Preventing or Treating Sexual Dysfunction

Sexual desire is such a subtle, complex, and fragile chemical combination, as intense as it may be fleeting, that I think I can safely say every man has had or will have a 'little problem' at some point in life - hence the popularity of Viagra@.

The symptoms of dysfunction are a reduction or loss of desire, and an erection that lacks endurance or intensity, or that cannot be maintained. This can mostly be attributed to psychological reasons (the role of stress, or relationship difficulties with the partner) or physiological ones (a reduction of the secretion of the male hormone).

There is no need to hunt down every last rhinoceros for its horn, fly to Canton in order to buy dried Spanish fly at the market, or go to the Costa Rican coast for turtle eggs buried in the sand, when complementary medicines can offer safe, affordable, and effective solutions to what are very common and harmless difficulties.

"The effect of stress on sex is as predictable as bromide in the soldier's mess tin", as popular wisdom would have it.

• While it is difficult to establish rules or statistics when it comes to frequency of lovemaking, the Simon Report published in France a few years ago is still the standard work
  - between the ages of 20 and 30, one third of couples make love every night/on a daily basis
  - between 30 and 40 years of age, this drops down to two or three times a week
  - between the ages of 40 and 50, this frequency has dropped down to two or three times a month.

In Britain, the statistics are similar across the age groups but with a little less frequency on average. One recent survey proclaimed that couples in the UK make love about 149 times per year compared with 167 times per year in France. This of course is an average for all age groups. In older age, tenderness, communication, and emotional happiness now take priority over sexual relations, without this being felt to be a problem - unless there is a new partner. So the 'average' couple makes love somewhere between three times a week and three times a month, with a gradual decline in frequency that is due to various factors. One of these is the role played by certain prescription medicines, especially sleeping tablets, tranquillizers and anti-depressants, and beta-blockers.

General advice

It is important to follow these tips:

• Stay in good physical condition by taking regular, moderate exercise. Over doing it will be likely to have the opposite effect
• Eat a varied and balanced diet that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables, cereals, wheatgerm, and seafood
• Stay away from fried and sweetened foods, which help block the arteries
• Choose foods containing the trace minerals and vitamins that bring vitality
• Spice up your meals with pepper, nutmeg, mustard seeds, cinnamon, and ginger
• Follow the example of the French king Henery IV who consumed large quantis of garlic to reawaken his ardour
• Be aware of the effects of alcohol, which is not a sexual stimulant - quite the opposite
• Round off an intimate meal with mint-flavoured green tea, coffee, or in chocolate, all of which stimulate desire and provide energy for lovemaking though they will not have any real effect on 'performance'

Lettuce versus mint

Lettuce has such calming properties that it was systematically served for dinner in convents. Mint, on the other hand, was always discouraged for homeopathic treatments because its stimulating action was incompatible with the promotion of abstinence and calm that was so important in former times.

Aphrodisiacs

Pepper, nutmeg, onions, leeks, watercress, orchids, mustard seeds, seafood, raw eggs, mandrake root, shark fin, sparrow's brain, lizard broth, rhinoceros horn, elephant tusk, crushed reindeer antler, dried Spanish fly... This list contains only a fraction of the multiplicity of products reputed to stimulate sexuality (a reputation undeserved in most cases) since the dawn of time.

Acupuncture

This treatment is recommended, and can be effective, as it stimulates and restores balance. An acupuncture point located in the small of the back should be pierced or massaged at regular intervals in order to reawaken dormant energies.

Treatment Schedule: Biweekly or weekly sessions should be helpful during difficult periods.

Trace elements and vitamins

Selenium and zinc, vitamins C and E

Dietary sources

These are mostly to be found in garlic, broccoli, citrus fruits, green vegetables, red fruits, whole-grain cereals, mushrooms, wheatgerm, fish and seafood, meat (liver and kidney), and brewer's yeast.

These trace elements and vitamins usually come from a varied, high-quality diet.

• In cases of deficiency, they can be given as medicinal supplements. Some examples are: Lamberts@ Natural Form vitamin E 400iu; Lamberts@ Selenium 200 micro gram; Lamberts@ Zinc 30mg and Lamberts@ vitamin C 1000mg with Bioflavonoids:

- One dose of zinc and of vitamin C to be taken in the morning, one dose of selenium and of vitamin E to be taken in the afternoon, for several weeks

• You could also try Lamberts@ vitamin E with Selenium, which contains vitamin E 400iu and selenium 100ug:
  - Available in containers of 60 tablets
  - One tablet to be taken every day
• Another alternative is a dose of arginine, an amino acid that forms the proteins involved in reproduction. While this may not actually be your goal, arginine may help promote blood flow to the male sex organ. Arginine (Solgar) contains 500mg of Arginine per vegicap. It is available in bottles of 50 vegicaps. One vegicap daily with a little juice or water between meals.

Herbal remedies

Plants and herbs have always been used to make up love potions, and ginseng is usually at the top of the list.

Ginseng

This mythic plant with multiple benefits has been known and venerated in China for 4,000 years. Ginseng is reputed to strengthen and stimulate the natural defence system, to act as an aphrodisiac, to combat stress, and to be an antidepressant and a tonic. It is traditionally prescribed and used during periods of overwork or during convalescence after an illness. It is an excellent remedy for physical and mental fatigue, and is often used by athletes for this purpose. This tonic action is likely to be the reason for its benefits to the libido. Ginseng has always been known as the 'plant of life', capable of slowing down the ageing process.

• You could also try Lamberts@ Korean (Panax) Ginseng 600mg:
  - Available in containers of 60 capsules
  - 1 to 2 capsules daily
• Ginseng is in such demand the world over that many crop growers in the American West have taken it up, having decided it is much more profitable to grow than their traditional maize. Be sure to buy Panax ginseng, as only this variety has any effect on sexuality

Oats, Siberian ginseng, ginkgo, cola nut, yerba mate, and yohimbine

Possible Prescription: Ask your herbalist to prepare 30 capsules of a blend of dried extracts of Siberian ginseng, Panax ginseng, and cola nut, 100mg of each plant for each NO.2 capsule (the size of the capsule that the herbalist would use for the ingredients). Take one capsule three times a day for ten days.

Oats/Siberian ginseng/ginkgo/ cola nut/yerba mate

Oats (Avena sativa) are said to have very beneficial effects on the erection response, as well as on its quality and duration; Siberian ginseng stimulates both the mind and the body; ginkgo promotes blood circulation; cola nut is known in West Africa as the plant that brings couples together at night; and Yerba mate is a South American tree that symbolizes strength and vigour.

Yohimbine

Yohimbine, used in a classical medicine for sexual dysfunction, is based on the yohimbe tree's ingredients. It is said one can see the places along African roadsides where the trees' bark has been partially stripped away to supply the citizens with yohimbine's stimulating properties.

• You could try Yerba Mate (Rio Health):
  - Available in boxes of 40 teabags
  - Infuse one teabag in a cup of boiling water

Plant essential oils

Anise, oregano, and rosemary for their stimulating effects.

Savory used to enjoy a reputation in the past for stirring up the 'fires of desire', and its Latin name, satureia, makes a clear reference to the satyr.

- Two drops of essential oil of one of these plants to be taken in a little honey before lovemaking.

Mountain savory

Apart from its mildly aphrodisiac properties, savory, the little aromatic plant often confused with thyme, also brings benefits to the entire digestive system, combating flatulence, soothing colic pains, and stimulating digestion.

Homeopathy

Agnus castus

- Four 5c tablets to be sucked slowly like sweets two or three times a day for several days

Chasteberry or Agnus castus

- Vegetable origin: the chasteberry, the fruit from the chaste tree
- The basic homeopathic remedy for sexual problems

Chasteberry or Agnus castus

The fruit of this pungent tree, originally from Central Asia, is sometimes known as 'monk's pepper', and was used in medieval monasteries to calm sexual urges. But if chasteberry mostly has a soothing effect, it can sometimes be a stimulant, and is for this reason also classified among the aphrodisiac plants. It is also worth mentioning that chasteberry belongs in the list of herbs (along with yarrow, lady's mantle, sarsaparilla, and wild yam) that benefit the prostate.

• You can also take Bioforce Agnus cas­ tus in tincture form:
  - Available in drop bottles of 50ml
  - Take 15 to 20 drops in a little water twice daily.