Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

A topical ED therapy is under development

|
|
 
  
Published: Sept. 18, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Advertisement

NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they're using nanotechnology to create a topical treatment for erectile dysfunction, thereby avoiding side effects associated with drugs.

Researchers at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine say the delivery system that uses nanoparticles encapsulating nitric oxide or prescription drugs has been successfully tested on a small number of animals.

If the study's results can be replicated in humans, the scientists said it would mean safer and more effective ED therapy for millions of men with heart disease and other health problems affecting erectile function.

The drug-delivery system developed by Einstein scientists consists of nanoparticles that can carry tiny payloads of various drugs or other medically useful substances and release them in a controlled and sustained manner.

"Most of the animals, nearly 90 percent, showed a response to treatment with the nanoparticles," said Professor Joel Friedman, who developed the nanoparticles with his son, Dr. Adam Friedman.

"The response time to the nanoparticles was very short, just a few minutes, which is basically what people want in an ED medication," added Associate Professor Kelvin Davies, the study's senior author. "In both rats and humans, it can take 30 minutes to one hour for oral ED medications to take effect."

The findings are reported in the early online edition of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala Indianapolis 500
BAFTA awards Golden Gate Bridge turns 75 Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 28
Lori Anne Madison, 6, competes in Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Lori Anne Madison, 6, of Woodbridge, Virginia, spells out the letters in her word as she competes during the opening round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 30, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Madison, the youngest known qualifier in the history of the contest, correctly spelled the word "dirigible*", a lighter-than-air aircraft, to advance. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Income inequality has gotten so bad it can be seen from space
A thank you letter to Fark and Farkers for helping me with my charity fundraiser earlier this month....
Chicago wants to pass a law preventing teenagers from looking like Jersey Shore rejects
Photoshop what else the Opportunity rover sees on Mars
Just in case you weren't sure, investigators have determined that Anders Behring Breivik was not,...
Annoying co-worker has a habit of leaving his computer unlocked. I'm thinking of adding "Smoke weed...