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Book Review

Details:
Fast Facts: Erectile dysfunction.
Culley Carson and Chris McMahon.
Health Press Oxford 2008.
ISBN 978-1-903734-67-4
pp 90. Price ?10.00

Review
This is most useful book, well written and almost comprehensive. It is well laid out and has excellent diagrams, but it is intended for health professionals. As such, it makes no concessions to the lay reader, who may struggle with some of its neurophysiology or the biochemistry of the way an erection is obtained. If the lay reader skips this bit, the going gets much easier.

It is now widely held that ED is a warning sign of more serious pathology and this must be winkled out before treatment. Examples are generally on the physical side rather than the psychogenic, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and vascular problems, especially arteriopathy, which also affects the coronary arteries.

To guide the doctor who is not up to speed with the latest information on erectile dysfunction (ED), the chapters describe the epidemiology and pathophysiology of ED, diagnosis and therapeutic options with very helpful and detailed pharmacological treatment. It has details of vacuum devices and surgical management, ending with a chapter on ejaculatory dysfunction. Each chapter has a clearly laid out list of key points and key references, with excellent illustrations and thoughtful layout and print. One very agreeable feature is a glossary at the front with all the acronyms used and their meaning and a list of resources (mainly professional bodies apart from the SDA).

Testosterone is mentioned very thoroughly, as far as it goes, but it omits the buccal pellet. The place of late onset hypogonadism or the 'andropause' and treatment with testosterone is not mentioned at all, yet there is a very large proportion of older men who can experience a complete and very satisfactory change in mood, sexual drive and well being with the right sort of management and use of replacement testosterone.

For any man suffering from a sexual difficulty, or his partner, this is a very good and relatively short, but high powered account, and it can also be highly recommended to those doctors who want to get their facts right about ED in an attractive form.

John Tomlinson, Trustee, The SDA

Review added: 8 Dec 2008