Erectile dysfunction, although frequently the butt of jokes, is usually an indicator of underlying serious medical conditions, pharmaceutical company Lilly said on Thursday.
Although no broad studies had been undertaken in South Africa, seven out of 10 men between the ages of 35 to 79 interviewed at primary health care clinics in the Western Cape said they had had some experience of the condition, company medical director Kennedy Mubaiwa told reporters.
Erectile dysfunction is the inability to achieve or maintain an erection and it usually begins to surface from about the age of 40, increasing with age.
”Medical doctors find now that erectile dysfunction is a pointer of underlying important diseases like coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and smoking. It mustn’t be seen as just a separate sex-related problem,” Mubaiwa said.
Studies now show that 80% of cases of erectile dysfunction are related to the vascular system and only 20% to psychological problems.
Doctors should also determine whether the problem is being caused by neurological problems or other medication.
However, once it has been diagnosed, men tend to suffer from a drop in self esteem and believe they will become the subject of jokes.
”It’s no laughing matter,” said the company’s marketing director Jacques Blaauw.
Blaauw said that before they launched their own erectile dysfunction drug Cialis in South Africa 10 months ago, their marketing team held test runs where they visited doctors so that they could establish the environment in which people try to deal with the problem.
”Many of our guys found that even though they had the prescription in their hand they could not bring themselves to hand it over to a pharmacist,” he said.
And because of that embarrassment, only 15% of men with erectile dysfunction sought treatment, he said.
Because medical regulations prevented advertising the Schedule 4 drug, the company decided that its marketing campaign would focus on destigmatising the condition, encouraging discussion on the subject, and teaching the public and health care workers to see it as part of an overall health problem.
”We even had to sit down with our sales people and teach them to be comfortable about saying the words ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ without getting embarrassed or making jokes,” he said.
Since its launch 10 months ago the company says it is now selling more than Pfizer’s Viagra, claiming 45% of the R70-million annual market share of the medication that the two companies and Bayer, which is marketing Levitra, are vying for.
It says the difference with its product is that it stays in a person’s system for up to 36 hours and can be taken with fatty food and moderate amounts of alcohol. The company says that although it is only effective for one bout of sex, this gives the user time to be more spontaneous and feel less pressured.
”Patients with erectile dysfunction say it [the condition] changes their lives and their marriages,” said Blaauw, adding that many times it is the partner that takes the first step towards seeking treatment. – Sapa