THE pills hold out the promise of instant virility for barely $5 each, half the price of a cinema ticket.

But since the beginning of the year, at least 30 men - ranging in age from 21 to 97 - have learnt the hard way that Power 1 Walnut and other fake sex drugs do more than turbo-charge their sexual performance.

Containing dangerously high doses of glibenclamide, a prescription drug which reduces blood-sugar levels, the pills have also sent these men to hospital reeling from an assortment of ailments.

Two died after lapsing into a coma, and several others are still critically ill.

Besides these, there are another 70 suspected cases.

Madam Joyce Chew, 67, is appalled by the episode, especially when she learnt that one of the users is 97 years old.

'What a dirty old man. So old, still thinking of sex. Is he trying to kill himself?' the housewife asks.

Several others interviewed by The Straits Times share this sentiment.

Not Professor Peter Lim though.

One of Singapore's leading urologists, he specialises in treating male sexual problems, including erectile dysfunction.

He says many men - regardless of age - prize virility and will go to great lengths to make sure they have it.

'I have patients, including retirees in their 60s and 70s, coming in to tell me, 'What's the point of living if I can't have sex?'' says the 58-year-old who runs a practice in Gleneagles Hospital.

Are you man enough?

IT IS probably no coincidence that the term 'manhood' refers to both the state of being a man and the penis.

For many, to have a malfunctioning penis is to not be a complete man.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) or impotence, however, is a common affliction affecting many men.

According to the United States National Institutes of Health, between 15 and 30 million men (about 20 per cent of the male population) in the country are affected by ED.

In Singapore, urologist Li Man Kay from Gleneagles Hospital estimates that more than 40 per cent of men above 30 suffer from some form of the condition.

The causes range from depression to diabetes and side effects of drugs. Ageing also lowers the level of testosterone - the hormone which primarily controls men's sexual drive or libido.

Psychiatrist and sex therapist Calvin Fones, 43, says many older men still have sexual desires because the body never stops producing testosterone entirely.

'With that desire comes the desire to maintain sexual activity,' he says.

Indeed, a 1996 Swedish study on the sexual health of elderly men shows that even among 70- to 80-year-olds, an intact sexual desire and ability to have an erection and orgasm are considered important.

(page 1 of 3)