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Medical Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction

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The 1980s saw a progressive shift away from psychological treatments of sexual dysfunction to an emphasis on surgical and medical solutions for improving sexual health. Simultaneously, there was a progressive shift within the medical community and public at large, towards viewing the etiology of sexual dysfunction as organic, rather than the psychogenic understanding emphasized by sex therapists. Use of improved sophisticated diagnostic procedures, such as duplex sonography and cavernosograms (although not necessarily improving treatment) added credibility and imprimatur to the importance of organic pathogenesis. This was particularly true in the area of erectile dysfunction, where urologists established dominance, with the successful marketing and use of various intracavernosal and intraurethral systems. Although highly touted by urologists, the treatment efficacy of these products was offset by their intrusiveness into the patients bodies and reduction in spontaneity, their patterns of use required.

Initially, there were few oral treatments for erectile dysfunction, being used by urologists, such as yohimbine based products, trazodone, and bupropion. They had only modest proerectile capability. Pharmaceutical companies were inspired to pursue oral treatments with the promise of less intrusiveness and even greater profits. The first visible evidence of fulfilling that promise was the sildenafil launch. Subsequent to Pfizers success, multiple companies simultaneously pursued clinical trials of easy-to-use treatments for male sexual dysfunction. Among others, these included additional PDE-5 type compounds and other oral treatments, such as ixense (TAP Holdings, Deerfield, IL, USA), and topically applied compounds (MacroChem, Lexington, MA, USA). Additionally, PT-141 (Palatin Technology, Cranbury, NJ, USA) is a nasally administered peptide that is under development, which is presumed to work through a central nervous system mechanism.

Currently, there are three highly efficacious PDE-5, FDA-approved treatments for erectile dysfunction: sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil. Reviews of long-term extension studies and published accounts of use in clinical practice show that sildenafils effectiveness was maintained with long-term treatment. “Significantly improved erectile function was demonstrated for sildenafil compared with placebo for all efficacy parameters analyzed (P , 0.02 to 0.0001), regardless of patient age, race, body mass index, erectile dysfunction etiology, erectile dysfunction severity, erectile dysfunction duration, or the presence of various co morbidities. Long-term effectiveness was assessed in three open-label extension studies.” Vardenafil (launched in 2003) “is a potent, selective PDE-5 inhibitor, which improved erectile function in a broad population of men with erectile dysfunction and in characteristically challenging-to-treat groups such as diabetic and post prostatectomy patients.” Tadalafil also launched in 2003, when taken, “as needed before sexual activity and without restrictions on food or alcohol intake, significantly improved erectile function. It allowed a substantial proportion of patients to achieve a normal IIEF erectile function domain score, exhibited a broad window of therapeutic responsiveness and was well tolerated in a representative population of patients with broadspectrum erectile dysfunction.”

Senior Medical Alert Versus Expensive Senior Care Housing Costs

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One of the odd consequences of the real estate crisis in the USA is how it is pushing the cost of senior housing to continue to rise. This happens because, as real estate prices plummet, investors or entrepreneurs or even existing senior care nursing facilities are scared away from building new facilities or conducting expansions. The result is an ever-growing gap between supply and demandwith less new senior housing to accommodate an aging population, it is becoming more and more prohibitively expensive to have your senior loved one stay in an assisted senior care facility.

Discussions regarding the affordability of a senior medical alert inevitably crops up whenever people speak of the financial facts surrounding the issue of nursing homes. This is so because compared with having to place your senior loved one in an assisted living facility, the price of a regular medical alert system is almost shockingly lowyou can subscribe to even the best brand for less than a dollar a day, and that already includes 24/7 monitoring.

Senior Housing: Just the Facts

Perhaps one can best appreciate the whole issue of senior housing by looking at actual numbers. In 2008, for example, the monthly cost of having your senior loved one stay in an independent living housing was $2,572; a year later, in 2009, that figure was up by about a hundred dollars. Moreover, the cost of placing your aging parent in a nursing care home in 2008 was $7,493 a month; barely a year later, the cost would rise by more than two hundred dollars. Keep in mind that we are discussing average monthly rents all over the countryit may be lower or higher in the state you are in, but these averages give you an idea of how much it costs to take care of your senior loved one. If youre lucky, you can find certain facilities that offer discounts or lower monthly fees, but such discounts can be availed usually by signing up on a medium-term basis, such as by paying on a quarterly basis or a six-month plan.

Medical Alerts: the Affordable Option

As previously mentioned, the case against senior housing becomes more and more compelling as prices continue to rise. On the other hand, the monthly fees charged by even the leading providers of any advanced senior medical alert stays at a stable rate of less than a dollar a daysometimes just half of that.

Add to that is the fact that most seniors are still full of heartthey would not simply accept sitting around the house and would often insist on doing things on their own, as if they were still 40 years old. They may insist on mowing the lawn or cleaning the car, and at times, you may even find them on a ladder trimming a tree or cleaning the houses gutter. This is natural: seniors would love to continue doing household chores in order to feel useful. And by preserving their sense of usefulness, you are actually helping them preserve their youth or keep them happy and self-satisfied. But then again, letting them work around the house comes at a price: there are safety and health issues involved, and you cannot simply attend to their needs and watch over them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You have a life and a family who also need your attention.

That is why medical alerts are perfect for a wide range of age bracketswhether your parent is still able to move about and engage in physical activities, or they are using support devices such as a cane or a walker. Not that the price is the be-all and end-all of our considerations, such alert systems do indeed not cost thousands of dollars a monththe alert system service from a leading provider such as Rescue Alert of California costs only about 55 cents a day. Of course, such an alert system is by no means a complete replacement to the kind of round-the-clock, properly supervised care your senior loved one can enjoy at a nursing home, but in certain situations (such as the case described above), it can be just the right solutionand an affordable one, too.