History: treatment of ED.
Before urologists recognized the physical nature of impotence, treatments generally fell into three categories: aphrodisiacs, surgery, and mechanical treatments.
Aphrodisiacs
Innumerable substances have been used to increase sexual performance. Oysters, lobsters, eggs, and spices are examples. Spanish Fly, a substance made by grinding the wings of certain beetles, was a favorite of that party animal, the Marquis de Sade. It is illegal in the United States both because of the unproven nature of its effectiveness and a tendency to cause seizures or death. Many of these substances actually do nothing more than irritate the genital organs. The user interprets this irritation as increased sensitivity, thereby giving the impression of increased performance. Rhinoceros horn has been used for so long that its name has become synonymous with arousal.
Surgery/Transplants
The idea of using animal testes to treat impotence began in the Middle Ages, when a standard treatment for “the male malady” was to place the testicles of a cock under the bed. Another option was eating the rooster’s testes. You could guess that putting them under the bed was much more popular. After ten injections, he reported improved erections, as well as a stronger jet of urine and “power of defecation.” He made no claims about the effect this had on the dogs. His “Elixir of Life” became an instant best-seller. Its launch rivaled that of Levitra, even without a famous spokesman.
He believed blocking the vas deferens would force maleness factors back into the bloodstream instead of letting them go to waste on the sheets. Freud, the person most responsible for the mistaken impression that impotence was primarily psychological, set back our understanding of the disorder by decades. Taking him out of the gene pool probably did more to help the science of impotence therapy than anything else Steinach did. Many respected universities have subsequently been involved in the transplantation of animal or human testicular tissue. Swiss professor Paul Niehans treated tens of thousands of men with testicular cell injections in the early twentieth century. His procedure sometimes went straight to the root of the problem by injecting a booster shot directly into the patient’s testes.* Patients receiving the treatments included Charlie Chaplin, Aristotle Onassis, and Pope Pius XII. Chaplin was a well-known womanizer, but the Pope’s interest in this treatment remains a mystery. Another researcher in Chicago proudly stated his initial patient checked himself out of the hospital four days after surgery in order to satisfy his newfound potency. He fully understood the rule: “Never waste an erection.” Most of the researchers mentioned eventually fell into disrepute-but at least Aristotle Onassis got the girl.
Mechanical
Hot metal rods inserted into the penis during medieval times failed to revive erections. No one wanted a second treatment, so failures went unreported. Many types of splints have been used, including hollowed-out antlers and horns. Encouraged by finding the penis bone (baculum) in some animals, early surgeons placed rib cartilage into the penis.
