Men have been warned against using performance-enhancing drugs otherwise known as manpower as continuous consumption of such substances could lead to stroke or sudden death.
In her Christmas and New Year goodwill message to Nigerians, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, noted that performance-enhancing substances, known as aphrodisiacs, meant to impress female partners are mostly smuggled into the country.
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Sexual enhancers are drugs that enhance (normal/abnormal) erectile function and aphrodisiacs which increase sexual arousal and desire.
In a study by the human enhancement drugs network, three per cent of around 12,000 men (the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany) had used sexual enhancers (e.g. Viagra) in the last six months without a prescription.
There is however no statistics for the increasing demand for enhancers in Nigeria.
Studies also indicate that people often use these drugs to increase sexual confidence, prevent premature ejaculation, erection quality and for better sexual performance, amongst other things.
Others simply use them to reverse temporary erectile dysfunction caused by, for example, alcohol or other recreational drugs.
In a statement by NAFDAC on Sunday, Prof. Adeyeye lamented that many men have died using performance-enhancing drugs and their relatives would blame their death on some imaginary witches in the village.
“Many people are ignorant of the possible damage that misuse of aphrodisiacs or use of unregistered drugs could cause,” said Prof Adeyeye.
In addition, she stressed that there are manufacturing and quality guidelines, and mandated regulations that control the production, importation, exportation, advertisement, and use of such products.
According to her; “unbridled use of aphrodisiacs has a lot of implications in the entire body system”, noting that the use of the products could potentially affect the blood pressure of the body.
She stressed that when you have a disproportionate flow of blood to a particular part of the body and lasting longer than normal, they tend to disrupt the normal flow of the circulatory system.
The NAFDAC boss recalled that no fewer than 20 trailer loads of falsified and banned drugs and unwholesome food products worth over a N3billion were seized by the agency recently at the Lagos Trade fair complex.
