One of the researchers, urologist Dr Walter de Bonis, tells Love Matters about a typical patient who takes Viagra for kicks.
In my surgery I talked to a patient who had come to me for the first time for a routine check-up.
“What medicines do you take?” I asked him, as I do with all new patients.
“None, only Viagra,” he answered.
“Which doctor gave you the prescription?” I asked.
“None,” he replied. “A friend recommended it and gave it to me.”
Improve performance
Some men simply don’t consider Viagra as a medicine and they can easily get hold of it without a prescription. It’s a very common experience in the surgery a urologist.
“Do you know Viagra is a drug prescribed for erection problems?” I asked him. “Do you suffer from these kinds of problems?”
“No doctor,” he said, “luckily I don’t have that problem”
“So, why do you take it?”
“To improve my performance.”
I asked him to explain.
“When I’m with a younger woman – don’t forget I’m 48 – I take it to perform better. You know, young girls are more demanding!” he told me enthusiastically.
No evidence
I hear stories like this every day. Men who don’t have any erection problems take these kinds of medicines because they wrongly think it will improve their sexual performance.
But there’s no evidence that Viagra or similar drugs improve performance if they’re taken by men who don’t have erection trouble. What’s more, as with any medicine, there are risks of attached to using Viagra if it’s taken without a prescription without consulting a doctor.
Magic pills
By the time my patient calmly left the surgery, I’d managed to convince him of his own ‘potency’ and that he didn’t need any magic pills to boost his performance.
We made a new appointment. I’m very curious to see how he gets on.
Have you ever taken Viagra even though you don't have really have trouble getting an erection?