Gt1956 wrote:If a potential cure is something that you worry about? Let me address that. I'll have to use a different ailment. Restless Leg Syndrome. A family member struggles with it. A few years ago I read a really interesting article on RLS. Two drugs had been found, researched & released. They both had recently went off patent, generic to us. Unfortunately there is a sub group of people that these drugs are not very effective on. The writer went on to explain that it was unlikely that any research would be done on a new drug for this sub set. Such a high percentage of sufferers got relief form the now generic meds that no company would throw money at more research. Not enough sufferers to make it worth while.
I suspect that E/D is in the same position. The current oral meds are generic & work fairly well, for a time. Injectables fall under the same logic. Now we're down to surgery treatments. There're some surgery options but the implant seems to have the best success. Where in this picture is there room for a company to throw a modest fortune at research with a good chance of displacing generic orals, injectables or implants. Pretty much no where.
The future will be minor improvements discovered by accident, like Viagra was found. Implants will get some minor running changes but won't change very much.
My take on this, others may disagree. I'd like to hear your arguement that this won't be the path that E/D treatments follow. The future won't look much different than today. Thus, don't wait for a better option. It isn't coming because there isn't any money to be made.
Cynical.....maybe. Realistic.....I think so.
There is research on more than incremental improvements in implants. One that looks promising is a one-piece implant that becomes erect and rigid under the influence of a magnetic field. The size and rigidity is comparable to the three-piece implants.
There is research on gene therapy as well.
But your point is well-taken. Research is driven by economic demand. If the pool of people who cannot be helped by existing treatments is small, there is little economic incentive to spend research dollars to help that small number of people. (I used "people" rather than "men" because the statement applies to all people and all medical conditions.)
Now, if Donald Trump wanted an improved implant technology he could put a couple billion towards the effort and get a boost to his demographic base.
Among women, too. 
