Men's health
Prostate, testosterone and quitting smoking, without the supplement aisle
This category collects the prescription medicines that men's health services actually prescribe once the obvious categories are set aside: alpha blockers and finasteride for an enlarged prostate, testosterone for a diagnosed deficiency, varenicline for stopping smoking.
None of these are lifestyle products, and one of them, testosterone, is the substance most often sold by unlicensed sites to people who have never had it measured. The label states what a diagnosis requires before treatment starts, which is the part those sites leave out.
Medicines
Men's health
- TamsulosinFlomax, OmnicThe usual first prescription for an enlarged prostate, working on the muscle at the bladder outlet rather than on the prostate itself.Prescription only
- Testosterone gelAndroGel, TestogelReplacement for a diagnosed deficiency, and the substance most often sold online to people who have never had their level measured.Prescription only
- VareniclineChampix, ChantixThe most effective prescription aid for stopping smoking, taken as a course of a few months, and the one that returned to European pharmacies after a manufacturing recall.Prescription only
Written by us
How to get it legally
All of these need a prescription, and two of them need a test result before the prescription is defensible: testosterone requires measured levels on more than one morning, and an enlarged prostate should be assessed rather than assumed from symptoms that several other conditions also produce.
Online clinics handle repeat prescriptions and smoking cessation well. First-time testosterone treatment is the case where a service that issues it from a questionnaire alone is doing something the label does not support.