By Francesca Hangeior.

Urologists have cautioned men against taking sex-enhancing herbal mixtures to enhance their sexual performance, warning that they could lead to low sperm production and permanent erectile dysfunction.

An urologist is a doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating diseases of the urinary system.

The medical practitioners advised men to be wary of taking any herbal product that promises to boost their sex drive without a doctor’s supervision.

While lamenting that sex-enhancing herbal mixtures were widely available and often marketed as a safe and natural way to improve sexual performance, the physicians insisted that many of the products had serious consequences and even permanent side effects, including reduced sperm production and loss of erection.

The World Health Organisation says erectile dysfunction is a common medical problem affecting approximately 15 per cent of men each year.

According to the WHO, over 150 million men worldwide were estimated to have been affected by erectile dysfunction in 1995, and this is projected to rise to 320 million by 2025.

The urologists said many sex-enhancing herbal mixtures had become increasingly popular, warning those products could have serious and potentially permanent side effects.

They noted that taking sexual herbal boosters may lead to men not getting erections again.

A senior Registrar in the Urology Division of Surgical Department at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Adebowale Oyebade, explained that men taking enhancing herbal mixtures were at higher risk of suffering from a side effect known as priapism.

While describing priapism as a prolonged erection of the penis that does not come down, the urologist said men that suffer such side effects because of drugs would end up losing erection for life.

He added, “If the erection lasts more than 4 hours, and the person did not seek medical intervention, what you are trying to achieve, which is to maintain an erection, you end up losing it at the end of the day.

“Because the longer that stays without that person seeking medical intervention, the greater the harm that can happen to that individual. And will end up losing that ability to have an erection.”

“There was a time that even in LASUTH we had it, it was rampant. It was more common among those taking all these drinks, and medications that will come down with this condition that I told you about, priapism. We call it a urological emergency that you need to intervene as early as you can.

“If that doesn’t happen, the endpoint is losing the ability to achieve erection.”

When asked how such a habit can affect sperm quality and production, the urologist noted, “Erection doesn’t have anything to do with whether the person will be able to have semen production or not.

“Of course, things that affect the quality and quantity of sperm production will include intake of alcohol, and use of some medications which include all these things you’re talking about. So in the long run it does affect the quality and the quantity of the semen being produced.”

Similarly, a Consultant Urologist, Dr Gabriel Ogah, revealed that a lot of young people are experiencing erections that do not come down due to the excessive use of sex-enhancing herbal mixtures.

Giving insight, Ogah, Managing Director, Ogah Hospital and Urology Centre, Fugar, Edo State, added, “There has been a high incidence of patients of young people having erections that don’t come down.

“Like they want their penis to be longer, they want them to stay long in bed. They go and take all those things you are just mentioning and they get a very long erection and the thing doesn’t come down.

“And when it doesn’t come down and they don’t go to the doctor quickly to bring the erection down, if it stays there for about 24 hours, they will become impotent for life. So, it’s dangerous for them to be taking those things they are taking to please their girlfriends.”

On how it affects sperm production and quality, the urologist noted, “Of course, it can affect sperm quality apart from becoming impotent. Some of these things are known to affect sperm quality. That is one of the reasons that the sperm quality of most young people worldwide is getting worse.”