Prostate cancer op ruins Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sex life
By ANIMarch 16th, 2010
LONDON – Music composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed that his sex drive has been affected after prostate cancer treatment.
The 61-year-old ‘Love Never Dies’ composer, who has been married thrice, underwent a surgery to fight the disease.
“Sex drive does take a while to come back but, frankly, I’ve had five children so in my case it’s probably not a bad idea,” the Daily Express quoted him as telling Radio Times.
Webber worries if will ever get his sex drive back, but he insists that his wife Madeleine Gurdon and children are more important to him at present.
He added: “I don’t really know. The most important thing is my children have a father and my wife has a husband. In a way it’s Madeleine I’m more worried about than me.” (ANI)
Well it got my attention. “Ruin?” Impotence is the inability to have an erection. Sex drive or libido is dependent on the male hormone testosterone. After you have a prostatectomy (Webber had a prostatectomy) the nerves that are responsible for erections can be damaged causing varying degrees of erectile dysfunction. Since the testicles produce testosterone and release it into the blood stream (not by way of the vas deferens) sex drive is not affected by having the prostate removed. As an aside fertility is based on sperm that is produced in the testicle and released in the semen at the time of ejaculation. Because the vas are tied off at the time of a prostatectomy one is made infertile by the surgery. Because the prostate is removed and the external sphincter ( which is responsible for the feeling of climax) is not, there is no fluid at the time of ejaculation/climax. So if you are potent (having erections) after a prostatectomy your climax will be different for some but present, you will be infertile, your sex drive will be unchanged and there will be no fluid ( a dry climax). Some men however may have urine at the time of climax. (Not as bad as it sounds…did you know urine is sterile?)
So, I don’t know Mr. Webber, but I think what was meant to have been reported is that he is not having erections yet but that his sex drive is unchanged. It is too early to say that “prostate op ruins sex life.” Sex life is yet another term that encompasses all we have talked about and as you know can be bad even if you have erections. Does this clear things up for you? I have seen patients make decision based on a poor understanding of the caveats of the above. It is a bit confusing.
Don’t you just love the reporters sense of humor, Webber is identified as the 61 year-old ‘Love Never Dies’ composer. For his sake, I hope it doesn’t. As opposed to my jokes, that is funny. Well there you go again…love may never die as it is not directly related to sex life. Can there be a love life without a sex life? I am just asking, I think I know the answer.
Prostate Diaries 