In recent years, medical research has successfully developed a method for the identification and treatment of male impotence. One key factor is an understanding of just how widespread the disorder has become. Recent studies have indicated that as many as 52 percent of men between the ages of 40 and 70 report symptoms of erectile dysfunction in some fashion or another. In a steadily aging population, the impact of this statistic cannot be overlooked.
The first and most important step in the development of any individualized treatment plan is to obtain a complete patient profile. This was often a problem because of the patient’s reluctance to explain the issue. Today, the attention focused on sexual health issues in both print and electronic media, and the open discussion of the condition in the culture at large, has made frank patient-doctor discussions easier.
A second but equally important element is the recognition of the multiplicity of causes. Long recognized factors include the use of certain medications, penile diseases, and psychological issues such as stress and depression. These established causes now share equal billing with nutritional deficiencies, and systemic conditions, such as diabetes, renal failure and scleroderma. Moreover, research indicates that impotence may well be an early indicator of other hidden conditions such as vascular, neurologic and endocrine disorders. Clearly, this is not a problem that has a single basis.
Just as advances in medical technology enable patients and physicians to identify and focus on the cause of the problem, new discoveries have also increased the number of treatment options available and allowed treatment to be more cause-specific in nature. Treatment is no longer limited to hormone therapy. Viagra®, perhaps the most effective oral treatment for male impotence developed to date, may soon be joined by Vasomax®, an alpha-receptor blocker, and Uprima®, a sublingual agent. Vacuum pumps, injection therapy and intraurethal therapy, which uses a suppository, are being used in appropriate situations. Surgical methods that implant fully or self-contained inflatable devices have also found increased patient acceptance.
Some patients are exploring alternative approaches such as the use of herbal preparations, although their effectiveness is harder to quantify. With recent developments in genetic science, gene therapy for impotence might not be very far away. The need for clinical trials to develop newer and more effective protocols for both diagnosis and treatment is clear. Overall, the prevalence of the disorder, the desire of the sufferers to find a cure, and research advances will be the principal motivating factors as the search for remedies to male impotence continues.
