Viagra No Fix for Half of Users

Low testosterone is the real problem for many men
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 27, 2010 3:06 PM CDT
Viagra No Fix for Half of Users
The little blue pill is a flop for plenty of men.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

The little blue pill isn't a little miracle for half the men who take it. Doctors says that many of the men who are prescribed Viagra actually suffer from low testosterone levels—something the pill does not treat, the Daily Mail explains. Viagra actually works by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide, a chemical that doesn't function unless you've already got high testosterone levels.

"Often men with low testosterone levels won't feel like sex at all," says one urologist. "They will get repeat prescriptions for Viagra in the hope that it will eventually work. Everybody thinks that Viagra is the panacea for all sexual problems; it's not." Luckily, treatment for low testosterone, which affects 40% of men over age 40, is easy: a simple blood test to verify the condition, followed by testosterone pills, patches, or gels.
(More Viagra stories.)

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