Washington, July 10 (IANS): The common testosterone replacement therapy is no guarantee to treat ejaculatory dysfunction in men to improve sex life, a study said.

"This trial examines the treatment of a very common but poorly understood condition that affects men's physical health as well as their interpersonal relationships," Darius A. Paduch of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital said.

"Although the participants in this study did not experience any significant improvement in ejaculatory function, we hope our work will spur the development of additional clinical trials to find treatments for this condition," he said.

Estimates indicate between 10 percent and 18 percent of men have problems with inability to ejaculate, decreased volume of ejaculation, decreased force of ejaculation and delayed time to ejaculation.

This is a separate neurobiological problem from erectile dysfunction and there is no FDA-approved treatment for the condition.

As part of the study that appeared in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 76 men with ejaculatory dysfunction were assigned to receive either a two percent testosterone solution applied on the skin or a placebo.

Sixty-six men completed the study, and to gauge ejaculatory function, researchers collected semen samples and had participants complete sexual health questionnaires and logs.

The researchers also found no or little improvement in ejaculate volume or orgasmic function in men who received the testosterone replacement therapy.

"Our results suggest physicians who are treating men with ejaculatory dysfunction need to look at other reasons for delayed ejaculation than hypogonadism," said Shehzad Basaria from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Hypogonadism is a condition that results from low testosterone levels.

More research is needed to determine whether a longer course of testosterone therapy or other treatment options can benefit men with ejaculatory dysfunction, the authors said.