Chapter 1: The HISTORY of Erectile Dysfunction
It wasn’t always called Erectile Dysfunction. Back before we knew anything about it, we called it Impotence. Just the word that was used should show you that we didn’t have a grip on what the condition was all about yet. The term impotence is a general term. When we found out more details about it; the name was changed to Erectile Dysfunction.
Early “Cures” for Erectile Dysfunction
Healing with Medicines, Food and Herbs
Men have been trying to find ways to stimulate their member as early as the first century. This is when a man named Pliny the Elder created an entire catalog of herbs and medicines that were meant to promote erections in men. He used things like the Cryprian seed which he claimed could be used as an aphrodisiac if taken with wine. Crushed garlic with coriander was also believed to promote sexual stimulation when taken with wine. This was said to have the same effect as the water from boiled asparagus. Pliny the Elder also claimed that the xiphium root would act as a sexual stimulant when taken with wine because of the drying effect of the wine.
Men have been trying to increase their sexual performance dating all the way back to ancient Rome. In these times; men would use animal parts which they believed would help them sustain a strong erection. A great many men would eat the genitals of goats in belief that it would give them sexual stamina. Snakes and roosters were also widely used for the same purpose. Pliny also believed that the skink lizard was a powerful aphrodisiac when consumed. He would grind up their muzzles and feet and put them in white wine so he could make it into a lozenge.
There was a remedy created in the 13th century that involved consuming the penis of a wolf. They believed that you would crave sex the moment you ate a piece of the wolf penis. I think you can see a pattern here. They mistakenly believed that, just because an animal was virile, consuming them would make them virile as well. They would notice animals like the sparrow that would do a lot of breeding. In turn; the men would believe that consuming their meat would stimulate them sexually.
In the 1700’s, many believed that the condition was not that common because men didn’t talk about it. They also believed that “impotence” was caused by a lack of animal spirits in the body and the only way to cure it was to replenish those spirits. Excessive masturbation was often cited as a contributing factor to impotence as well. They were on the right track when they determined that some erection problems stemmed from stress and overindulgence. We finally began to see that things like alcohol could contribute to decreased sexual stamina. Although, to treat the condition, they would create things like a powerful elixir that promised to rejuvenate men and replenish their animal spirits. They didn’t quite understand what this condition was, but at least the research was beginning to go in the right direction.
The thinking might have been evolving, but the treatment was still stagnant in the 1800’s. There were many prominent doctors and scientists who would create things like special syrups that they claimed could cure men of their impotence. They would release supposed testimonials of men who swore by their product. Some would continue to preach the sexual side-effects of frequent masturbation and still claimed that it contributed to impotence. Some doctors would even tell their patients to dip their balls in alcohol and vinegar or cold water to help them with their erections.
Some treatments for impotence that came out around this time were pretty popular. Men were desperate for a cure so they would take whatever they could get their hands on and subscribed to the wild claims of the treatment creators and manufacturers. Some of the popular remedies were later analyzed and found to have little to no content that would assist with erections. The ingredients, for the most part, didn’t do any harm, but they didn’t do any good for the patient either. You could probably analyze any of the treatments up until this point and get the same results.
It was finally determined, in the 1900’s, that there was no miracle elixir that could cure impotence. Although, some scientists determined that Marijuana may contribute to sexual desire. Their findings stated that the calming and euphoric feeling that cannabis caused in the human body had the potential to revitalize you sexually.
By this time; there was still no definite cure or concrete findings that could determine how to combat impotence. There were only various doctors or scientists who would compete with each other by offering their own version of a cure. None of it did very much to cure the condition. It wasn’t long before small doses of poisons were even being used in the treatments. Various chemicals would be mixed with a small amount of strychnine to make popular medicines that were fairly widely used. One such medicine even contained small amounts of cocaine.
You might be surprised to learn that poisons were used in these treatments, but it was common practice for quite a while. It wasn’t that long ago that we were still using poisons like arsenic in women’s cosmetics. Even some modern day make-up companies have used arsenic and other poisons, but they get in a lot of trouble when it’s discovered. In the early 1900.s, they were proud of the use of poisons.
Below is an ad from the early 1900’s for medicated soap that contained arsenic.
