Hormone Therapy - Treating Erectile Dysfunction: Mens Sexual Health

Warning about fraud

While health fraud certainly isn't rare, it's especially rampant among products for erectile dysfunction. These frauds can be hard to spot even by sophisticated people because they're often cloaked in scientific terms and promoted by supposed "medical" groups. The Federal Trade Commission offers these tips to help you evaluate claims made on the Internet, in health food stores, or in advertisements.

• If the product is advertised as effective for treating impotence and no physician's prescription is necessary, don't buy it. All effective treatments for erectile dysfunction require a prescription.

• If the product is advertised as a "breakthrough treatment," check with your doctor to see if it is legitimate.

• If the product is promoted by what appears to be a medical organization, call your physician to check the organization's credentials. Phony "clinics" and sham "institutes" are used to tout bogus cures for impotence.

• If the product says "scientifically proven" to reverse impotence in a high percentage of patients, check it out with your doctor. Some claims that clinical studies prove a product works are false.

• If the product being pitched to cure impotence is "herbal" or "all natural," dismiss it. Other than yohimbine, no herbal substance has been shown to be effective in treating erectile dysfunction.