Men give up too fast if impotence pill fails: study

Men give up too fast if impotence pill fails: study
LONDON (Reuters) - A third of men with erectile dysfunctioncould not perform after taking their first tablet of animpotence drug and gave up sex entirely, according to a studypresented at the European Society of Sexual Medicine onTuesday.
The findings show the importance of the first-time pill forerectile dysfunction patients who could potentially see betterresults by switching tablets or increasing the dose, Dr. DavidEdwards, a general practitioner in Oxfordshire in England, andcolleagues said.
Erectile dysfunction drugs like Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra, EliLilly and Co's Cialis and Bayer AG's Levitra work by increasingblood flow to the genitals.
The study presented at a conference in Lisbon and funded byBayer looked at 631 men with an average age of 55 who haderectile dysfunction. All had at some point taken a pill fortheir condition, and 70 percent were still on some medication.
When the pills did not work the first time, 68 percent ofmen reported a loss of self-esteem, 32 percent felt depressedand 24 percent said they believed their condition could neverbe treated.
One third simply did not return to their doctor to try analternative treatment after a failed attempt, something theresearchers said highlighted the fact many men delay or ignoretreating their problem.
"These data confirm that men are still reluctant to seekhelp for their erectile dysfunction and highlight theimportance of first-time success on improving aspects ofwell-being," the researchers wrote in an abstract.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox)