Dr. Pradeep Mahajan, Regenerative Medicine Researcher & Founder of StemRx Hospital and Research Centre

Performance anxiety and erectile dysfunction (ED) are two problems that cut across many societies and age groups among men and are often found to be interlinked. These issues are often perceived as embarrassing leading to the lack of help which results in emotional turmoil, impaired relationships and even lowered life satisfaction. However, with the development of modern technologies, especially regenerative medicine such problems need not be permanent.

Cellular therapy, a component of this new regenerative medicine, will change the approach in treating erectile dysfunction and associated performance anxiety dramatically. Unlike general methods of treatment such as oral medicines which only solve the issue on the surface, Near focuses on restoring the functional interaction in the ED and provides lasting treatment.

Understanding Performance Anxiety and ED

In sexual activity, performance anxiety means ruminating thoughts and discomfort over extreme sexual distress. More often than not, this results in erectile dysfunction (ED), which is defined as the incapacity to get an erection hard enough or an inability to sustain the erection for long enough to perform vaginal intercourse. Although these orders may primarily come from psychological problems, there are many more already present which form barriers to improvement such as decreased blood perfusion, incidences of injury or trauma in the penile organs and irregular hormonal levels.

In these situations, phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor pharmacotherapy (e.g., Viagra) is often accompanied by other measures and leads to the improvement of blood supply to the penis and therefore form temporary correction of ED. Nevertheless, these approaches don’t correct the root cause of the typical ED physiological conditions and are associated with side effects like headaches, giddiness, and addiction.

It is in this context that regenerative medicine and cellular therapy create a new approach.

Cellular Therapy: A Game-Changer for Erectile Dysfunction

Stem cell therapy – one of the cellular therapy techniques -, as well as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, aims to restore and regenerate injured tissues as well as improve defective vascular functions. In ED terms, these methods assist in enhancing blood circulation, healing the penile tissues, and restoring nerves.

The attention on the stem cells is especially due to the fact that they can help restore ED by boosting the self-healing of the body. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are extracted from bone marrow or adipose tissue and injected into penile tissue to enhance tissue therapy and blood supply interventions. These are anticancer, immunosuppressant, and pro regenerative cells that restore erectile function by repairing impaired vasculature and nerves.

Instead, PRP therapy, a method in which platelet-rich plasma is derived from the patient’s blood, normalizes the process of tissue degeneration and accelerates its healing. Because it contains growth factors, the use of PRP in the recovery of the penile tissues in post-operative patients contributes to an upgrade in function.

Regenerative Medicine for Performance Anxiety

While performance anxiety is primarily of a psychological nature, it can be further assisted by regenerative medicine, which improves physiological responses and, as a result, decreases some triggers for this anxiety. By enhancing blood circulation, tissue health and overall erectile function, cellular therapy improves the concerns of the patients about their functionality and thus reduces the chances of performance anxiety. Another area that regenerative medicine addresses is hormonal regulation, which is important for normal mood and sexual health, and may therefore help in relieving some of the psychological aspects of performance anxiety.

Dr. Pradeep Mahajan’s Views on Regenerative Medicine and ED

Dr. Pradeep Mahajan, one of the advocates of regenerative medicine, makes a strong case on how cellular therapy may address erectile dysfunction and performance anxiety in a holistic manner. “However, Dr. Mahajan’s opinion is that the majority of existing approaches are … aimed at symptoms only, rather than at the essence of ED. It is mostly because of these very issues of tissue injury, ischemia and neuropathy that regenerative medicine focuses on. The effects of cellular therapeutics are more physiologic than surgical and restorative effects are progressive with minimal intervention.”

He further adds, “Also in case of performance anxiety, improvement in ability to achieve an erection by employing regenerative means of therapy, is able to affect the psychological sphere. With this improvement, the patients become more self-confident and anxious less, so no matter how strange it might sound, this would improve both the physical and the emotional health of the individuals.”

Dr. Mahajan also offered, the most compelling feature of regenerative medicine is that it addresses patient’s needs on a personal level. “One size does not fit all in medicine and there are no two patients who are exactly the same hence it is that regenerative medicine will individualize therapy so that optimal recovery is achieved and the side effects which are often seen in traditional methods are avoided.”