(Newser)
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Men suffering from penis curvature may be able to straighten things out—at least somewhat, the New York Times reports. Auxilium Pharmaceuticals says its drug, Xiaflex, passed two clinical trials and reduced curvature from 48 degrees to 31 degrees after a year of treatment in one of them. The results “are not overwhelming and dramatic,” said one doctor, but “it’s a major advantage over what we have now, which is nothing.”
Now the bad news: Users have to inject the penis up to eight times over several months, endure pain and swelling, and let a doctor break up penis plaque by hand. But Xiaflex probably beats other options, which include iffy drugs like Potaba and a surgical procedure that can cause erectile dysfunction and a shorter penis. Auxulium estimates that about 5% of men suffer from Peyronie's disease, which is identified by a fibrous plaque that can curve the penis during erection; the company believes 65,000 to 120,000 Americans are actually diagnosed with curvature annually.
