It’s strange how the warnings given when you are young can still haunt you years later. Very early, parents and teachers muttered darkly that masturbation will make you go blind. This is a terrible warning to give a growing child. Everything in the world is shiny and new. You are just starting to drink in all the sights, sounds and new experiences. To suggest you will be denied sight if you pursue just a little personal pleasure in private is unkind to say the least. It goes way beyond the use of guilt and ordinary fear. This is the demonization of a natural activity that helps you learn about the way in which you body works. At a time when you should be exploring the relationship between your body and your emotions, you are left with nothing but frustration. Until you find a willing partner that is. Then the world takes on a different look and feel as "natural" emotions start to flow. Except you then run into a whole new set of barriers where parents expect you to wait until marriage before trying sex. Abstinence is the preferred message in modern sex education for growing children.

By a curious coincidence, the labels on the drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction also refer to various risks connected to eyesight. This is not a threat made to deter adults from sexual activity. Rather, it refers to a side effect experienced by some of the men who take the drugs. A very small number of men have reported a slight blurring of their vision, often accompanied by a blue tinge to what is seen. One or two have experienced a complete loss of vision. This latter is so remote a possibility that it can almost immediately be dismissed. The average man is never going to find his vision disappearing. To discover the extent of the risk of mere blurring, there has been a recent clinical trial involving almost 250 healthy men. None of the men had any problems with their vision and their eyes were tested before, during and after taking the relevant drugs (or a placebo) over a six month period.

The results were recently published and show no change to the eyesight of any of the men who participated. There are two minor comments that take the edge of the goodness of the news. The first is that the participants were given low doses of viagra. In the real world, the men who reported problems were all taking up to the maximum daily dose. Thus, the strength of the evidence is limited by the need to produce an ethical study. Researchers should not knowingly design a clinical trial likely to injure the participants. Secondly, none of the participants had any existing problem with their eyes. Again, the men who reported problems all had less than perfect vision. The study therefore suggests that it’s perfectly safe to take viagra. It will not make you go blind if you are taking a lower dose and you have no existing problems with your eyesight. Because this represents most men, this study confirms viagra’s reputation as safe and effective.