ED1000 is a form of shockwave therapy. It is a new type of treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), and the long-term effects are not yet known. Most men can get relief from ED through prescription medications like Viagra.
For hundreds of thousands of men around the world, the introduction of Viagra and the other impotence drugs that have followed has been the answer to a prayer, allowing them to resume relatively normal sex lives.
While these drugs, all members of the family of medications known as PDE5 inhibitors, have worked for an estimated 70 percent of men with erection problems, they don’t provide a universal solution to the problem of impotence. Even among those for whom the drugs work well, they provide only temporary relief — 4 to 36 hours — from symptoms of impotence.
New Form of Therapy
This may help to explain the excitement being generated by reports of an all-new approach to treating erection problems, one that some say may produce significantly longer-lasting results. This latest impotence treatment option, marketed by Medispec Limited, is known as ED1000.
ED1000 utilizes low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy to help restore erectile function in men who have lost the ability to spontaneously achieve and maintain an erection. Although this approach to treating erection problems has been studied for the past several years, its profile got a significant boost in 2013 when the European Association of Urology accepted the treatment as a first-line therapy for ED treatment. The EAU’s acceptance of this technology was based on clinical trials that utilized Medispec’s ED1000.
Like the PDE5 inhibitors, ED1000 targets erection problems that are vascular in origin. Vascular problems account for the preponderance of impotence and occur when blood flow to the penis is inadequate to create and sustain an erection.
How Each Therapy Works
In the case of the PDE5 inhibitors, such as Viagra and Cialis, they promote strong blood flow to the penis by temporarily disabling an enzyme that is known to interfere with blood flow to the pelvic region. ED1000 is a non-invasive therapy that delivers tiny shocks to the penis in an attempt to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and thus improve circulation.
Researchers stumbled upon this new mode of treatment during research into new methods to treat heart disease. They found that low levels of shock wave therapy were able to trigger the body to create new blood vessels, thus improving blood flow to the heart.
In one such cardiac study, researchers at Vilnius University in Lithuania assembled a study group of 40 patients who had been diagnosed with CCS Class III and IV angina pectoris. These are patients who find their angina causes moderate to severe limitations on their day-to-day lives based on a grading system developed by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Seventy percent of the patients selected had had one or more heart attacks.
Checked 6 Months Later
After being evaluated for left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular stroke volume, test subjects were subjected to myocardial shock wave therapy. Six months after shock wave therapy test subjects were once again evaluated for left ventricular ejection fraction and stroke volume. All showed significant improvements in both of these indicators.
While the notion of having electric shocks delivered to your penis may be a bit unsettling to some, medical professionals claim that the procedure is completely painless and without any significant side effects. However, to get full value from the procedure, you’ll need 12 weeks of shock wave therapy. However, once the full course of therapy has been completed, there is a good chance that successful treatment could restore erectile function to men who have otherwise lost the ability to get it up on their own.
Pills Don’t Work for Some
And while PDE5 inhibitors have been phenomenally successful for most men with erection problems caused by insufficient blood flow to the penis, up to 20 percent of those in this category experience less than satisfactory response to the pills. For those in this category, ED1000 offers a new form of treatment that may work where others have failed.
Among the more recent studies of shock wave therapy in the treatment of erection problems is a Japanese study led by urologist Shin-ichi Hisasue, M.D., at Juntendo University. Researchers assembled a study group of 52 patients who had experienced significant erection problems in the previous six months. Patients ranged in age from 37 to 83 with a median age of 64. All were subjected to low-intensity shock wave therapy using Medispec’s ED1000 equipment. Of the 52 initially treated, data was available for only 41 patients four weeks after treatment.
Baseline Testing
In baseline testing of those 41 prior to shock wave therapy, 22 had erection hardness scores (EHS) of 1, which indicates the penis enlarges upon arousal but doesn’t become hard. The remaining 19 patients had EHS of 2, indicating that the penis is hard but not hard enough to permit penetration.
Four weeks after treatment, eight patients had EHS of 1, 10 had EHS of 2, 20 had EHS of 3, and three patients had EHS of 4. An EHS of 3 indicates that the penis is hard enough for penetration but not completely hard, while an EHS of 4 indicates the penis is completely hard and fully rigid.
In another measure of the therapy’s results, all 41 patients for whom data were available had average scores of 5 on the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) scale prior to therapy. After therapy their scores improved to an average of 9.
Dr. Hisasue unveiled the results of this study at the fourth congress of the Asian Pacific Prostate Society in March 2014. He indicated that his study found that the degree of success of shock wave therapy depended on the age of the patient and his baseline level of erectile function. Dr. Hisasue suggested that these factors should be thoroughly discussed prior to beginning therapy in older patients with severe erection problems.
Mechanics of Therapy
In yet another study of shock wave therapy, published in the May 2014 issue of Korean Journal of Urology, Israeli researchers offer a brief explanation of the mechanics involved in this form of treatment.
They explain that the shock waves used in ED1000 are ¨acoustic waves that generate a pressure impulse and that carry energy¨ as they move through a medium. The medical professional or technician administering the therapy can vary the concentration of energy at any given location.
When these acoustic waves reach the targeted tissues, they cause mechanical stress and microtrauma, which trigger a chain of events that eventually stimulate the body to form new blood vessels to supply the targeted tissues.
In the conclusion to their study, the Israeli researchers describe low-intensity shock wave therapy as ¨a promising novel therapeutic modality for restoring erectile function in men with vasculogenic ED. It is a safe and non-painful treatment with a long-lasting effect on erectile function.¨ However, they recommend additional large-scale studies be undertaken to confirm their findings and get a clearer fix on the optimal treatment protocol and to better identify ideal candidates for this form of treatment.
If you are interested in ordering prescription ED medications like Viagra online, we encourage you to visit eDrugstore.com.
Don Amerman is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics.
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