Boost up your libido

A run of the mill sex drive can put a constraint on your relationship. If you – or your partner – have a fading libido, here's how to rev it up.

In the ideal world, when you and your partner are feeling sexy and horny – you succumb to each other's passions and fantasies, whereas your hearts and bodies long for. In the real world, you're too tired, your better half has a headache and whether you're getting too much or too little, you both end up feeling sexually frustrated. So, here comes the flagging libido, which is caused by a variety of factors, many of which can be treated. They are listed as follows:

• De-stress: For most people to feel sexy, what they generally need is optimal conditions. So a tough day at the office that leaves them anxious at home inhibits their ability to relax and enjoy their sex lives.

• Physical Exercise: Sexual desire fluctuates for many reasons including simply being just too tired. 'Lack of stamina’ from being overworked or even over-exercised can dampen the desire.

• Ditch the drugs: It has been proved at several research institutes that a good number of medications inadvertently affect the sex drive. Certain drugs used to treat depression such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft as well as sedatives like Xanax and anti-hypertensive drugs can lower the libido. Excess alcohol or chronic use of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin can not only impair performance, but also deaden desire.

Now lets review a few treatments for Impotence

• It’s not 'all in the mind'

Fact: According to the recent researches, it is suggested that up to 70% of cases have a physical and not a psychological cause. Common physical causes include:

• Atherosclerosis
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• Abdominal surgery
• Spinal cord injury.
• Promoting sexual spontaneity

Uprima, (A drug available in the UK), is being promoted as a means of promoting sexual spontaneity. In comparison to the time taken by Viagra, i.e. an hour, Uprima produces an erection within 18-19 minutes, on an average.

It is placed under the tongue where it gets dissolved and is then gets absorbed into the blood; because it is not absorbed through the stomach like a standard pill (such as Viagra) it does not interacts with food.

Men taking nitrate drugs, which dilate small arteries, can take Uprima, but the UK distributor, Abbot Laboratories, warns, 'Caution still needs to be exercised.' You must avoid it, they say, if you have severe unstable angina, high blood pressure, or after a recent heart attack or severe heart failure.

In clinical trials of Uprima, most side effects were 'mild to moderate in nature, self-limiting and decreased with continuing use of the drug.' The most frequently reported, each affecting less than one in ten patients, were nausea, headache and dizziness. Similarly, with Viagra, side effects often decrease with time.

• Finding out what's best

But many men cannot take Viagra and others simply don't like it. It can cause a life-threatening drop in blood pressure in those taking nitrate drugs for chest pain. In some men, it can result in bluish or blurred vision or sensitivity to light. Moreover, it doesn't work at all in 15% of men.

Drugs for erectile dysfunction are available on prescription from your doctor. They are also on sale on the internet, but its best not to buy them in this way. It could increase the risk of an adverse reaction. All drugs have side effects and these are no exception.

• First 'morning after' pill for men

Uprima may soon be followed by Cialis – the so-called first 'morning after' pill for men. In clinical trials, men taking Cialis achieved erections within 20 minutes. The effects were found to last for at least 24 hours, so they could have sex at night and again on waking in the morning. In contrast, the effects of Viagra last for about four hours. Uprima reaches peak concentration within 30 minutes.

Doctors believe that treatment advances will encourage more men to seek help, dispelling the myths that can isolate men, resulting in severe depression and even divorce and suicide.

• The age factor

Fact: ED does increase with age, but it is not a normal consequence of ageing. In one major study, about 52% of men between the ages of 40 and 70 were estimated to suffer from some degree of ED. Of these cases, 33% were classified as minimal, 48% as moderate and 19% as complete. In men with diabetes, prevalence of ED is estimated to be as high as 35 to 50%.

• Other treatment options

Thanks to recent scientific advances, as many as 95% of sufferers can now be effectively treated. Your GP should be able to advise you further – as should the bodies listed in the help and info section below.

Treatment options include:

Psychosexual counseling. This can be particularly effective if there are relationship or communication problems.

Hormone treatment. This is used only when there is a diagnosed hormonal problem.

Transurethral therapy in which a tablet is inserted into the urethra (the narrow passage that runs through the centre of the penis).

Oral therapy such as Viagra.

Injections and transurethral therapy are likely to be the main 'second-line' options in men who cannot tolerate oral treatments or who cannot take them because of other illnesses.

Vacuum therapy: air is pumped out of cylinder held over the penis to create a vacuum that increases blood flow and causes an erection.

Injections into the penis 10 to 15 minutes before sexual activity.