4. DISCUSSION
There is a growing worldwide trend in use of
alternative medicine especially herbal medicine. For
centuries among the herbal experts, Kaempferia
Parviflora (KP) has been known to have aphrodisiac like
properties.
However, the validity and efficacy of such a claim had
remained uninvestigated. In this study we evaluated and
confirmed its effect on ED of male elderly volunteers.
The penile erection index is important for evaluating
the effect of drug or substance administration on erectile
function (Thakur and Dixit, 2007). The results of the
present study demonstrate that the ethanolic extract of
KP at a dose of 90 mg day−1
administered orally in a
capsule during 8 weeks significantly increased the penile
circumference, length and rigidity compared with the
placebo treated group. In addition, the plant extract also
decreased the response latency to sexual erotic stimuli