ED drugs vs. watermelon: Lessons learned

We thought it sounded too good to be true, and it was: News that watermelon may have effects similar to the erection-boosting drug Viagra was apparently based on no more than some very preliminary plant evidence—and was majorly overstated in the university press release touting the findings, according to an interview with the researcher by the online publication MedPage Today. The revelations were published on Monday—but not before hundreds of news outlets picked up the story, perfectly timed as it was for the Fourth of July holiday. Just one reminder of why health reporters should never get too, well, overexcited.

That watermelon is no cure for erectile dysfunction may not come as a surprise to many people. The bad news is, the three main drugs approved for the condition—sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), and vardenafil (Levitra)—don't always work that well either, despite the in-your-face TV advertising suggesting otherwise. And some men taking the drugs may be using them unnecessarily or irresponsibly. This from an online survey of 1,549 men, some with ED and some without, conducted in April by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. We showed the guys a widely aired commercial for Cialis, currently the most-advertised ED drug, then asked them to answer questions related to the ad and to ED in general.

Among the key findings: The men most likely to ask their doctors about Cialis after viewing the ad—those younger than 40—are the least likely to actually need the drug, since the majority of ED sufferers are older than 60. Among men already taking ED drugs, less than half (49 percent) thought they were effective or very effective at managing the condition. And a number of men reported that they or someone they know have taken the drugs without any diagnosis of ED, or even ordered them online without a prescription.

Get the full report on the survey and view the Cialis commercial and our own deconstruction of it—the third in our AdWatch series of video critiques (above). Read more on erectile dysfunction (free) and check out our unbiased Treatment Ratings for ED (subscribers only).

—Jamie Hirsh, associate editor