Even though many male sexual enhancement supplements are marketed as 100 percent natural and 100 percent safe, consumers who use them risk serious drug interactions.
Why? Because many of these products contain substances not listed on the label and some of these ingredients could be prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, experimental drugs and even designer drugs that may have never been tested before in humans.
In fact, the FDA reports that more than 300 “all natural” male sexual enhancement supplements have been found to contain hidden drugs. Some of these drugs include the active ingredients found in Viagra and Cialis but in doses that were excessively high, or in combination with other hidden ingredients. Both of which can make these drugs extremely dangerous to some consumers.
Because many men with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are often prescribed nitrates, these tainted supplements can interact with their prescriptions and cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure. Yet, men who are being treated for conditions that are treated with nitrates are the very same men who may suffer erectile dysfunction. And it doesn’t matter how careful these men are when taking supplements, they may still suffer serious injury or death because the supplement makers do not list the ingredients of the pills on the label, leaving consumers with no way of actually knowing what they are taking.
Researchers Find Hundreds of Tainted Sex Pill Supplements on the Market
A study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis found that of 150 "all-natural" male sexual enhancement supplements 61 percent were adulterated with PDE-5 inhibitors like those found in Viagra and Cialis. Of those, 64 percent contained one mixture, while 34 percent contained a mixture of up to four different types of PDE-5 inhibitors. 5.5 percent of the supplements tested truly were adulterated with other drugs. Only 31 percent of the supplements tested truly were all natural.
Even worse, 25 percent of the PDE-5i tainted supplements contained doses of the medicines that were higher than the maximum recommended doses. The FDA found that one type of sex enhancement pills they tested had doses as high as 31 percent above the maximum recommended dose.
Yet another study found that 81 percent of the over-the-counter male sex pills they tested contained PDE-5 inhibitors, even though they are illegal to sell OTC in the U.S.
Then there’s the fact that many of these supplement makers will tweak the molecular formulations of the illicit drugs to avoid detection, but in doing so, they may also change the side effects. And if they do it enough, they can create an entirely new drug that could be inherently more dangerous than the original. And consider this, some of the analogs being seen by researchers have never been tested in humans, so no one has any idea if they are safe, or what future side effects a consumer may suffer.
Tainted Supplements Hurting Industry
The entities that make, distribute and sell these adulterated, and tainted supplements are hurting the industry as a whole. Legitimate male sexual enhancement supplement makers follow federal rules and regulations to create safe and effective products that work as intended when used as directed. But illicit supplement makers have created a huge covert illegal marketplace that is ruining public trust and forcing some companies to take legal action.