What is Peyronie's Disease?

• Peyronie's disease is named after Francois Gigot de la Peyronie, who became first-surgeon of France's King Louis XV in 1736. Known also as curved penis, penile fibrosis or simply PD, the condition is characterized by fibrous plaques or nodules developing in the substance of the penis. The disease is believed to affect from 1 percent to 3.4 percent of the world's men, according to the Peyronie's Disease Institute. Because symptoms can be so varied---ranging from a lump in the penis to pain, bending or deformity during an erection---it's difficult to define, study and treat. Urologists James Fitkin, M.D., and George T. Ho, M.D., write in American Family Physician that most sufferers are between the ages of 45 to 60. Corrective surgery is recommended for those in chronic pain when conservative treatments fail. However, Jason M. Greenfield, M.D., and Laurence A. Levine, M.D., write in Contemporary Urology that limited clinical trials show that some non-surgical therapies cn cause improvement in many patients, with only minor side effects.
  
  

No Direct Link Between Peyronie's and Urinary Woes

• The penis is made of three separate cylinders: the top two, "corpora cavernosa," fill with blood during erection; the bottom cylinder, "corpora spongiosum," includes the urethra or urinary passage tube running through it from the bladder to the tip of the penis. Urinary problems occur in the corpora spongiosum, while Peyronie's disease affects erectile bodies of corpora cavernosa, notes Dr. Arthur Goldstein, a retired New Jersey urologist who advises the public about genitourinary issues.
  
  

Treatments, Urination and Cancer

• A Peyronie's Disease Institute treatment for curvature involves a penis stretcher or extender, which can make urination difficult or impossible while in place and, therefore, can increase chances for bacteria or infection in the urethra, depending on how long the device is used. Urinary symptoms can more commonly be the product of prostate problems, usually benign afflictions such as enlarged prostate or prostate infection. Prostate cancer has been identified as the cause in less than 5 percent of these cases, according to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Radical prostatectomy, a major surgical procedure that aims to remove the cancer entirely and prevent its spread to other parts of the body, is an aggressive prostate cancer treatment, reports the Prostate Cancer Institute. Dr. William J. Catalona of the Urological Research Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, has found that because radical prostatectomy can cause scarring of the cavernosal tissue, it is not uncommon for patients to develop Peyronie's disease.