A leading San Francisco hormone replacement specialist, Dr. Power says low libido and decreased sexual function are hallmark symptoms of low testosterone.

July 18, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- "It's time to stop masking the problem and address the underlying causes of low sex drive in men," she says.

/EINPresswire.com/ San Francisco, CA - Since the release of Viagra's "little blue pill" in 2006, men have spent more than $5 billion dollars on Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra, says Dr. Karron Power. "These medications are specifically intended to treat "erectile dysfunction;" that is, the inability to achieve or maintain an erection," she says. "But more and more men are using the drugs to combat a more general decline in the strength and frequency of their erections. Many men use the pills to recapture the 'instant erection' sexual enthusiasm of their younger years. Some men are embarrassed by their decreased libido, and are comforted by the unsolicited physical stirrings the pills can produce. Unfortunately, these men may be missing the point entirely," says Dr. Power. "Erectile medications like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra can increase blood flow to the penis, but they don't treat the true cause of low libido. Men who reach for these drugs are simply masking the disease, which can worsen over time, leading to a continued decline in sexual function and overall health."

"More than half the Viagra prescribed to men is not working," according to Dr. Geoffrey Hackett, a British expert in sexual medicine. Dr. Hackett, a consultant urologist, says men with erectile dysfunction could be wasting time and money on Viagra and similar drugs when their real issue is low testosterone. He was speaking at the launch of new guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders. The guidelines are published in the journals Maturitas and Human Fertility. Dr. Hackett, a former chairman of the British Society for Sexual Medicine, says erectile dysfunction is the most common sexual problem reported by men when consulting a physician.

Dr. Power says a man's sexual function is directly related to the health of his sexual organs, and those organs need testosterone to stay healthy. "Testosterone levels are high in a man's teens and twenties, but begin to decline during a man's thirties. When testosterone is replaced, libido and sexual performance return to prior levels. And the benefits don't stop with a better sex life," says Dr. Power. "Testosterone replacement can improve a man's physique, mood, energy, sleep, and overall health. Reaching for the "little blue pill" may prompt a bit of blood flow, but it may also delay treatment of the real cause of a lagging libido: low testosterone."

Source: Karron Power, M.D., M.P.H. - Youth Renewal Center, San Francisco and Corte Madera, CA

For more information visit www.yrcenter.com or call 415-785-7995.

About Dr. Karron Power

Karron L. Power M.D., M.P.H. is board certified under the American Board of Preventive Medicine and is a board diplomat with the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. She is a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, the International Hormone Society, the California Academy of Preventive Medicine, the American Association of Aesthetic Medicine and Surgery, and the American Medical Association. Dr. Power founded the Youth Renewal Center after years of investigation in the field of Age Management and Regenerative Medicine. The primary goal of the Center is to provide innovative treatment in the emerging field of Advanced Preventive Medicine.

Dr. Power received a Bachelor's degree in Biology cum laude from Whittier College in 1992. She earned a Master's degree in Public Health with an Environmental Health focus from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School in 1996, she served as Research Fellow in Dermatology. Dr. Power completed internship, residency, and fellowship programs in Internal Medicine and Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and then pursued further training in Aesthetic Medicine and Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.

Dr. Power is a past Scholar of the Occupational Physicians' Foundation and the John Stauffer Science Foundation. She has received awards from the Air Resources Board of California and from the Thai Research Foundation for her research in Environmental Medicine. Dr. Power is medical director of the Marin Laser Center and continues to serve as a research physician at the UCSF Human Exposure Laboratory, and as a medical-legal expert in environmental exposure and disease.