Re: Erectile dysfunction claims

[Guest guest]

Provider statistics on erectile dysfunction after treatments for prostate cancer need to explicitly include their definition.

Although it is seldom stated up front, most doctors are providing statistics for recovery of function after as long as one to two years "with or without drugs or aid of physical devices". Some doctors also don't consider having to use pads for minor leakage to be "incontinence."

Objective reviews continue to indicate that an average of at least 30 to 40 percent of men after surgery will not regain full erectile function. For less skilled surgeons or more advanced cancers up to 60 percent of men are likely to have problems.

If you believe your choice is death or full erectile function, this probably is not an issue of concern.

However, for the vast majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer by PSA screening, this is a false choice.

Dr. Walsh now is also supporting Active Surveillance for appropriate cases.

This was not discussed in the cited 2008 Charlie Rose interview.

If I decided on surgery and lived in the East, I would certainly consider having Dr. Walsh do it,

However, there is no way I would assume a local surgeon would be likley to achieve the same results as Dr. Walsh.

The Best to You and Yours!

Jon in Nevada

Posted by: "Charlie De" charlie14624@... chuckdejohn

Mon Jun 4, 2012 2:27 am (PDT)

Found an interview with Dr. Walsh on the Charlie Rose Show. He talks about prostate cancer detection and treatment. Near the end of the interview, Dr Walsh states only 2 percent of his younger patients who have a radical prostatectomy have long term incontinence and less than 5 percent have erectile dysfunction.Dr Walsh is a professor at s Hopkins. Along with co-workers, Dr. Walsh was the first to describe the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme deficiency, to develop an experimental technique for the induction of benign prostatic hyperplasia, to demonstrate the influence of reversible androgen deprivation on BPH, and to characterize hereditary prostatic cancer. He is on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. For 25 years he was the editor-in-chief of ’s Textbook of Urology, which has been renamed Walsh in his honor. Dr. Walsh was honored as the 2007 National Physician of the Year for Clinical Excellence by America's Top Doctors®, and was the co-recipient of the 2007 King Faisal International Prize in Medicine. http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9016