Press Release 03-10-2011

Contact: Paul R. Nelson, President FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

www.franktalk.org

paul@franktalk.org

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is a condition that affects 1 in 5 men, yet it is one of the least discussed and least treated conditions in medicine. According to the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, over 50% of men over forty suffer with some degree of ED. That figure translates into nearly 31 million men in America alone. Even more troubling is, that in some age groups, as many as 90% of these men do not seek treatment.

The recently formed Erectile Dysfunction Foundation, Inc., is tackling this sensitive issue and is reaching men through their website,
http://www.franktalk.org, and they are responding by the thousands. The mission of the Erectile Dysfunction Foundation is to educate men about ED and help them find treatment or cure through education, support, advocacy and research. The ED Foundation is the first nationwide advocacy group for ED and FrankTalk.org the only peer-support website for ED that is neither commercial nor medical.

"Don't those pills take care of that?"

"Unless directly affected by ED, people have no clue how widespread and underserved this population is," says Paul Nelson, president of the ED Foundation. "The general public assumes ED is a quick fix, pop a pill, and the problem is taken care of. Things could not be farther from the truth." According to current data, only 40% of men with ED can take oral drugs such as Viagra. That leaves 28 million men searching for help. "Sadly, this is also where many men give up looking," Nelson continues. "Lack of education about ED and its treatments means men don't even know what questions to ask."

The need for the Foundation arose after Paul Nelson had surgery for prostate cancer at age 47. "I was part of a support group and was on the internet looking for information for ED and discovered I couldn't get a straight answer anywhere. The more I looked, the more I realized everything was a commercial, a scam, or just encyclopedic information. I couldn't talk to other guys or ask anyone questions in real time." Slowly, the idea of starting a website dedicated to ED started to take shape, and Franktalk.org was born.

"The response to that simple little site was amazing. Within a few days, we had guys on the site and we have no idea how they found it," said Nelson. With the addition of pages describing treatments, complete with pictures and videos, the site began to grow. A chat room was added and the men have been talking to each other since. "While I began the site as a cancer survivor, the men on the site are there with every conceivable cause of ED."

"Thank you FrankTalk"

There were times Nelson was not so sure he was doing the right thing. "I was pretty sure this was all a waste of time and was wishing I had not spent money on getting it set up. Then I got an email from this guy who said FrankTalk had saved his life. I was blown away."

The email was from a cancer survivor whose doctor had never prepared him for the ED side effects of surgery. He had recently been widowed and did not realize he had complete ED. As he started to date and as things turned sexual, he was devastated and humiliated that nothing worked. He had no idea what was happening. He lapsed into depression and one day found himself in his car at a bridge. He sat there for three hours. He eventually made his way back home, got on his computer and found FrankTalk. For the first time, he saw men exactly like himself. He wasn't the only guy dealing with all this. He discovered there was hope. He wrote to Nelson to thank him.

"I was blown away," said Nelson. "What was I going to do? I had to keep going." Since then, many men have written Nelson telling their stories of desperation and lost hope.

The foundation's Director of Development, William Schwing, is also a cancer survivor. He recognized the need for the organization and began raising support without even asking Nelson.

"I was in recovery from surgery and was not sure, or in denial, of the extent of the inevitable ED that comes with it." said Schwing. "Finding Franktalk.org and the foundation behind it gave me a much needed education, but above all, it gave me hope!"

"It is a complex issue even for the doctors," says Nelson. "Getting men to open up about ED is extremely difficult. It's not that they don't want to talk; they just don't know where it's safe to talk. Getting men to the doctor's office is hard enough. Getting them to go and talk about ED is even harder."

The foundation hopes to be a channel spreading the message of legitimate treatments to the men who need them most. Nelson has formed an significant alliance with local urologists and ED experts, serving as mentor and ED coach. As the importance of patient education comes to the forefront as health care costs skyrocket, this alliance with physicians will provide patient support which doctors no longer have time to give.

What does the future hold?

The opportunity for growth in this field is impressive. FrankTalk.org will remain the focal point of the outreach program. The ED Foundation will add a Marketplace to the site, where men can by marital aids specifically curated for men with ED. Live chat with sex therapists, marriage counselors, and doctors will be featured. New treatments, studies, and new techniques will be an ongoing project. "We see more than a million hits a month in the not too distant future," says Nelson. "Once we get some marketing and search engine optimization going, things will start hopping."

"This topic has been the elephant in the middle of the room for far too long. It's time to bring it out of the shadows and give men and their partners the tools they need to seek treatment and address this issue," says Nelson. "Everyone assumes this battle was won long ago. The fact is, the war has hardly started."