{"id":384874,"date":"2026-01-22T21:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384874\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:10:12","slug":"make-america-hard-again-is-there-an-erectile-dysfunction-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384874\/","title":{"rendered":"Make America Hard Again: is there an erectile dysfunction epidemic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STYLE\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gave me a couple of inches,\u201d says Dave Asprey<\/a>, the self-styled father of biohacking<\/a>, grinning behind a pair of blue light blocking aviators. \u201cI didn\u2019t previously have any issues with my size at all. But now, some positions that were previously comfortable for my partner during sex no longer are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asprey is referring to acoustic wave therapy (AWT) \u2014 an electronic enhancement technique involving high frequencies that vibrate bodily tissue, stimulating growth, new blood vessels and increased blood flow. As our more Holmesian readers will have deduced, the AWT was focused on his penis. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Biohacker Dave Asprey thinks the world is in the midst of an erectile dysfunction epidemic<\/p>\n

Dave Asprey<\/p>\n

Asprey is a bestselling author, presenter of The Human Upgrade podcast and founder of cult US coffee brand Bulletproof<\/a>, which popularised the idea of adding butter to coffee for its longevity<\/a> benefits. Critics are dubious about the health benefits (Asprey doesn\u2019t have any medical training \u2014 he experiments on himself), but there\u2019s no doubt that it has been a lucrative and high-profile business. <\/p>\n

Asprey claimed that by developing the Bulletproof Diet, he lost 100 pounds, lowered his biological age and substantially boosted his IQ. He has now turned his attention to erectile dysfunction<\/a> (ED). <\/p>\n

Asprey\u2019s promotion of techniques such as AWT are part of his war against ED. A crucial facet of his campaign, entitled Make America Hard Again, aims to counter falling testosterone<\/a> levels, something he sees as an epidemic and a key driver behind the issue of ED, which affects 322 million people worldwide. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about bragging rights,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is one of the most important things that we don\u2019t talk about. The saddest thing I see is people who have been married for 40 years and accept they don\u2019t have sex anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n

High-profile biohacker Bryan Johnson<\/a>, who ambitiously wants to live forever, and has used testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in the past, also preaches the importance of erectile function as a biomarker for ageing. <\/p>\n

\"candle<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Johnson uses regular Botox injections and AWT, keenly tracking his erection stats with an Adam Sensor ring that goes around the base of his namesake. He has claimed that as a result of his \u201cinterventions\u201d he has the penis of a 22-year old \u2014 he\u2019s 48 by the way. <\/p>\n

The truth about testosterone <\/p>\n

Asprey argues that certain modern lifestyle choices are a significant cause of lowering testosterone levels. \u201cAn unacknowledged contributor to low T-levels is circadian disruption,\u201d he says. \u201cA switch to LED lighting has had a meaningful effect on my hormone levels. <\/p>\n

Things like plastics and synthetic fragrances also have an impact. The first thing you should do is to go home and throw away everything that has a fragrance to it, like body spray, the little pine trees people hang in their cars and scented candles.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"banana<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, many from the scientific community have warned against an over-emphasis of the importance of TRT and the apparently rife causes of low T-levels. Dr Channa Jayasena, a senior lecturer in endocrinology at Imperial College London, thinks the answer is more straightforward. \u201cThere is an element of truth that testosterone levels on average are falling,\u201d says Jayasena. \u201cBut this is only because men are getting less healthy. The obesity problem is the sole reason behind lowering testosterone levels. Clinics are not telling men this. They are saying you have this problem, you need testosterone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ashley Grossman, professor of endocrinology at the University of Oxford, doesn\u2019t mince his words on the topic. \u201cI think [these claims] are utterly spurious,\u201d says Grossman. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge commercial input with more than 1,000 websites telling people they need testosterone\u2026 treating people for vague conditions like tiredness and premature ageing \u2014 and most of it is completely not based on any scientific facts.\u201d <\/p>\n

The President\u2019s Trump card<\/p>\n

Concerns about testosterone are far-reaching and extend beyond biohacking circles. Just last week, the US Secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy Jr, appeared on Katie Miller\u2019s podcast and discussed President Donald Trump\u2019s health. \u201cHe\u2019s got incredible health,\u201d said Kennedy. \u201cDr [Mehmet] Oz looked at his medical records and said he\u2019s got the highest testosterone level that he\u2019s ever seen for an individual over 70 years old. I know the President will be happy that I\u2019ll repeat that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dr Oz said Donald Trump has the highest testosterone level that he\u2019s ever seen for an individual over 70 years old<\/p>\n

For critics, the branding of Asprey\u2019s MAHA campaign speaks to a wider trend that pines for a bygone masculinity \u2014 a cowboy masculinity. \u201cThere have been huge uncertainties about male virility since the rise of feminism,\u201d says Grossman. \u201cIn many ways, men are feeling under more pressure. But this has nothing to do with hormones \u2014 pumping them full of it unnecessarily could be harmful.\u201d <\/p>\n

Regardless, Asprey maintains that TRT can be transformative. \u201cWhen I was 26, I saw a longevity physician because I have all kinds of health problems. He said my testosterone levels were lower than my mom,\u201d Asprey says. \u201cSo I went on testosterone with medical care and it was life-changing. You have desire and willpower when you have testosterone\u2026 This is what the MAHA movement is about.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt gave me a couple of inches,\u201d says Dave Asprey, the self-styled father of biohacking, grinning behind a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[108766,59,102,4440,2418,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-384874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-erectile-dysfunction","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-mens-health","tag-testosterone","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}