oneworldtalk

The Men's Health Clinic of University Sains Malaysia Hospital has embarked on two sexual and reproductive health projects to find out whether Tongkat Ali and pure honey can enhance sperm count.

At least 100 people have been recruited to consume pure extracts of Tongkat Ali at reasonable doses to see whether it would enrich sperm count and produce testosterone (male sex hormones), clinic head Assoc Prof Dr Shaiful Bahari Ismail said.

-- another project, utilising Tualang honey from Kedah or Borneo honey, would start soon following laboratory tests done on rats that showed that they had better sperm count after being fed with the honey.

-- Dr Shaiful Bahari, who completed a 12-month fellowship programme in male sexual and reproductive health at Monash University, Australia, in 2006.

He said those types of honey were found to be suitable for the research because they were collected from bees in an environment that was not affected by pollution.

These studies on libido were part of a combination of traditional and clinical research into sexual impotence, he said.

Dr Shaiful Bahari, whose research focused on chronic diseases especially diabetes and hypertension that is hypothetically linked to erectile dysfunction, said the male population began to develop sexual problems from the age of 40.