If you ever have your radio dial tuned into The Rock. You may have noticed an ad for a product called Herbal Ignite. It claims to be a supplement that treats erectile dysfunction.
Fine. There is such a thing as erectile dysfunction and it is certainly plausible that such a problem can be treated with drugs.
O wait.
Did I say drugs?
Because one of the selling points of this treatment according to the ad is that it's not a drug. In fact. It's a natural, herbal product.
Whenever you hear any pill, supplement, remedy ect. refereed to as "herbal" or "natural" or some equivalent. Be skeptical.
Lets take a closer look.
What's in Herbal ignite?
Well according to the website. The active ingredients are Tribulus terrestris and Horny Goat Weed (not kidding).
Tribulus terrestris is a a flowering plant found in many parts of the world. Evidence for the claimed benefits of this plant is weak at best. But lets just accept that it could have some beneficial effect with regards to male sexual performance.
Horny Goat Weed is properly named Epimedium. This is the Genus name for a range of flowering plants found mostly in Asia. The name comes from the legend that it was discovered by a goat farmer. He apparently noticed increased sexual activity in his herd after they had eaten the plant. Ok. Maybe that's true. We shall assume it is for now. The active ingredient in Epimedium is icariin. This has been shown to have similar effects to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, in inhibiting the activity of PDE-5. So yeah. It is certainly possible that it could help with erectile dysfunction.
How is it not a drug?
It is a Drug! The active ingredients have definite pharmacokinetic effects in the body.
This is where I have a problem with this product and the way it is marketed and sold. When dealing with drugs being introduced into your body. It's important that as much as possible is know about the effects they have. Just saying something is herbal and/or natural doesn't mean it's not potentially harmful.
You know what else is natural? Arsenic.
Drugs are heavily tested and put through trials before they are introduced for general use. And Doctors are highly trained to know what effects these drugs have on the body. They take into account all sorts of things like patient history and current medications the patient may be taking.
Bottom line. If it has an effect. It's got to be doing something. And if it's unstudied and uncontrolled, there is no telling what effects it may be having other than those desired.
If it's advertised as herbal, natural, not a drug. Be skeptical.
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