 The spiced saffron has traditionally been considered an aphrodisiac. It has been shown to improve prozac-induced sexual dysfunction in women and men, significantly improving erectile function. If it works for drug-induced dysfunction, might it work for just regular erectile dysfunction? Why not just use pills like Viagra? It can work, but many men stop using them due to, for example, adverse side effects. Nearly half of men decide the cons outweigh the pros. For men that don't like drugs, there's always surgery— the implantation of penile prosthetics. Unbelievably, penile implant usage evidently dates back to the 16th century. Early experiments involved transplanting a guy's rib cartilage, or their actual rib, into their penis. Thankfully, space-age technologies in the 60s allowed men to keep their rib cages intact. Originally, the implants left men in a permanently erect state, but then the flexorod was invented with a hinge in the middle so the guy could like bend it down in half for improved concealment. Of course, proper sizing is important if the implants are too small. There can be drooping at the tip leading to what's called a supersonic transport deformity. Why? Because it's resemblance to the nose of the concord jet. Whereas overlong prostheses can also be a problem with the semi-rigid rods eroding out of the penis, although they generally perforate into the urethra. The rods can also extrude through the tip or the shaft. Ouch. Now there are inflatable devices, and perhaps one day there will be expandable phones that respond to external magnetic fields or metal mesh technology that could expand and retract in a cage-like fashion. And you thought it was hard to get through airport security now. There's got to be a better way. 20 men with erectile dysfunction were filed for 10 days, taking 200 mg of saffron a day, that's about a quarter teaspoon. But first they were bought into the ridgest scan room, where they were hooked up to a computer-controlled battery-powered system for recording of penile-tune mesons, meaning swelling and rigidity. You can hook men up and have them watch a VHS videotape, though use of the device is controversial, described as an expensive, complicated, and time-consuming effort. But after the 10 days of taking saffron, they did appear to be a significant improvement in tip and base rigidity into mesons. Whether it's possible to replace viagra-type drugs with this golden plant will require further research with a bigger sample size. But it's not just size that matters, they didn't use a control, so this could have all just been one big placebo effect. Finally, though, a head-to-head challenge, saffron versus viagra. Now, normally there's a third group, a placebo group, as well, but evidently they felt it would be unethical to let men go 12 weeks without an effective treatment. The saffron appeared safer, significantly fewer side effects, like severe headaches, hot flushes, nasal congestion, and nausea. But not effective at all. So that's why I never did a video on the subject. It just doesn't seem to help, but maybe it's because they made the mistake of taking the saffron orally as opposed to rubbing it on their penis. The effects of topical saffron on erectile dysfunction about half of middle-aged men appear to suffer. So how about a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study, a gel containing 1% saffron or, instead of saffron, a gel containing a little golden-yellow food coloring so they looked the same, though presumably half the penises smelled like paella. I guess they didn't control for that. Both groups were trained to rub a pea-sized amount of the gel on their penis half an hour before sexual intercourse and then were reassessed a month later. And compared to the food coloring gel, the saffron did lead to significant improvements in function and desire and overall satisfaction. They attributed the effects to a compound in saffron that evidently enhances nitric oxide production in the arteries, but if that's the case, then probably better to treat the cause and prevent the vascular dysfunction in the first place.