A fertility paradox in the male quest for beauty

Dr Mossman said taking these vanity-based medications might make you more attractive but could turn you into “an evolutionary dud”.

It is not the equivalent of the extravagant peacock’s tail, which makes males more attractive to females and increases the chances of passing genes on to the next generation.

There are some examples in the natural world where an animal sacrifices their ability to breed.

Some bird species perform co-operative breeding in which individuals forego having their own offspring to help raise the descendants of close relatives.

But even this can make sense in evolutionary terms as half of your genes are shared with siblings so they are still being passed on, just indirectly.