The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to purchase or use "True Man" or "Energy Max" products promoted and sold as dietary supplements throughout the United States.
Both products -- touted as sexual enhancement products and as treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED) -- are illegal drug products that contain potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients.The products contain substances called analogs that have similar structures to active ingredients in approved prescription drugs.
Consumers should discontinue use of True Man and Energy Max and consult their health care professional about approved treatments for ED.FDA encourages men who experience ED to seek guidance from a health care professional.
FDA has not approved True Man and Energy Max; therefore the safety and effectiveness of these products are unknown. Both products are often advertised as "all natural" alternatives to approved ED drugs in advertisements appearing in newspapers, retail stores, and on the Internet.
"These products threaten the health of the people using them because they contain undeclared chemicals that are similar to the active ingredients used in FDA-approved prescription drug products," said Steven Galson, M.D., MPH, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research."The risk is even more serious because consumers may not know that these ingredients can interact with medications and dangerously lower their blood pressure."
The undeclared analog ingredients in True Man and Energy Max may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs such as nitroglycerin and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease often take nitrates.