Some patients don't dwell on lack of erections, others have never tried
available medications and equipment, study finds

October 8, 2006. Commercials for erectile dysfunction (ED) air several
times a day on North American TV screens. But many prostate cancer
survivors who acknowledge that they have erectile dysfunction, or
impotence, say that they are not seriously bothered by the condition.
And some men who agree that they are bothered say that they have never
tried medications or devices to improve their erections.

Lack of experimentation with therapy for ED is more prevalent among
patients with erectile concerns after brachytherapy or 3D-CRT than after
radical prostatectomy, according to a study conducted by urologists and
radiation oncologists at University of Michigan and at Harvard's Beth
Israel hospital.

To find out how much sexual motivation plays into use of erectile
dysfunction (ED) aids among localized prostate cancer treatment
survivors, researchers at these medical centers mailed questionnaires to
896 men 4 to 8 years after brachytherapy, three-dimensional conformal
external beam radiotherapy (3D-CRT), or radical prostatectomy. For
comparison they sent questionnaires to 112 men in the same age range who
had never required treatment for prostate cancer.

This study found that:

The quality of erections unassisted by medications or devices was not
different among the treatment groups.

Prostate cancer survivors used medications or devices for ED more
commonly than did the control men (30% versus 13%).

One half of the prostate cancer survivors with ED said they did not care
about their ED (small to no sexual bother despite absent or poor
unassisted erections).
Among men who were bothered about poor erections, 48% of the
brachytherapy, 61% of the 3D-CRT, and 23% of radical prostatectomy
subjects had never tried commonly available medications or devices to
improve their erections.

The current use of at least one erection aid was an independent
determinant of more favorable sexual QOL. The authors say that their
findings suggest possible opportunities for improving sexual quality of
life among long-term survivors.

Sourcesl:

Urology,  Volume 68, Issue 1  , July 2006, Pages 166-171
Use of medications or devices for erectile dysfunction among long-term
prostate cancer treatment survivors: Potential influence of sexual
motivation and/or indifference
David C. Miller, John T. Wei, Rodney L. Dunn, James E. Montie, Hector
Pimentel, Howard M. Sandler, P. William McLaughlin and Martin G. Sanda.
Michigan Urology Center, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, USA. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of
Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Division of Urology, Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc