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IMPOTENCE: DRUG THERAPY

Drugs may be used to help a man overcome impotence. In many cases, more testing is needed, and the treatments may be awkward or even painful, but many men will accept any drawbacks to regain their virility.

Papaverine This drag is injected directly into the side of the penis. It causes the arteries of the penis to dilate, increasing the flow of blood to the penis. It also causes less blood to leave. With this increased flow, many men will be able to achieve a firm erection.

Sildenafil This is another new drag that looks promising, but it needs more testing before it can be approved. It blocks an enzyme that can prevent erection by allowing blood to flow out of the erectile tissue. So far, researchers are very optimistic and they expect Sildenafil to come before the U.S. Food and Drag Administration (FDA) for review before 1997.

Prostaglandin This is another vein-dilating drag. It has recently received FDA approval under the trade name of Caverject. It is made by Upjohn, and some insurance companies may pay for its use as a prescription drag. After the drag is injected, the penis becomes rigid and is ready to perform within fifteen to twenty minutes. The erection can last for over an hour, which is something not commonly experienced by a man before surgery. A disadvantage is that the injection can cause bleeding, swelling, or bruising of the penis. It is sold in six-packs of injection kits. It comes in a vial with a sterile sponge in a disposable box and costs about $2 5 a dose.

Ginko biloba This is an herbal product that produces harder, stronger, longer-lasting erections and is considered one of the best by investigators in Germany who tested the product. In a recent study, twenty men who could only have erections when injecting special drugs into their penises were able to have spontaneous erections (without drugs) and experienced measurable increases in the hardness of the penis throughout its length. This was after nine months of taking a 50-milligram capsule of Ginko biloba three times a day.

VEP Researchers in Israel are awaiting approval for a cream they have developed that will help impotent men achieve an erection. They combined a chemical called vasoactive intestinal peptide (OO?) with stearic acid (a creamy substance) and applied it to the penises of castrated rats; as a result, the rats became sexually active. VIP has been around a long time and has been used as an injection treatment for impotence. This is the first time it has been applied in cream form to the penis. As with most physical medicine approaches, it works best for men suffering from a physical rather than psychological cause of impotence.

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Men's Health Erectile Dysfunction