Kenneth & all, I don't think the following article (from a few days ago) has been posted. It provides some information on other impotence drugs being developed. Although the article's date is April 20, it looks as if it was written a month ago.
APRIL. 20, 15:12 EST
New Therapies for Impotence May Soon Be
Available
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Prostate cancer surgery left
Alfred Pariser impotent for a year, until experimental
pills restored the Los Angeles man's sexual function in
a mere 20 minutes.
''My wife said it was like I was Tarzan,'' said Pariser,
58, who entered a study of the drug Viagra after
rejecting a standard treatment -- injections of drugs
into the penis -- as ''too scary.''
Doctors say millions of men are about to get a
revolution in impotence treatment from the first oral
medicines that promise to restore sexual function. The
closest of three pills in the pipeline, Viagra, could be
sold as early as April, experts said Monday.
''Therapies are going to be less invasive, more
spontaneous,'' said Dr. Irwin Goldstein of Boston
University.
Between 10 million and 20 million American men suffer
impotence at some point in their lives. Impotence
increases with age, and some 80 percent is caused by
disease, particularly diabetes and heart conditions that
restrict blood flow, Goldstein said. Impotence also can
be psychological or a side effect of certain drugs.
Impotence is highly treatable, but there are drawbacks:
penile implants require surgery; vacuum-style devices
that force blood into the penis interrupt lovemaking;
injecting drugs into the penis or inserting a
drug-carrying pellet into the urethra can be painful, and
the injections sometimes cause hours-long erections.
Now three experimental pills promise to erase the
discomfort, doctors told reporters meeting at the
National Institutes of Health Monday:
--Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra, or sildenafil, blocks an enzyme
found mainly in the penis that breaks down a chemical
produced during sexual stimulation. The longer that
chemical, called cyclic GMP, stays around, the better
chance of an erection.
In clinical studies of several thousand men, Viagra
helped about 80 percent, said Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan
of The Male Clinic in Santa Monica, Calif. , who helped
test all three drugs. The Food and Drug Administration
last week promised a quick review of Viagra, meaning
it could be sold by April.
Unlike injection drugs, Viagra doesn't cause erections
unless the man is sexually stimulated.
''If I take the pill and ... my wife suddenly has a
headache or her mother calls and she's no longer in the
mood, nothing happens to me,'' Pariser said. ''This
drug is the most natural, normal thing you can take.''
Viagra was a failed heart drug investigated again after
some heart patients unexpectedly reported erections.
Some 10 percent of patients report mild side effects
such as headache or flushing.
--While Viagra works in the penis, Tap Pharmaceuticals
Inc.'s apomorphine ''works completely in the brain,''
Padma-Nathan said.
Apomorphine affects chemicals in the brain region
associated with initiating erections. But it also causes
serious nausea and vomiting, making it ideal for poison
victims but romantically a turnoff.
But Tap created a version that dissolves under the
tongue, which gets the drug into the body so slowly
that it doesn't cause nausea, Padma-Nathan said.
The drug is 70 percent effective in the psychologically
impotent, and studies in disease-caused impotence are
concluding now, he said. Tap had planned to seek FDA
approval in 1999, but Padma-Nathan said Monday the
drug works well enough that the company may act
sooner.
--Vasomax is an oral version of a current injection drug
that dilates penile blood vessels. Trials show it can
help about 40 percent of men with moderate
impotence. Manufacturer Zonagen Inc. is expected to
seek FDA approval by year's end.
''Some of these drugs are very potent, very unique,''
said Padma-Nathan. ''We could combine them in a
cocktail, ... some to work in the brain and some to
work locally, for the best effect.''
He expects easier treatments to persuade half of
impotence sufferers to seek help, up from the mere 5
percent to 10 percent who do today.
But scientists are pursuing even easier treatments.
Animal experiments promise that gene therapy may
one day allow men to battle impotence over long
periods by taking just two or three shots a year, said
Dr. George Christ of the Albert Einstein College of
Medicine.
And men with diseases that cause impotence may
someday be able to prevent sexual problems, said Dr.
Jeremy Heaton of Canada's Queens University in
Ontario. ''We are getting into very sophisticated
therapies,'' he said. |
