from products prescribed to treat hair loss or an enlarged prostate.
New research finds they may contribute to irreversible sexual dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction is the cause of millions of men’s despair as they feel they cannot satisfy their partner.
In a small percentage of cases, symptoms persisted even after the medication was stopped
Dr. Harold Fuselier, an urologist with the LSU Health Sciences Centre, was involved in a study of the drugs in the early 90’s, when they first came out.
“Medical students and residents in a training program tried this and noted some decreased libido and difficulty with their sexual performance,” he says.
“I informed them this was a side effect of the drug…but, often times, they would prefer to continue taking the drug and take something else to enhance their sexual performance although their libido may be way down.”
But, he didn’t believe those symptoms to be permanent.
“Often times, we would just stop the drug and this would recur. That was especially true in young men that noticed their libido was down,” said Fuselier.
However, he also noted cases in which the symptoms were reversed once the medication was halted.
“But now there’s this report saying, that if you’ve been on it a long time, it may be irreversible.”
“I’m not totally convinced that the total testosterone metabolism is going to be irreversibly changed,” Fuselier said.
I’m not totally convinced that the total testosterone metabolism is going to be irreversibly changed,” Fuselier said.
He stressed that only a small percentage of the subject in the new study seemed to be affected.
About 8 percent of men taking the drugs reported erectile dysfunction, and 4.2 percent reported reduced libido.
“Yes, there’s a chance, and I think your physician should inform you of these side effects. And I think, now, I’m going to have to let them know it may be irreversible.”
For those men, “it’s a life sentence,” said lead researcher Abdulmaged M. Traish, a professor of biochemistry and urology at Boston University School of Medicine.
“No sex. No desire. Potential depression,” Traish added.
Almost everyone who takes these drugs experiences some of these side effects, Traish said. “But, some experience it more drastically than others,” he added.
For the study, published in the March issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Traish’s team searched the available medical literature for reports of sexual side effects associated with finasteride and dutasteride.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Bruce R. Kava, an associate professor of urology at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine, agreed that “these drugs do cause some of these problems.”
That the effects might not be reversible is a concern, he said. “But they haven’t convinced me yet, based on this data, because they don’t have any long-term data,” Kava said.
Most urologists discuss potential side effects with their patients, Kava said. “We don’t usually discuss long-term consequences that are irreversible, because most of us have not been aware of any long-term problems from these drugs,” he said.
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