When we all think about drug abuse, most people think of illegal drugs. But mostly legal medications are abused and misused sometimes with life-altering or life-threatening consequences. And people who abuse medications or herbs mostly don’t even realize that it is dangerous to take ‘just a little more’ than what is prescribed. Lots of people think that vitamins and herbs are harmless but in reality, vitamins and herbs contain real chemicals and can cause serious harm if used improperly.

These days if anyone that labels their products as natural gets a leg up in the consumer world. Thousands of consumers are looking for natural alternatives to traditional medicines, also the erectile dysfunction pill known as Viagra. They change to DIY mixtures, vitamins, and herbal supplements to take its place. In the case of herbs, though, men should be very careful. Herbal Viagra can be a huge risk for their health.

herbal viagra and Viagra got some attention recently as drugs that can cause a stroke when they are overused or abused. When it comes to Viagra and herbal preparations of viagra lots of people are wondering if they are really dangerous and what can really happen as a result of Viagra abuse? 

How many kinds of natural Viagra are there and do they work?

The market for erectile dysfunction treatments such as Viagra is so big. Not only do many men want treatment but many are also reluctant to get help from their GP. As a result, online sellers have a golden period selling unreliable treatments online, regardless of whether they work or not. The two words “herbal” and “natural” are misleading – they make these treatments sound safe, but there are lots of hidden dangers.

There are a few most common  “herbal treatments”:

Arginine

Arginine is a dietary supplement that is considered good for cardiovascular health. As a result, it is mostly sold as a treatment for ED (erectile dysfunction) but medical trials found that it worked no better than a placebo (a pill without any medicine).

Korean Red Ginseng

Korean Red Ginseng is sold in lots of health food stores. Few people believe that it improves sexual function but there has never been a substantial clinical trial to confirm this. Even Korean red ginseng has also been trialed as a treatment for sexual dysfunction in women but the results remain undecided.

Horny Goat Weed

As legend has it,  a shepherd noticed that his goats became stimulated after eating horny goat weed. How much of this is true still remains unsolved but one thing is for sure that it does not work for humans. But horny goat weed does indeed contain a chemical which is similar to the active ingredient in Viagra, it contains so little of it that it not gonna improve your sex life 

Yohimbine

You might also find Yohimbine advertised as a natural treatment for erectile dysfunction. This drug is obtained from the bark of a tree found in Central Africa. Yohimbine is an alpha-blocker which means it can broaden your blood vessels. It has not been approved for use as an ED medication and it can have dangerous side effects.

Side Effects of Herbal Supplements

Just because doctors don’t have to prescribe herbal supplements, people mostly mistake them as low-risk with few side effects. What they really don’t realize is that herbals can have the same potency as traditional medicine.

They have highly active ingredients and they can interact with other drugs. Because of their potential, they can affect health for the worse if not used correctly.

Warning of Herbal viagra’

The unlicensed drug ‘Jia Yi Jian’, has been analyzed by the MHRA and they found that the drug contains the undeclared ingredients Sibutramine used to treat obesity, and  Tadalafil, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

These drugs are licensed as prescription-only drugs in the U.K Potential side effects are significant heart and blood pressure problems and potentially harmful interactions with other blood pressure and heart disease medications and some antidepressants.

The MHRA warns that this drug presents a ‘ clear risk’ to consumers and that it should stop right away and consult their GP.

Who gave the warning?

The warning to the unlicensed drug ‘Jia Yi Jian’  has been issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Well, This is the government agency, which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.

Why Viagra and herbal Viagra Blamed for Strokes?

Viagra is mostly considered safe when used as directed by your healthcare provider. After many years of testing and documentation of patient experience, the effects of Viagra and other medications for erectile dysfunction (Cialis, Levitra) are well understood. For example, it is well known that Viagra is not safe for those people who take certain medications for HIV. In the same way, men who have some heart and blood vessel conditions cannot take Viagra due to its interactions with vascular blood flow. However, when people used as directed and with the recommended precautions, it is not normally associated with heart attacks or strokes. In fact, documented cases of Viagra causing strokes are mostly associated with overuse and abuse of Viagra.

On the other hand, the safety of herbal Viagra is very hard to document because there is no way to track people who take it and many people who suffer from a stroke after taking herbal viagra choose not to disclose that information.  But still, with a little data that is available, it appears that the overuse of herbal preparations of viagra can cause a variety of serious health problems, including stroke. 

The whole truth is herbs are not necessarily always safe.

If it is not saved then why do people take it 

Even with the warnings, so many people still take herbal Viagra. They may be trying to avoid an awkward medical conversation about their erectile dysfunction. Men might like that it’s a cheap, fast alternative to the prescription.

In lots of cases, people opt for herbal medicine because they genuinely think that it’s safer or more natural. In this case, however, the herbal supplement may have some herbs and nature in it rather than the prescription itself.

When people dealing with supplements they need to treat them just like other prescription medicines. They should understand that maybe they risk themselves if they don’t talk with their doctor first. In the case of herbal Viagra, men should keep their distance from it. It just simply dangerous for their health