Three of 100 men suffer from Peyronie’s disease, a bending of the penis during erection. The penis contains balloons that fill with blood to cause an erection. These balloons can develop a scar that prevents them from expanding normally during an erection, causing the penis to bend toward the scar. If you take a balloon and put a piece of Scotch tape on one side and then blow up the balloon, it will bend toward the side that has the Scotch tape. A report from Italy shows that Peyronie’s disease can be cured by taking weekly injections of a medication to treat high blood pressure plus a drug that carries fat into cells.
Usually this is a harmless condition that requires no treatment because the scar disappears, with no treatment, within five years on the average. Impotence associated with Peyronie’s disease responds well to all available treatments for impotence, such as injections, pellets and Viagra. Doctors treat Peyronie’s disease only when it hurts to have an erection or prevents a man from making love. Surgery often fails to cure this condition, but this study shows that Peyronie’s disease was cured by injections of verapamil directly into the scar in the penis (5 mg twice a week for 10 weeks) plus a 3-month administration of propionyl-L-carnitine (2 g/day).
(1a) Oral propionyl-L-carnitine and intraplaque verapamil in the therapy of advanced and resistant Peyronie’s disease. Bju International, 2002, Vol 89, Iss 9, pp 895-900. G Cavallini, G Biagiotti, A Koverech, G Vitali. Cavallini G, Via Mascheraio 46, I-44100 Ferrara, ITALY.
1) Prevalence of Peyronie’s disease in men over 50-y-old from Southern Brazil. International Journal of Impotence Research, 2001, Vol 13, Iss 5, pp 291-293.EL Rhoden, C Teloken, HY Ting, ML Lucas, CT daRos, CAV Souto.
2) The prevalence of Peyronie’s disease: results of a large survey. Bju International, 2001, Vol 88, Iss 7, pp 727-730. U Schwarzer, F Sommer, T Klotz, M Braun, B Reifenrath, U Engelmann.
3) Levine, L.A. Treatment of Peyronie’s disease with intralesional verapamil injection. Journal of Urology. OCT 1997;158(4):1395-1399.
4) Muralidhar, S.; Kumar, B.; Sharma, S.K.; Sharma, M.; Mandal, A.K. Etiologic factors in Peyronie’s disease. International Journal of Dermatology. AUG 1997;36(8):579-581.
5) Jarow, J.P. Lowe, F.C. Penile trauma: An etiologic factor in Peyronie’s disease and erectile dysfunction. Journal of Urology. OCT 1997;158(4):1388-1390. In a previous study, 83% of 14 patients noted that their symptoms of Peyronie’s disease had arrested or improved after intralesional injection of verapamil. Using a multiple puncture technique, 10 mg. of verapamil diluted to 10 cc were distributed throughout the plaque every 2 weeks for a total of 12 injections. Pain resolved in 97% of the patients who presented with pain after a mean of 2.5 injections. Curvature was decreased in 54% of the patients, increased in 11% and remained unchanged in 34%. Verapamil injection therapy resulted in a reduction of pain in 97% of the patients, an improvement in sexual function in 72%, a reduction of deformity in 86%, an improvement in distal rigidity in 93% and an objective reduction of curvature in 54%.
6) D Chevallier, E Benizri, P Volpe, J Amiel, J Toubol. Peyronie’s disease: Review of historical, epidemiologic, and physiopathologic data. Diagnosis and therapeutic approach. Revue de Medecine Interne 18: Suppl. 1 (1997):S41-S45.
7) J Rehman, A Benet, A Melman. Use of intralesional verapamil to dissolve Peyronie’s disease plaque: A long-term single-blind study. Urology 51: 4 (APR 1998):620-626.
8) PABA, Ace inhibitors and calcium channel blockers (drugs to treat high blood pressure), prostacyclin E1 and a protein building block called L-arginine have been shown to decrease scarring and help treat Peyronie’s disease.
9) Peyronie’s disease in men under age 40: characteristics and outcome. A Tefekli, E Kandirali, H Erol, T Alp, T Koksal, A Kadioglu. International Journal of Impotence Research, 2001, Vol 13, Iss 1, pp 18-23
Checked 6/9/16
