Citation
(2008), "Erectile dysfunction", Health Education, Vol. 108 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2008.142108fag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Erectile dysfunction
Article Type: Internet review From: Health Education, Volume 108, Issue 6
If, like me, you are regular user of email, you will no doubt receive your fair share of offers of Viagra, Viadrene, Virmax and lots of other things beginning with V, that are aimed at improving virility and even curing erectile dysfunction. Sorry if you are female and reading this but I suspect you still get the spam emails anyway. Erectile dysfunction is a very common disorder. In the UK, The Sexual Dysfunction Association estimates that one in ten men will have recurring problems with their erections at some point in their lives. Similarly, in the USA, the American Urological Association estimates that erectile dysfunction affects 25 million American men. This is a problem that becomes increasingly common with age and it has been estimated that 5 per cent of men in their 40s and 25 per cent of men in their 60s, have complete erectile dysfunction.
The extent to which the internet may be able to provide help, other than in the supply of drugs, can be gauged by using Google. Typing “erection” into Google brings up almost 30 million hits, not surprising given the amount of porn on the Internet. What is surprising is that typing “erectile dysfunction” into the search engine produces over 7 million hits, so it appears that the problem is being discussed to a considerable degree. The purpose of this review is to examine a small proportion of these web sites and identify those that may prove useful for people with this problem.
This web site is also known as manmatters.co.uk and is aimed at helping men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Forty over 40 refers to the fact that 40 per cent of men over the age of 40 will have suffered, to some extent, from erection problems. The web site is UK based, and although Eli Lilly the American pharmaceuticals company sponsors it, the web site is thankfully not plagued by advertisements. The main focus of the web site is a 4T action plan, Talk, Test, Treat, Today, where most of the content can be found. The Talk section provides basic information on what ED is, what causes it, and how common the condition is. The emphasis in this section is the need to talk about the problem but it is acknowledged that this can be embarrassing or difficult topic for many people. To help with this there are three subsections, the first dealing with “how to bring up the subject of ED”; he second offers advice on “talking to your doctor about ED”, and the third deals with “talking to your partner about ED”. The latter subsection has a link to www.lovelifematters.co.uk/index.html, a sister site designed specifically for the partners of men with ED.
The Test section provides the user with a simple self-assessment test that when completed gives he user an indication of how serious his ED might be. The user is then advised to use the results of the test as a starting point for discussions with their doctor.
Moving on to the Treat section, and since Eli Lilly sponsors this web site, you might expect to be swamped with a range of pharmaceutical treatments; it was a pleasant surprise to find that this was not the case. Drug treatments are discussed but not specific products. As well as drug treatments, the user can also find information on vacuum pumps, penile insertions and surgery. It was good to see the importance of counselling mentioned as well.
Finally, the Today section emphasises the importance of avoiding delay in seeking treatment for ED. Users with ED are advised to consult their own doctor as a first step but there are also useful links to other web sites that can help. There is also a video clip available of Dr Mark Porter giving advice on erectile dysfunction.
This web site is a good example of how health education information can be provided in a format that is both accessible and attractive.
Sexual Dysfunction Association
The Sexual Dysfunction Association (SDA) is a UK based charitable organisation and looking at the qualifications of the Board of Trustees, users should have no concerns about the veracity of the information provided. The two main features of this web site are the Fact Sheets and the Helpline. The telephone Helpline is needed, according to this web site, because nearly nine out of ten men will not discuss erectile dysfunction with their doctor, and six out of ten do not even tell their partners. The latter point probably explains why 21 per cent of sufferers claim that erectile dysfunction was the cause of their relationship break-up.
The Fact Sheets contain the bulk of the information provided by this web site. There are ten fact sheets available in PDF format so they can be downloaded and read online or printed if a hard copy is needed. They are all written by eminent professionals in the field of sexual dysfunction. The content is informative and the style is user-friendly avoiding unnecessary jargon and medical terminology. The topics covered are much as you would expect including oral treatments, penile injections and vacuum pumps. There are also Fact Sheets for gay men, and a discussion of Peyronie’s disease, a condition that leads to deformity of the penis making sexual intercourse difficult and painful.
The links page is comprehensive including professional organisations in the UK and Europe as well as links to other health education web sites that have relevance to ED, e.g. ASH, and Diabetes UK.
Compared with the previous web site, some may find this a little bland. This web site is wholly text based, no pictures or videos, and little or no interactivity. Nevertheless, the content is excellent and will be of interest to ED sufferers and their partners.
Netdoctor
www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/impotence.htm
NetDoctor.co.uk describes itself as a collaboration between committed doctors, health care professionals, information specialists and patients. In complete contrast to the SDA web site above, netdoctor is more like a popular magazine, full of pictures, advertisements and some quite good content. The content dealing with ED is all presented on one web page though users will have to scroll down quite a long way to see it all. Links to related topics, e.g. stress and diabetes are provided throughout the text though it should be appreciated that these links will take the user away from the ED section and therefore it is easy to become disorientated if you do this too often.
The main content is good on the physical and psychological causes of erectile dysfunction and even includes a mention of guilt induced ED, i.e. erectile dysfunction as a result of trying to have sex with somebody else’s wife!
The section dealing with treatments is well written and the three main anti ED drugs available in the UK, i.e. Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are all discussed in some detail with accompanying warnings about the dangers of buying these drugs over the internet.
Although the content is good many people will find the Flash driven advertisements something of a distraction. To be fair, some of the advertisements are relevant to the topic being discussed, but others, for example those selling mobile phones or holidays, don’t have any relevance to health, let alone ED. As with magazines, advertisements on web sites are increasingly going to be the price we pay for the content we want to read.
Male erectile dysfunction
www.erectile-dysfunction-expert.com/index.php
This is part of a much wider self help web site called Health Help which provides information and advice on a variety of health related topics. One of the main aims of this web site is to provide information, to the public, in a way that “ordinary people” will be able to comprehend and act on. To this end it is quite successful.
Male erectile dysfunction starts by describing what an erection is, how it forms and why sometimes it doesn’t! Unlike other web sites, this one provides a lot of information on health related conditions that might lead to erectile dysfunction, for example epilepsy, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. The dangers of smoking and drinking in this context are also discussed in some detail.
Treatments deals with the usual drugs and physical treatments, but being a commercial web site, it is also possible to buy a self help book “Sexuality in Midlife and Beyond” which is aimed at the middle aged who are suffering from erectile dysfunction. A number of so-called “natural” remedies are also discussed, ginkgo, ginseng, zinc and the like, though no evidence supporting the use of these is presented.
Finally, there is quite a good Erectile Dysfunction News page that is taken from Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) and covers relevant news stories from all over the world. At the time of writing, the articles featured included the Viagra-like effects of watermelon, but unfortunately clicking on the link to find out more only brought up the dreaded “404 page not found error”, which was a pity because I quite like watermelon.
This is quite a nice little web site, no bells and whistles, just plain simple text and a few sprinklings of pictures. It is a commercial web site and there are advertisements, but they are more subdued than many you see and therefore are less of a distraction.