{"id":9089,"date":"2016-06-04T00:19:31","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T00:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/?p=9089"},"modified":"2016-06-06T18:32:49","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T18:32:49","slug":"new-stem-cell-treatment-could-help-women-with-sexual-dysfunction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/new-stem-cell-treatment-could-help-women-with-sexual-dysfunction\/","title":{"rendered":"New Stem Cell Treatment Could Help Women with Sexual Dysfunction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stem
Stem cell therapy may someday offer help to women suffering from certain forms of sexual dysfunction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The summer of 2015 brought with it the promise of some measure of relief for millions of women suffering from a common form of female sexual dysfunction. On August 18, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration finally gave its stamp of approval — albeit with strings attached — to a drug some claimed could help fire up the libido in women who had all but lost their desire for sex.<\/p>\n

Nearly a year has passed, and that drug, brand named Addyi, has thus far failed to make much of a dent in the problem its supporters claimed it might solve. The reasons for its disappointing performance thus far might be attributed to a number of factors, not the least of which is results that are less than impressive — one-half an additional sexually satisfying encounter per month.<\/p>\n

Stem Cell Therapy<\/b><\/p>\n

Now comes word of a new approach to the problem of female sexual dysfunction, estimated to affect as much as 40 percent of all women at some point in their lives. On April 19, 2016, Creative Medical Technologies Inc.<\/a> announced the filing of a patent covering regenerative technologies to treat women whose sexual dysfunction can be traced to vascular abnormalities. These technologies involve the use of proteins obtained from regenerative cells, including stem cells, that could help women overcome sexual dysfunction caused by insufficient blood flow to the female genitals.<\/p>\n

In this respect, CMT’s proposed treatment for female sexual dysfunction bears a commonality with Viagra and the other similar medications used to treat erectile dysfunction in men. Both focus on temporarily optimizing blood flow to the genitals to improve sexual function.<\/p>\n

Regenerative Technologies<\/b><\/p>\n

In a news release reporting the patent filing, Thomas Ichim, Ph.D., a CMT board member and inventor of the technology being patented, points out that “peer-reviewed publications have previously shown that vaginal engorgement and clitoral erection depend on increased blood flow.” Ichim goes on to say that through its use of regenerative technologies, CMT has developed a series of potential therapies “that can address this unmet medical need.”<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that atherosclerosis, the buildup of cholesterol, fats, and other substances on the inner walls of arteries, is associated with vaginal engorgement insufficiency and clitoral erectile insufficiency. Atherosclerosis is also one of the primary causes of erectile dysfunction in men. Its artery-clogging effects diminish the flow of blood to the penis, making it difficult or even impossible to achieve an erection.<\/p>\n

\"Stem
One of the more common forms of female sexual dysfunction is a loss of sexual desire, a condition known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>Stem Cell Therapy for ED<\/b><\/p>\n

In an earlier study, published in a 2013 issue of the “Journal of Translational Medicine,” Ichim served as lead researcher in a test of stem cell therapy in a patient with ED that was no longer responsive to oral ED medication or penile injection therapy. Ichim points out that roughly 30 percent of all ED patients get no relief from ED medications, which he acknowledges have revolutionized the treatment of ED for the majority of men who suffer from it.<\/p>\n

In the test of stem cell therapy as a treatment for ED, researchers injected bone marrow mononuclear cells into the twin corpora cavernosa of the 35-year-old patient’s penis. The corpora cavernosa are two cylindrically shaped chambers of spongy erectile tissue that run the length of the penis. Erection occurs when these chambers become filled with blood.<\/p>\n

Results of Cell Therapy<\/b><\/p>\n

Three weeks after the procedure, the patient reported that he had had an erection strong enough for penetration but one that didn’t last long enough to achieve orgasm. Three months after the procedure the patient reported having intercourse until orgasm multiple times as well as an increase in morning erections. At 18 months after the procedure, the patient was still enjoying improved sexual function.<\/p>\n

In addition to its test of stem cell therapy as an alternative treatment for erectile dysfunction, CMT has conducted tests of regenerative medicine as a treatment for diseases linked to vascular insufficiency in animal models and laboratory settings. In CMT’s April 2016 press release, Timothy Warbington, the company’s president and
\nCEO, notes that addressing the problem of female sexual dysfunction with regenerative medicine “has the potential to offer greater benefit with superior safety profile.”<\/p>\n

Addyi Only Game in Town<\/b><\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether CMT’s continuing research into regenerative medicine as an avenue of treatment for female sexual dysfunction will produce positive results. In the meantime, however, the only game in town at present is Addyi, the brand name for Sprout Pharmaceuticals’ flibanserin-based drug that first became available in October 2015.<\/p>\n

<\/i>While no precise data is available on Addyi’s sales, a report in The New York Times<\/a> said the drug had been prescribed only about 4,000 times between its October 2015 introduction and February 2016. So disappointing has been the drug’s showing thus far that in early April Valeant Pharmaceuticals announced it was cutting ties with the outside contract sales force it had retained to promote and market the drug. Quebec-based Valeant, purchased Sprout Pharmaceuticals and the rights to Addyi on August 20, 2015, only two days after the FDA gave the drug its green light.<\/p>\n

\"Stem
For now, the only treatment for female sexual dysfunction on the market is Addyi, which targets low sexual desire in women.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Relaunch Planned<\/b><\/p>\n

At the same time that it terminated its contract sales force for Addyi, Valeant announced that it planned to relaunch Addyi later in 2016 with its own in-house sales campaign. Quite apart from Addyi’s disappointing sales performance, Valeant has plenty of other problems, including a federal investigation into its dealings with Philidor Rx Services, a mail-order pharmacy, and charges of predatory pricing.<\/p>\n

Although it’s impossible to determine to what extent Valeant’s problems have hampered Addyi’s marketing effort, questions about the drug’s efficacy and safety have no doubt kept it from flying off the shelves.<\/p>\n

When the FDA handed down its long-awaited approval of Addyi in August 20152018, it did so only conditionally. Those conditions included a boxed warning to be included on the drug’s packaging inserts advising consumers that the drug could cause severe low blood pressure and possible loss of consciousness. The FDA also put Addyi in its REMS (Risk Evaluation and Management Strategies) program, which requires doctors and pharmacists seeking to prescribe and dispense the drug to take brief online courses about the drug’s possible adverse effects.<\/p>\n

Incompatible with Alcohol<\/b><\/p>\n

Another major stumbling block to Addyi’s marketing success is the drug’s incompatibility with alcohol. Doctors are instructed to inform patients considering the use of Addyi that they must abstain completely from alcohol while they are taking the drug. Taking the drug with alcohol can potentiate Addyi’s adverse side effects.<\/p>\n

Even more damaging to Addyi’s sales efforts was a scientific review showing that the benefits of the drug were even more modest than those shown in clinical trials presented during the medication’s long and tortuous road to FDA approval. While the earlier trial studies suggested that women taking Addyi experienced about one additional sexually satisfying episode per month, the review found that only about one-half an additional episode was actually experienced.<\/p>\n

Adverse Effects Outweigh Benefits<\/b><\/p>\n

As opponents of the drug had long argued, the review suggested that Addyi’s benefits are very modest and are outweighed by the drug’s possible side effects, as well as the prohibition on the use of alcohol while the drug was being taken.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to read additional articles about Addyi, female and male sexual dysfunction, and other topics of interest to health consumers,
\ncheck out our blog<\/a>.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The summer of 2015 brought with it the promise of some measure of relief for millions of women suffering from a common form of female sexual dysfunction. On August 18, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration finally gave its stamp of approval — albeit with strings attached — to a drug some claimed could help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-health-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t