This site has a joke for a name and a serious job. I’m Will Preston, I’m not a doctor, and these are the rules I write to.
Every clinical claim is sourced, and the source is linked
If I tell you something about your body, you can click through and check it. In rough order of preference I cite:
- Clinical practice guidelines from specialty bodies — the American Urological Association, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Academy of Dermatology, the Endocrine Society
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses, particularly Cochrane reviews
- Large randomised controlled trials
- Government health agencies — FDA drug labelling, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the CDC
- Individual peer-reviewed studies, identified as such
I don’t cite other content sites as evidence for medical claims, and I don’t cite a manufacturer’s own materials as evidence that its product works.
I say when the evidence is weak
Much of what gets written about men’s health concerns questions that have been studied badly, or barely, or not at all. Where that’s the case I say so, and I try to say how it’s weak — small samples, no control group, surrogate outcomes instead of ones that matter, findings that vanish when poorly-conducted studies are excluded.
“The evidence is very low certainty” is a real finding, and reporting it is more useful than manufacturing confidence.
I report findings that are inconvenient for advertisers
Some of the best-evidenced answers here are bad news for people selling things — including things I may earn commission on. I publish them anyway. A site that only reports findings favourable to its own revenue is worth nothing to you, and readers work that out quickly.
I do not fabricate medical review or credentials
If an article has been reviewed by a clinician, I name them, give their credentials, and say what they reviewed. If it hasn’t, there is no reviewer byline. There will never be a generic “medically reviewed by our expert team” line standing in for review that didn’t happen.
I write under a pen name, which I state openly on the about page. A pen name protects my privacy; it is not a licence to imply expertise I don’t have. I’d rather be honestly unqualified than dishonestly credentialed.
I distinguish things that are commonly confused
Semen volume is not sperm count. Erectile dysfunction is not low testosterone. Hair shedding is not hair loss. Premature ejaculation is not a performance failure. A great deal of confusion in this space is profitable to somebody, and clearing it up is most of what a site like this is good for.
I date everything
Every article shows when it was last reviewed. Medical consensus moves. An undated health article is one you have no way to evaluate.
What I don’t do
- I don’t diagnose. Nothing here is medical advice, and nothing here can account for your individual circumstances.
- I don’t sell a product. There is no house supplement. There never was.
- I don’t use scare tactics or shame. The marketing in this category runs on male insecurity. I’m not doing that.
- I don’t publish before-and-after photos, testimonials, or user results. They can’t be verified and they’re trivially faked.
- I don’t recommend prescription medication. I explain what the evidence says; what you should take is between you and a doctor.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, I want to know and I’ll fix it. Corrections are made to the article with the review date updated. Where a correction changes the substance of what I said, I note what changed.
Contact: bill@bigdickpills.com
How I make money
Affiliate commissions and, potentially, advertising — disclosed in full on the affiliate disclosure page. It does not determine what I conclude; see the third standard above.