Men in Yorkshire are the most likely in England to need a bit of assistance in the bedroom, NHS data suggest.
Official data shows nearly 3.5 per cent of men inthe East Riding were prescribed Viagra, also known by its generic name sildenafil, in 2023.
This was followed by men in Northumberland and Dorset who each came second and third for prescription rates of the erectile dysfunction drug at around 3.2 per cent each.
The Yorkshire region appears to be particularly hard-hit by impotency with its cities and towns Rotherham, Barnsley, Harrogate, Scarborough and Whitby, featuring in the top 10 areas for Viagra prescriptions.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, men in Leicester City appeared to be the least likely to need help from the little blue pill to maintain an erection, with a prescription rate of only 1.6 per cent.
This map shows the areas where people were most and least likely to be prescribed sildenafil the key ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra on the NHS
Other areas In England with low similarly low prescription rates wereNorth West London (1.7 per cent) as well as Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (1.9 per cent).
For comparison, the national rate for sildenafil prescriptions is 2.5 per cent across England.
These figures were calculated by examining NHS prescription data collected from England's 106Clinical Commissioning Groups, the Sun reported.
In total, last year about 750,000 men in England got 4.3million prescriptions for the drugs, costing the NHS £16.4million.
However, the data might not give a true indication of where men are most reliant on the little blue pill.
Men can buy a course sildenafil over the counter for as little as £15 and tablets also readily available online for as little as £1.30 per pill.
Such private purchases of the drug wouldn't be included in the NHS data.
Sildenafil also isn't just prescribed for erectile dysfunction.
Such medications also, less famously, treatpulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure in the arteries that supply the lungs.
The same mechanism by which the drugs increase blood flow to the penis also relaxes blood vessels in the chest helping to treat pulmonary hypertension.
London Bridge Hospital consultant urologist Gordon Muir suggested the data may also not reflect solely the need for the drugs, but also where people were most comfortable taking to their GP about sexual health.
'Discussing sexual problems with a GP may be more difficult for some religious or ethnic groups, and some regions may be more sympathetic than others,' he said.
'Drugs such as sildenafil are safe, cheap and effective.
'Men using them, and their partners have a significant increase in wellbeing.'
Impotency is no laughing matter and men suffering from the problem frequently are urged to seek advice from their GP.
Not only can it impact their sexual and mental health erection problems can also be potential sign of serious health problems like cardiovascular disease.
However, not all men are advised to take drugs like sildenafil, for example those withheart problems are warned against taking it.
About one in 100 people takingsildenafilwill experience common side effects from taking sildenafil.
These include headaches,nausea, hot flushes, indigestion, a stuffy nose and dizziness, according to the NHS.
Those taking the pills for longer periods, such as for pulmonary hypertension, are more likely to experience these effects than those taking the pills on an 'as needed' basis for erectile dysfunction, the health service says.
Where men were least likely to be prescribed Viagra
- Leicester City: 1.582 per cent
- North West London: 1.665 per cent
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough: 1.877 per cent
- North East London: 1.891 per cent
- South West London: 1.924 per cent
- Berkshire West: 1.937 per cent
- Thurrock: 1.956 per cent
- North Central London: 1.989 per cent
- Bedfordshire, Luton & Milton Keynes: 1.993 per cent
- Oxfordshire: 1.993 per cent
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Where men were most likely to be prescribed Viagra
- East Riding of Yorkshire:3.406 per cent
- Northumberland:3.227 per cent
- Dorset:3.207 per cent
- Fylde and Wyre:3.170 per cent
- Bassetlaw:3.143 per cent
- Barnsley:3.140 per cent
- North Yorkshire: 3.138 per cent
- Rotherham 3.136 per cent
- Wirral: 3.112 per cent
- St Helens: 3.045 per cent
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More serious side effects requiring urgent medical care are estimated to affect less than one in 1,000 people.
These includeseizures, suffering a prolonged and potentially painful erection especially for over two hours, chest pain, and in very rare cases a life-threatening allergic reaction to the medication called anaphylaxis.
Earlier this year MailOnline revealed that popular erection pills such as Viagrahave been linked to more than 200 deaths in Britain.
None of the fatalities — all of which have occurred since 1998 — are proven to have been caused directly by the drugs.
