November 20, 2025 • 38 mins
In this vital conversation, host Chris Kustanbauter and physician/innovator Dr. Elliot Justin delve into an often-overlooked aspect of life with Parkinson's: sexual health and intimacy. You will learn how leveraging health technology and objective data can empower you to proactively manage your sexual function, improve your well-being, and strengthen your relationship. Dr. Justin shares cutting-edge insights on using wearables to monitor function and emphasizes the critical need for open dialogue between patients, partners, and healthcare providers.
Key Topics Covered
- The Intersection of Health Tech & Sexual Health: How innovative tools are changing the conversation, especially in chronic illness.
- Empowering Patients with Data: Using objective measurements to reduce uncertainty and unnecessary doctor visits.
- Sexual Health as a Vital Sign: Why sexual function is a critical component of overall well-being and cardiovascular health (e.g., nocturnal erections).
- Wearable Technology for Men's Health: Insights into devices like the Tech Ring and how they provide actionable data on sexual function.
- The Importance of Open Communication: Strategies for individuals with Parkinson's and their partners to discuss sexual health, intimacy, and performance honestly.
- Addressing Erectile Dysfunction (ED): Moving beyond medication (like Viagra) to understand underlying issues and technology-based solutions.
Actionable Next Steps (Calls to Action)
To receive a 15% discount on any Firmtech product, click on my AFFLIATE Link https://myfirmtech.com/chriskustanbauter . Use the coupon code liveparkinsons
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
Welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional
Life.
I'm your host, ChrisKostenbotter, and I've been
living an exceptional life withParkinson's for the past 15
years.
Today we have a truly excitingguest joining me.
Dr.
Elliot Justin is the founder andCEO of Firm Tech, a company at
the forefront of innovativehealth technology with a
background in emergency medicineand a passion for improving
lives through science anddesign.
(00:32):
Dr.
Justin has dedicated his work tocreating innovations that
empower people to take charge oftheir health and wellness.
Dr.
Justin, it's an honor to haveyou here and welcome to the
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
Chris, great to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Well, you have a very interesting background.
I wanted to talk just before weget into what you're doing now,
is just provide a littlebackground.
You went from an emergency roomphysician and then you've
transitioned to developinginnovative products.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?
SPEAKER_01 (00:55):
Well, you know, I spent many, many years in
emergency medicine.
That got me interested in whathow how can we give people the
knowledge and the day at homethey can manage healthcare and
ideally have to go to theirphysicians less.
So specifically in remotepatient management technologies.
So many, many years ago, Ifounded a company called SwiftMD
with the goal of you know ofempowering people with the
(01:17):
knowledge that doctors, frankly,would apply if they weren't
motivated or limited,constrained by the electronic
health record and what theinsurance companies will pay
for.
Problems in the United States,frankly, elsewhere in the world
as well too.
So we get the we get the healthcare that can be paid for, but
it's not necessarily the healthcare that we need.
So what do people most want froma physician?
What do physicians provide freeto friends and family?
(01:40):
But that's not the way it worksin the real world.
People, they can't just getadvice for a doctor, they have
to make a visit, they have tospend time and money in order to
get what they most need.
And it's a tragedy.
My managed care and Medicare,frankly, my perspective, don't
care.
Because this device that we allhave in our pockets is capable
of managing with us almost allfor healthcare for nothing.
(02:02):
But if people could havetechnology at home that would
allow them to better assesstheir healthcare.
And if and if we would allow,empower people and the and the
technology to make decisions forthose common medical problems,
the healthcare savings would beenormous.
I'll give two examples.
The most common traumatic injuryin the company is actually
something minor.
It's an ankle sprain.
And what do people want to knowabout an ankle sprain?
(02:23):
Do I need an X-ray?
Well, if you can stand on theleg, it's going to hurt, but you
can stand on the injured leg.
If you can take three stepswithout falling over, if you're
not tender over the lateral partof the fifth metatosalope, which
will be shown in a diagrameasily, 99.5% chance it's not
broken.
So just put an ice back on it.
But what how does the healthcaresystem actually work?
(02:44):
Well, again, if a friend callsme up, I'll give them that
advice over the phone.
But if someone goes to an ER, anurgent care center, or the
family doctor, they'll getexamined.
And then they'll get an X-ray.
Because we have to be absolutelycertain there's not there's no
problem there.
And if the X-ray is negative,they're still going to put an
immobilizing device on it.
And then they'll want to see youagain.
Well, all those things costmoney and time for something
that something that shouldactually be free.
(03:06):
Why can't a woman get aprescription without having to
see a doctor for a yeastinfection or for a common
uretract infection?
Two things that affect all womenpretty much some several times
in the course of their lives.
We end up mis and we have amismatch in the healthcare
system between the resource andthe problem.
Technology should be solvingmost of the common medical
problems, but even the doctorstake care of people who
(03:27):
genuinely need to be seen bythem.
So I guess I've digressed alittle bit, Chris, but that's
you know, I really I'm reallyinterested in helping giving
people knowledge at home that uhthat will keep them out of away
away from doctors.
So that said, about four yearsago a urology professor uh came
to me and said, You want tocount the number of nocturnal
(03:47):
erections that men have.
And I said essentially, WGFbasically, why do we care about
nocturnal erections?
He said, Well, uh the opinionsof the canary in the coal mine
of cardiovascular disease, andnocturnal erections are a
leading indicator of a man'scardiovascular health.
And that kind of took me abackbecause one, I was ignorant
about this, and two, uh, whatwould motivate men to improve
(04:09):
their their health more thantheir sexual than their sexual
function?
But men care a lot more abouttheir sexual performance than
they do about some fluctuationof their blood pressure or the
lipoproteins.
And frankly, the blood pressureand lip proteins are not even
leading indicators.
They're associations withdisease.
High blood pressure associatedwith stroke, for example.
It's not predictive, though.
(04:30):
Unless your numbers are reallyextraordinary.
If you know if your bloodpressure goes from 130 over 80
to you know 150 over 90, it's asignal that might be some that
might be a problem, but it's notpredicting a problem.
Whereas if a man's nocturnalerections come down by 50% and
are consistently down, that manhas an up to 50% chance of
having a cardiovascular eventfor the next two to two to three
(04:51):
years.
Well that that's that'spredictive.
So for for sort of a men to havetechnology at home that will
allow them to assess their theduration, firmness, and number
nocturnal erections, that wouldbe profoundly valuable.
And then so this so this doctorchallenged me a way of coming up
with that, and we invented thetech ring, which is the world's
first smart smart wearable forthe assessment of men's sexual
health and their cardiovascularhealth.
(05:12):
And we've had two men, we've hadthree men get cardiovascular
cardiovascularizations thatwe're aware of, and the
technology has revealed that theleading cause of rectile
dysfunction in men is not whatthe doctors thought it was.
We've documented out somehundred thirty-seven thousand
erections on 4,000 men.
We have the world's largestdatabase now at men's sexual
health.
And the potential impact of thisdata, not just on improving
(05:33):
cardiovascular health andinspiring men to comply with
their diabetes regimen, taketheir hypertension pills, lose
weight, be cardiovascular fit,but the potential to for people
not just to have a better healthspan, but to have a better sex
span is enormous.
We all would like to enjoylonger lives of love making.
And if we're enjoying longerlives of love making, we're also
going to get all the otherbenefits of sexual health, uh,
(05:54):
which are you don't have sexualhealth without cardiovascular
health.
Your immune system is improveswith sexual health.
Men who have sex regularly, andwe're looking three or more
times three or more times aweek, having working out three
more times a week, reduce theircortisol levels by up to 50%.
That's the stress hormone.
Uh we know from a huge study inthe United Kingdom of men over
the age of 70, that men over theage of 70 who have sex three
(06:15):
times a week versus less thantwo or three times a month, they
decrease their risk of suddencardiac death, excuse me,
cardiovascular majorcardiovascular events, a heart
attack, sudden death, angina byup to 50%.
Uh and most important, perhapsjust as importantly, we know
that um and there's a reductionin uh prostate risk of prostate
cancer cancer with by having atleast one orgasm a week.
(06:36):
Couples stay together.
And one you know, one of the bigconcerns in our society today is
disintegrating family.
Divorce rate, as you know, isyou know, is is enormous.
And the impact of divorce on thechildren is the children in a
divorced couple, the childrenare more likely to become
alcoholics, do drugs, becomecriminals, not finish college,
have lower incomes.
I'm not saying people can'tsuccessfully single parent, but
(06:56):
it's hard.
And the benefit to people havingcouples that have sex in a
committed relationship uh threetimes a week versus those that
have sex less than three times amonth, separation rate goes down
by 50 percent.
And so the impact would beenormous.
So when when this doctorapproached me with this with
this with this technology, Imight just mind start to spin
about the possible benefits ofit.
SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
Yeah, and relating that to the Parkinson's
audience, there's a lot ofpeople with Parkinson's with
rigidity and stiffness.
And a lot of times we don'tthink about our sexual health
and and in terms of thecaregiver as well.
So can you talk a little bitabout how the device that you
have at FirmTech can helpParkinson's patients and their
caregivers?
Because I think that's one thingthat often gets overlooked is
(07:38):
that people sexual health iskind of when people talk about
sex, it almost becomes like ataboo.
People don't want to talk aboutit.
But it does like you, as youmentioned, it plays uh an
important role in intimacy,mental health, and overall
cardiovascular fitness and andother things as well.
So can you talk about how yourfirm tech product can relate to
people that have Parkinson'sandor their caregivers?
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Sure.
Well, the you know, uh I'll justgive a personal act.
My father developed Parkinson'sin his late years, and my mother
regarded them almost like almostlike damaged goods.
And he would complain to meabout the impact upon the
intimacy and their relationshipas a consequence of his getting
Parkinson's.
And also there are medicationspeople take on part with
Parkinson's that can have animpact upon them upon their
(08:20):
sexual performance.
So the value of the device is itgives people data not just about
their cardiovascular health, butabout whether they whether um
about the impact of the thedisease and upon but maybe more
specifically medications upontheir sexual health.
I'll I'll just pick up myself.
I'm 72 years old.
I have a certain, you know, I Iaverage four nocturnal erections
(08:42):
per night, they're a certainduration of firmness.
Uh if I start taking medicine orif I develop Parkinson's, I
would want to know what's what'sthe impact upon my sexual
health.
Am I still able to performsexually or the what's the right
doses of these medications andtheir uh in their potential
impact upon my upon my sexualhealth?
And and then the the the obviousbenefit in a relationship.
Some because men and soon we'regonna we're developing device
(09:05):
for women as well too.
The fact that people have asignificant chronic illness
doesn't mean this that theirsexual health and their sex and
their passive intimacy has beenso you were you were saying
about your father withParkinson's and taking
medications and yeah, I mean Imean he f he felt that he felt
he that he that he could that hewas still enjoying sexual
activity, but my my motherregarded him with some of his
(09:28):
motor disorders as being, in hiswords, damaged.
Uh and uh, you know, he felt youknow impacted he was very
stressed because he hadParkinson's and he f and it you
know and he felt increasedstress because of this
withdrawal, you know, ofintimacy from their their
relationship.
I mean the relationship betweenParkinson's and E.D.
(09:49):
is, you know, is interesting.
And not much is really, youknow, really known about.
I mean it's felt the incidenceof erectile dysfunction is felt
to be twice as high as I recallamong uh men with Parkinson's as
among men of equivalent age uhoverall health.
Well, is that true?
I mean it's that because thosethose are being reported by uh
you know with with subjectivequestionnaires.
(10:10):
Our device can actually say,well, is that really true?
So I I would love to have aParkinson's researcher actually
utilize our tech our technologyto further assess that, you
know, whether whether that thatis the case.
There have also, as I recall,been reports in the medical
journals about ED, about rectiledysfunction being an early sign
of Parkinson's disease, not justcardiovascular disease.
(10:30):
Well, those reports are areretrospective.
They have to do with men whodevelop Parkinson's saying, oh
yeah, well, whatever, I don'trecall the study exactly, but
yes, six months ago or a yearago I started to develop a
rectile dysfunction.
But that's subjective reporting.
And so with our device, mencould actually see whether
whether they eventually developParkinson's or a cardiovascular
(10:51):
problem, they can actually see,I I'm ha I'm developing a
problem.
The great thing about the thewearable technologies is that
the goal is to see a problembefore it becomes a much larger
problem, much more difficult,you know, to more difficult to
treat.
We're all on the road, all ofus, all men, but we're all on
the road from erectile fitness,if you will, to erectile
dysfunction.
(11:11):
And we all would like to know,well, well, where am I on that
road?
Or I'd like to slow down, I'dlike to make a U-turn.
But we can't we can't lay underthe hood.
We don't have we don't have anydata.
We're drive, we're drivingwithout data.
So it's no wonder breakdowns andyou know and crashes crashes
occur.
So our technology gives men andhealthcare providers uh data, a
dashboard, it tells them wherethey are.
So with our technology, I meanwe have 4,000 men in database,
(11:35):
and most of those men betweenthe ages of 45 and 70.
So with our database, men getcompared to a thousand men or
more men, five years old thanthem, or five years younger than
them, and then they know whereI'm am I in comparison to these
other men, and where am I incomparison to the two optimal
men, to men who've optimizedtheir sexual health in in this
category?
You know, I think the technologyon the research side would be
(11:58):
really valuable for physicianswho are researching Parkinson's
because they can figure out isthis an early, is he is the an
early warning sign ofParkinson's?
Um and what's the impact of themedications?
You know, the uh are the are thedopamine agents are they
restoring sexual function?
We don't know.
(12:18):
What's the right what's theright dose that might you know
be that might help to restoresexual function?
And with men like my father, uhI think the value would be,
okay, I'm having these thesethese motor problems, and it's
harder for me to to to make lovebecause the because of these
motor you know motor issues, butI still can make love.
Let's work you know with thepartners.
Let's you know, let's work youknow work work work this out.
(12:38):
Let's not be frightened of this.
Let's try to try to work thisout.
Uh, I know it's been reportedthat Syldanophil Viagra is
particularly effective attreating rectal dysfunction in
men with Parkinson's.
Well, what's the right dose?
Is it objectively working?
Um and that can be worked onwith this technology.
And the same thing withtestosterone replacement
therapy, which I think iscontroversial.
I don't know why.
By the way, but it seems to methat that testosterone placement
(13:01):
therapy probably for all agingmen is is beneficial and that it
some or other be controversialbecause Parkinson's disease is
something that I don'tunderstand, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (13:10):
Aaron Powell So if if people are interested, how is
how is your device differentfrom somebody taking a
medication like Viagra orCialis?
Because a lot of times pe peoplesay, well, it's it's easy to
it's easier for me just to takea pill or whatever if I'm having
issues.
So can you talk a little bitabout how your product is
different?
SPEAKER_01 (13:30):
Aaron Ross Powell Because the pill actually is not
that effective.
It's easy, but it's not thateffective.
So if you go back to theoriginal Pfizer application to
uh for sodanophil um generic theFDA, there was I as I recall,
there were seven studies, two ofwhich showed no more benefit
than placebo.
One showed significant benefit70 percent, but that was in men
(13:51):
who had prostate surgery.
And that group should have beenexcluded because that they most
men don't have don't haven't hadprostate surgery.
And there were four studies thatshowed benefit 35 to 40 percent
range.
Well the cutter for placebo is30 percent.
Uh and so the benefit of of uhof Viagra is valuable in men who
(14:11):
have uh arterial insufficiency.
They're not getting blood intotheir penis, usually because of
hypertension or diabetes,they're just not gonna get the
blood flow in.
And it's small, but it's youknow it it's significant.
But the vast majority of men asthey get older, that's not their
problem.
It's keeping blood in.
And this is what the you know,with this large large database
we have, it's shown that whatthe doctors were thinking was
(14:31):
the major cause of erectiledysfunction, they thought it was
going to be heart failure,arterial insufficiency.
Heart failure meaning men withangina, heart attacks, heart
failure, conditions of thatnature, or hypertension,
diabetes, or athosclerosis,narrowing their arteries, not
getting blood to the penis.
But the vast majority of men,their disease, their heart
disease, cardiovascular disease,is not sufficiently advanced to
(14:54):
have an impact upon theirerections.
This is surprising to me, it'ssurprising to the academic
urologist, world leadingurologists on a scientific
advisory board.
As the incidence of erectiledysfunction goes up 10% per
decade, by my age, it's 70%.
The expectation was that thenumber of nocturnal erections
will come down, firms' nocturnalerections will come down, and
the firms' sex erection willcome down.
But we only we're seeing alittle bit of tapering in the
(15:15):
60s and 70s, early 60s and early70s.
Not enough of a tapering,though, that men should be
reporting erectile dysfunction.
Well, it turns out these guysdon't have dysfunction.
What they have is are fadingerections of aging.
So the problem is on the venousside of the circulation.
Doctors tend to go where theyget data.
So we can get data about heartfunction, we can get data about
(15:36):
narrowing of arteries, we can'tget data about the deterioration
of smooth muscle function andhardening of the venules.
How does what do I mean by that?
I'll I'll draw an analogy.
I'm 70 years old.
If I get on a plane to visit myfamily in Stockholm, Sweden, sit
on a plane for eight, ten hours,my rings get a little tight, my
socks get a little bit tight.
That didn't happen to me when Iwas 25 or 30 years old, probably
(15:57):
didn't happen to you at 25 or 30years old either.
Right.
Because at that age, the smoothmuscles around our veins are
strong and our veins are healthyand they pump blood back to the
heart.
As we get older, they theyweaken with aging, um, and they
need support.
So if a man is getting anerection, yeah, putting more
blood in is helpful to sustainthat erection.
But the major thing that'll helpsustain that erection is some
(16:20):
mechanical collusions.
So what our device does is itcompresses the superficial veins
and provides that support.
It gives men uh a longer-lastingerection.
It also restores confidencebecause if a man gets an
erection and loses it forwhatever reason, you know, uh
he's worried about paying themortgage, he's worried about his
grandkids, he's takingmedications that we doctors
prescribe that can interferewith sexual function,
(16:41):
hypertensive, certainantihypertensites,
antidepressants, anti-anxietymedications, whatever the reason
is, if he's getting an erection,the goal, the primary goal of
therapy should be to keep theblood in.
And only there's no pill thatwill do that.
Only a ring will do that.
And that's a surprisingconclusion, but that the data
clearly shows that.
And if you told me Chris fouryears ago when I started getting
involved in this project, uh,that I would be promoting
(17:02):
erection rings on a Parkinsonpodcast about Parkinson's
disease and erectiledysfunction, I would have said,
Really?
I I wouldn't I wouldn't havebelieved it.
Um now um but now the evidenceis is is clear.
And there are I know whetherprobably eight or nine published
papers about the value of ourdevice in helping men with
erectile dysfunction, but itreally isn't dysfunction.
We shouldn't even I'm kind of atwar with that word because this
(17:24):
yeah, if a man struggles to geterection, can't obtain erection,
just some Mount Parkinson'sdisease, man, in the general
population, that's but it's only10 to 12 percent of the of the
population.
That's dysfunction.
That's a problem that needs tobe assessed by a cardiologist
and a urologist.
But if a man gets an erection,or if a man has healthy
nocturnal erections, ornocturnal erections at least
(17:45):
indicate he's gettingsignificant blood flow into his
penis at night, then that isthat that's not really the
dysfunction.
It's a problem.
It's a problem that can beaddressed by a ring and a pill.
If a man wants to optimize hisif my man can get an erection
and loses it, he wants tooptimize his performance.
The ring should be probablyfirst-line therapy along with
the pill, though.
I don't want to take away fromthe value of a Viagra,
(18:06):
especially for the Parkinson'spopulation, because there are
studies that indicate itseffectiveness in treating ED
with Melbourne's.
But they mention should alsoconsider putting a ring on it,
because Viagra puts more bloodin, but it doesn't keep it
there.
And the ring and rectional ringwill keep it there.
Also, memo Parkinson's.
Go ahead, talk, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (18:22):
Oh, I just wanted to ask you in terms of that,
there's a a large percentage ofpeople with Parkinson's that
have anxiety and depression,which I'm sure is going to be
related to sexual health aswell.
Do you have available, is thatgonna would that be able to help
people with Parkinson's thatthat also suffer from anxiety
and depression?
Or there's no data on that?
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
There's not there's we don't have you know, we don't
have any data on uh men withParkinson's.
And again, I we make our deviceavailable free for researchers.
I hope some researchers arelistening in right now and will
and will you know feelinterested in reaching out to me
and discussing research researchopportunities, subjects for
research.
But to generally project fromthe general population to your
(19:06):
point, the number one issue formen is is performance anxiety,
is is confidence, impacted byother factors, could be impacted
by worries that don't relate tosex, you know, can't pay the
mortgage or medications that wedoctors prescribe.
The man loses his erectionseveral times, it it has an
epistemic impact upon upon theirtheir confidence, their mental
health.
I mean, a background emergencymedicine doctor, uh short of a
(19:27):
heart attack or a stroke, thereare a few things that alarm a
man as much as sexual failrepeated sexual failure.
Back in the back in the 90s whenViagra first came out, uh only
urologists could prescribe, butman restricted to 10 pills a
month.
We had guys come into the ER onFriday and Saturday nights, like
around midnight, you know,looking looking for Viagra
because they had they had aproblem and they and their
(19:48):
alarm.
For men with Parkinson's, if ifthey have if they're getting
nocturnal erections, you won'tknow that without the data, and
or you're getting you're gettingerections but you're but you're
losing them, the ring the ringwill help you.
I guess the question I have ishelping with conference because
the ring is going to keep youhard.
And a man who's staying hard isin a very different mental state
(20:08):
about anxiety than a guy who'slosing his erection.
Sorry I interrupted you.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Oh, that's okay.
I was just thinking a lot oftimes sexual health is something
that's difficult for a lot ofpeople to talk about.
So for people with Parkinson's,do you have any suggestions on
how they might approach usingusing the firm tech device or
talking to their care partnerabout sexual health and and
their feelings?
SPEAKER_01 (20:30):
Yeah, if that's a difficult question.
I because every everyrelationship is different, but
in a sense of our relationshipis also the same and that people
people need to communicate aboutabout these about these
subjects.
And uh given the given theimportance to uh sex of sexual
performance, to mental health,and to the and to the uh
(20:51):
intimacy we can get in arelationship, don't think the
men with Parkinson's shouldshould should give up on this.
They need to you know they needto communicate with their
partners that they want want tofigure they want to continue to
make love and they want tofigure out how to do this most
effectively.
And obviously, if it's a mode ofdisorder, people need to
communicate about what positionsare going to work if on the
(21:11):
other hand, the it's alsoimportant to get the data
because a man is struggling, isis losing his erections, or even
not getting them, to have thenot the nocturnal data and see
whether the potential is thereto have erections.
Because a man again, if a man ishaving uh two or more nocturnal
erections per night and there'smaybe one to ten scale, and the
(21:31):
strength is is is greater thanfive or five or five point five,
that man can still performsexually.
Uh, and that's very reassuringto the man.
It's also something thatobviously needs to communicate
to his partner.
I think that most practitioners,most doctors are are unaware of
our technology, especially ifthey're not they're not out of
the field of your of urology.
Uh and you know, if they want tolearn about it, it's something
(21:52):
it's up to the patients toeducate about it.
Doctors don't like that.
Patients, every all patientstoday, most old patients they go
online, and doctors need to nolonger have uh doctors need to
accept the fact that theirauthority is no longer
unquestionable, uh, and that thepatients actually can educate
them.
That's a difficult conversationas well too.
But I think it really starts itreally starts with the with the
with the with the with therelationship between the man.
(22:14):
What are your goals?
How can you achieve those goals?
The goal is to is to continue tomake love, getting data is
valuable, the utilization ofrings in addition to Viagra is
is valuable.
So I think the FREMP FRIPTEC canhelp these people.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
So is your is your device considered a commercial
product or is it uh an FDAregulated medical device?
SPEAKER_01 (22:35):
Both.
Um so we are it's technically,uh legally rather, it's a class
two medical device and K-waved.
And what does that mean?
That means that we're approvedby the FDA for safety.
We're not approved by efficacy.
We can't claim that we are adiagnostic, for example.
And I use it not it's somedegree it's quite getting full
approval.
Well, we do we are covered byFSAs and HSA plans, all the
(22:57):
blues.
In order to do that, we have toaddress the 510 K waved issue.
We have to demonstrate efficacy,which is why we've been doing
one of the reasons why we'rehaving all this research
performed and that there areseveral published papers about
our device and its safety, itsefficacy.
Uh and we so we need to applyfor to get that become a full
class two medical device.
But we're it's expensive.
(23:18):
I know I I mean in Chris in thefantasy world, the FDA would
come to me and say, hey, whatyou're doing is really great.
How can we help how can we helpyou move this forward?
But you and I both know that'snot that's not the real world.
I have to pay lawyers uh and Ihave to wait for things to get
processed.
So we're we're coming out with aversion 2.0 of the of the tech
ring probably next summer.
Uh we're adding additionalsensors uh that will increase
its sensitivity and specificity.
(23:40):
Also that will tell us aboutcardiac rhythm at night, give us
other information.
Uh so we're saving our money forthat application.
SPEAKER_00 (23:47):
So are there clinical studies that are being
conducted to to support efficacyor yeah, many.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
I mean I mean if you if you if you go to
myframfric.com and click on thescience section, you'll see
them.
So the gold standard for umassessing what's called
nocturnal penile tumescence NPT,the gold standard is a device
called the RIGISCAN, and it'sfalling out of favor in the
United States because they cost$16,000.
You basically have to go to asleep lab and stay overnight.
(24:13):
Our device can be used at homeunder real life circumstances.
But the rip the readings of theRIGIS can regard as the standard
in assessing sexual health bylooking at nocturnal erections.
And there are three papers.
Um that one was in Japan, it'sbeen presented.
There's another large studythat's being conducted in Egypt
uh that's going to be presentedat the NASA science for sexual
(24:33):
medicine in uh in February.
It's gonna have over 100patients in it.
And and and there's a third onegoing on in in Spain.
These studies all show that ourdevice is I've seen the I've
seen the preliminary data.
They show that our device is asaccurate as the REGIS can this
old gold standard.
Urologists also use um a Doppleror ultrasound in the office to
look at sexual function.
(24:53):
It's limited because it's notbeing done under realized
circumstances at home, it's notlooking at nocturnal erectus
overnight.
And there are two papers, one'sat the University of Utah, the
other one's at Baylor, uh, thatthat that are that are looking
at this and the data ispositive.
So all these um and there arestudies looking at utilizing our
device to to uh give tell peoplewhat the right dose of uh PD5
(25:13):
medication is, that's why I oweus.
Do you even need it?
You know, if a man has fournocturnal erectins per night,
the pill's treating his head,which is fine, but the placebo
effect is really powerful.
Uh you know, what we do withwith with with those medications
right now is we just give peoplea pill.
I mean, if a man withParkinson's goes to a doctor and
says that he has uh erectiledysfunction, they hardly ask any
(25:34):
questions.
They should ask, is theretrouble that you can't take
erection or you get an erectionand you lose it?
Because most of them geterection, they lose it.
But the doctor will just givethem a pill.
What's the right dose?
We don't treat blood pressurethat day.
We don't treat blood pressurewithout a blood pressure
machine.
We don't treat cardiacarrhythmias without
electrocardiogram or a hold ofmonitor.
But some in the area of men'ssexual health, we just give out
(25:54):
pills.
And that's just not scientific.
We want to take health care inthe 21st century, sexual health
care, the 21st century ofobjective, actionable, most
important personal data, becausewe're all we're we're all
different.
So yes, the research is beingdone on whether we apply next
summer to the FDA for the forversion 2.2 to the device.
I'm confident that we willachieve regulatory recognition
(26:15):
by the FDA as a diagnostic, butthen we have to go to Medicare
and the Blues, Medicaid, andapply for them to cover it.
It's it'll be two years, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (26:25):
Okay.
No, you brought up aninteresting point in terms of
the device, but you also talkedabout medication.
And I think that's one thingthat, at least from my
experience, is when you go tothe doctor, that's one thing
they don't typically ask aboutis sexual health, unless the
patient brings it up.
Why, from your perspective as aphysician, why do you think that
is?
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
It's to my mind, it's the word stupid and and and
uncaring.
So why is that?
Well, you can say culturallywhere we're still, you know, a
pruder society.
That's not really true, though.
Maybe doctors are.
And doctors, so there I thinkthere's several issues here.
One, there's no money in it.
So the whole health care rightnow is driven by the electronic
health record.
People get the care that canbill for, as I indicated
(27:06):
earlier.
Not necessarily the care thatthey that they need or want, but
the care that can be billed for.
So if I'm examining, I'm puttingmyself in either in in like an
internal medical situation.
If I'm seeing my my a Medicarepatient, I don't make any, I
have to have to examine or haveto quit.
On history, I have to query acertain number of systems.
In the physical part, I have toexamine a certain number of
(27:26):
systems in order to maximize myreimbursement.
There's no box for askingquestions about sexual health.
There's no box for examiningsexual organs.
So there's no financialincentive.
Whatever, however, the point ishow we're pretty dish, people
don't want to talk about it,doctors don't want to talk about
it.
Uh the fundamental problem isthere's no money in it.
If there's money in for thedoctors, every man, every woman
will be asked questions abouttheir sexual health.
(27:48):
And sexual health is soimportant to our overall health.
It's really appalling.
The other area is doctors todaydon't want to spend any time
with people.
They don't make money that way.
Average doctor, well, I'll Ijust focus on one study in
urology done by Dr.
John Mobwall, who I reallyadmire.
He's more so a cataract in NewYork.
And he did a study looking athow long a urologist spends with
a patient, talking with them.
(28:09):
Seven minutes.
Well, it's not a lot of time.
So you're not going to reallyfind out details.
I'll give you an example.
One, if you can ask what is aman's problem, is he can't tain
erection or that he loseserection, both those situations
need to lead to f to otherquestions as to what under what
circumstances, what's going onwith your partner, is it
alcohol, drugs, well, you whatwhat what else is going on?
It's it it's 15-20 minutes toreally take a good sexual sexual
(28:33):
history.
And the doctors don't want to doit.
They're too busy, there's nomoney in it for them, and it's
wrong.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00 (28:39):
Yeah, I just thought that was interesting because
that's I'm glad you provided thethat perspective because a lot
of times you don't get askedthat when you go to the
physician's office.
And I d I was just wondering whythat is.
And because it is such anwhether you have Parkinson's or
not, it's such an important partof relationships and mental
health and just overall fitnessas well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:56):
Aaron Powell Let's compare it to another problem.
If I if you're all I told thedoctor, I feel short of breath,
the electronic health record isgoing to give them a list of
things, conditions to rule out,a list of questions to ask.
When a c man if man sells adoctor, he has ED, there's
nothing.
So it's you know, I I I wasn'tthinking about this four years
ago because I wasn't involved inthe sector of health, and now it
now it's it's just a glaringgap.
SPEAKER_00 (29:18):
Yeah, it does make sense.
So to switch gears a little bit,can you tell us a little bit
about how your product works andthen uh where do they have to
see a urologist to get aprescription, or is this
something that they can get overthe counter?
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:32):
So basically we we've embedded sensors into an
erection ring.
I don't like the phrase cockring because that puts it in the
one, may sound like a sex toy, anovelty.
Two, it's really an erectionring because it's giving you
data about your erections and ithelps this to sustain along your
erections.
You get men with our device willget harder and will uh and will
(29:53):
last longer uh and will havemore intense orgasms because of
the nature of the form.
Then it sends us into a ring,one of a night.
We count the number ofnocturneal erections and men
have the duration and firmness.
90% plus of men have have noproblem with the technology.
8 to 10% of men statisticallyeither say it's uncomfortable or
they have difficulty with theapp.
You know, we're men, we tend wejust want to put things on and
(30:13):
have them work right away.
A lot of guys don't read theinstructions.
Not a lot, but eight to tenpercent of men don't read the
instructions.
And then um, in terms ofdiscomfort, it really we
encourage those men, hey, we'rejust wear around the house for a
few hours.
Forget about the data.
Because men are not where usedto sleep with things on their
body.
Women are.
And yes, the device will if yougotta pull your pubic hair out
of the way or trim it, or youhave, or you um, I don't know,
(30:37):
old men have probably noticedthat women adjust their bras
throughout the day.
Someone someone launched in thefashion industry told me it's
eight to ten times a day a womanwill adjust, you know, adjust
the bra.
Well, why is that?
Because the bar has silicone init and it's pulling on, you
know, kind of pulls on the skin,and the women just pull
re-re-stretch it.
Same thing with our device too.
If you're wearing it over, Imean, I'll talk for myself.
Well, you know, sometimes whenwe're using it, I wake up at
(30:58):
three or four o'clock in themorning and it's like irritating
me.
Well, I just unhook it, re-hookit, reposition it, and the
problem goes away.
So the vast majority of men, nowwe're talking about 99, 99.8% of
men after two or three uses, Iyou know, are you are
comfortable with with wearing itovernight.
So you can learn more about thedevice by going to my firm tech,
(31:19):
M Y F I R M T C H dot com.
Click on the sign section.
If there are people out therethat want to reach me
personally, uh just reach I'm atElliot Yell L Io T at
MyFermtech.com.
And I might I spend about fouror five hours a week just
answering questions from doctorsor from or from custom potential
customers, men about theirsexual health.
(31:40):
And go ahead, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (31:41):
I was just gonna say, based on what you're
saying, it's continuouslymonitoring data while you sleep,
and it's transferring that to anapp then which you can you can
transmit.
SPEAKER_01 (31:53):
It's an easy to use app.
It's Bluetooth enabled.
The Bluetooth is often on yourbody because it because it
concerns about radiation.
This device we all carry aroundis is is much more dangerous
than a little bit of Bluetoothin our in a in in our erection.
Uh yeah, it's Bluetooth enabled.
We provide notifications.
Hey, it could be, hey Elliot,your your nocturnal erections
(32:14):
are 20% less hard this month asthey were last month.
Have you had a change ofmedication?
If this problem persists, youshould see a doctor.
Or it could be a positivesomething positive.
It could be, hey, Elliot, youryour sex erections, your sex
duration is approved by 20%.
No.
Way to go, what's changed, youknow, in in in in in your life.
And on the account page, peoplecan actually put in the name of
(32:36):
their doctor or doctors so thatthe doctors can get their data.
All of the data points havegraphs associated with.
So it's not just, hey, lastnight I had X number of
nocturnal erections.
Here's your trend over time.
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
Now, is there an age age limit or age range for the
device?
Because some people developearly onset Parkinson's, and
then uh there's other peoplethat are in their 70s and 80s,
or is this convenient by a fewyears?
SPEAKER_01 (33:03):
We have men in the database from 24 to 82, the vast
majority of men being in the agegroup that you're concerned with
with Parkinson's, which is menin their late 40s to their late
70s, that's where the the thatno, I would say probably
three-quarters of the men are inthat, maybe like seven days of
men are that age group.
SPEAKER_00 (33:20):
Okay.
And so to get the device, howwould if someone in the audience
that has Parkinson says, hey, Iwant to get the device, and do
it, do they have to contacttheir urologist or do can they
go to your website?
How does that work?
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
It's direct, it's direct to consumer, like many
consumer wellness products.
You know, if you want a bloodpressure cost or a digital scale
or a pulse oximeter, you don'tneed a doctor's prescription.
Uh we're not covered byMedicare.
We are if you have a FSA or anHSA plan, you can it'll pay for
it.
Uh, we're not yet covered byMedicare.
I said earlier earlier, I thinkit's gonna take two years.
So you don't you don't need aprescription.
It's oh you know, oh it'sessentially over the over the
(33:57):
counter online because most ofour business.
SPEAKER_00 (33:59):
Okay.
And they would just go to thewebsite and order it, and then
it's it's delivered.
You know, I guess from from myperspective, it's no different
than ha wearing an Apple Watchthat that's collecting data.
It'll tell you w exercise wherethere's uh a lot of different
Parkinson's apps out there thatyou can use that that'll measure
your motor symptoms and collectdata.
(34:20):
So this is really no differentthan than that.
It's just helping you with youryour sexual and your emotional
well-being.
SPEAKER_01 (34:27):
Yeah, well we but we live, Chris, in this incredible
age of healthcare wearables,even down to sectors, if you
will, with Parkinson's.
But there's a gap, and that gapis sex.
And what's more important tomost people that's not, you
know, uh so it's really givingpeople the vital signs of their
most vital organ.
And and again, I'll go back tomy father.
It was frustrating to him whenhe was regarded as being damaged
(34:50):
when because he had Parkinson's.
He wanted to have have continuedintimacy despite his motor, you
know, you know, issues, but hedidn't get any support from his
his wife or from his doctorsabout this.
It was just to your point, uh noone asked him about it.
I'm his doctor's son, so hediscussed it with me, but never
discussed it with his doctor.
His doctor never raised withhim.
He he was getting a particularmessage from his wife about, you
(35:11):
know, well, you're you're illnow.
And so we need to be more openabout these things and recognize
the importance of sex uh pointsof sexual health and intimacy to
people's overall well-being.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Yeah, whether you have Parkinson's or not, I think
that it's important and and uhyou know, and it it also helps
the caregiver as well, becausesometimes I guess they have to
switch roles from caregiver tointimacy partner, and and
sometimes that maybe can bedifficult as well.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yes, yeah.
And and and and Chris, it's youknow, people sh I really it
behooves the doctors and theyand they won't do it to ask
about this because it's soimportant.
SPEAKER_00 (35:47):
So if you could leave the audience with uh two
key takeaways from ourdiscussion today, what would
they be?
SPEAKER_01 (35:53):
If you're if you're concerned about your sexual
health, and all all men shouldbe, whether they have
Parkinson's, don't haveParkinson's, and you're over the
age of 45, 50, you should getthe data about your sexual
health just the way if you go toa doctor, you expect them to get
data about your heart.
I want electrocardial.
You know, go into a doctor myage or your age, Chris, and they
say, Hey Chris, you look good.
See you next year.
No, you would expect to getbaseline, electrocardiogram,
(36:16):
little proteins, andanti-inflammatory markers, a
whole series of tests toestablish a baseline so we have
a problem, we can then measure,assess the difference.
It's the same thing with sexualhealth.
So my first message should be ifyou're over the age of 45 or 50,
get the data for your sexualhealth.
If you want to optimize yourperformance, whether you have
performance and pleasure,whether you have ED or don't
have ED, whether you haveParkinson's or don't have
(36:38):
Parkinson's, a ring is aseffective, if not more
effective, than Tadalaphil,Cyalis in two studies.
But both the more but both workreally well together.
The PD5 medications wereaggregate and to Dalaphil, they
put more blood in.
The ring helps to keep it there.
We need to think about rings notas crutches, but as optimizers.
So get get the ring for data,get a ring for your performance.
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
Yeah, it's just like any other technology that's out
there.
I mean, like we talked about theApple Watch or any other type of
watch or you know, some of theother apps out there that that
track things.
So to plug your product, howwould you again just tell people
here's here's where you can getthe product, here's where you
can go if you have questions,where would they go?
SPEAKER_01 (37:18):
Sure.
Go to myfront tech, m y-f-i-r-mt-c-h.com.
Uh if you want to get answers toyour question specifically,
either you can go to the sciencesection or you go to customer
service at myfreptech.com, oryou can reach me directly at L
at MyFreamTech.
SPEAKER_00 (37:35):
Great.
Well, I want to thank you forbeing on today because I I
really think this is animportant topic that doesn't get
addressed, especially withdealing with the Parkinson's
community.
But a lot of times people think,well, I'm I'm dealing with my
motor symptoms and the othernon-motor symptoms.
This but sexual health is alsoan important piece of that for
to maintain good mental healthand intimacy with your your
(37:56):
partner or and and or caregiverand just overall health.
So I I think this was animportant discussion, and I want
to thank you for being on theshow today.
SPEAKER_01 (38:04):
Chris, well, thanks so much for having me.
I really welcome theopportunity.
SPEAKER_00 (38:07):
And uh, if uh people have any questions, I'll make
sure I point them in yourdirection.
So again, thanks for being on.
I'll pr appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional
Life.
I'm your host, ChrisKostenbotter, and I've been
living an exceptional life withParkinson's for the past 15
years.
Today we have a truly excitingguest joining me.
Dr.
Elliot Justin is the founder andCEO of Firm Tech, a company at
the forefront of innovativehealth technology with a
background in emergency medicineand a passion for improving
lives through science anddesign.
(00:32):
Dr.
Justin has dedicated his work tocreating innovations that
empower people to take charge oftheir health and wellness.
Dr.
Justin, it's an honor to haveyou here and welcome to the
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
Chris, great to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Well, you have a very interesting background.
I wanted to talk just before weget into what you're doing now,
is just provide a littlebackground.
You went from an emergency roomphysician and then you've
transitioned to developinginnovative products.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?
SPEAKER_01 (00:55):
Well, you know, I spent many, many years in
emergency medicine.
That got me interested in whathow how can we give people the
knowledge and the day at homethey can manage healthcare and
ideally have to go to theirphysicians less.
So specifically in remotepatient management technologies.
So many, many years ago, Ifounded a company called SwiftMD
with the goal of you know ofempowering people with the
(01:17):
knowledge that doctors, frankly,would apply if they weren't
motivated or limited,constrained by the electronic
health record and what theinsurance companies will pay
for.
Problems in the United States,frankly, elsewhere in the world
as well too.
So we get the we get the healthcare that can be paid for, but
it's not necessarily the healthcare that we need.
So what do people most want froma physician?
What do physicians provide freeto friends and family?
(01:40):
But that's not the way it worksin the real world.
People, they can't just getadvice for a doctor, they have
to make a visit, they have tospend time and money in order to
get what they most need.
And it's a tragedy.
My managed care and Medicare,frankly, my perspective, don't
care.
Because this device that we allhave in our pockets is capable
of managing with us almost allfor healthcare for nothing.
(02:02):
But if people could havetechnology at home that would
allow them to better assesstheir healthcare.
And if and if we would allow,empower people and the and the
technology to make decisions forthose common medical problems,
the healthcare savings would beenormous.
I'll give two examples.
The most common traumatic injuryin the company is actually
something minor.
It's an ankle sprain.
And what do people want to knowabout an ankle sprain?
(02:23):
Do I need an X-ray?
Well, if you can stand on theleg, it's going to hurt, but you
can stand on the injured leg.
If you can take three stepswithout falling over, if you're
not tender over the lateral partof the fifth metatosalope, which
will be shown in a diagrameasily, 99.5% chance it's not
broken.
So just put an ice back on it.
But what how does the healthcaresystem actually work?
(02:44):
Well, again, if a friend callsme up, I'll give them that
advice over the phone.
But if someone goes to an ER, anurgent care center, or the
family doctor, they'll getexamined.
And then they'll get an X-ray.
Because we have to be absolutelycertain there's not there's no
problem there.
And if the X-ray is negative,they're still going to put an
immobilizing device on it.
And then they'll want to see youagain.
Well, all those things costmoney and time for something
that something that shouldactually be free.
(03:06):
Why can't a woman get aprescription without having to
see a doctor for a yeastinfection or for a common
uretract infection?
Two things that affect all womenpretty much some several times
in the course of their lives.
We end up mis and we have amismatch in the healthcare
system between the resource andthe problem.
Technology should be solvingmost of the common medical
problems, but even the doctorstake care of people who
(03:27):
genuinely need to be seen bythem.
So I guess I've digressed alittle bit, Chris, but that's
you know, I really I'm reallyinterested in helping giving
people knowledge at home that uhthat will keep them out of away
away from doctors.
So that said, about four yearsago a urology professor uh came
to me and said, You want tocount the number of nocturnal
(03:47):
erections that men have.
And I said essentially, WGFbasically, why do we care about
nocturnal erections?
He said, Well, uh the opinionsof the canary in the coal mine
of cardiovascular disease, andnocturnal erections are a
leading indicator of a man'scardiovascular health.
And that kind of took me abackbecause one, I was ignorant
about this, and two, uh, whatwould motivate men to improve
(04:09):
their their health more thantheir sexual than their sexual
function?
But men care a lot more abouttheir sexual performance than
they do about some fluctuationof their blood pressure or the
lipoproteins.
And frankly, the blood pressureand lip proteins are not even
leading indicators.
They're associations withdisease.
High blood pressure associatedwith stroke, for example.
It's not predictive, though.
(04:30):
Unless your numbers are reallyextraordinary.
If you know if your bloodpressure goes from 130 over 80
to you know 150 over 90, it's asignal that might be some that
might be a problem, but it's notpredicting a problem.
Whereas if a man's nocturnalerections come down by 50% and
are consistently down, that manhas an up to 50% chance of
having a cardiovascular eventfor the next two to two to three
(04:51):
years.
Well that that's that'spredictive.
So for for sort of a men to havetechnology at home that will
allow them to assess their theduration, firmness, and number
nocturnal erections, that wouldbe profoundly valuable.
And then so this so this doctorchallenged me a way of coming up
with that, and we invented thetech ring, which is the world's
first smart smart wearable forthe assessment of men's sexual
health and their cardiovascularhealth.
(05:12):
And we've had two men, we've hadthree men get cardiovascular
cardiovascularizations thatwe're aware of, and the
technology has revealed that theleading cause of rectile
dysfunction in men is not whatthe doctors thought it was.
We've documented out somehundred thirty-seven thousand
erections on 4,000 men.
We have the world's largestdatabase now at men's sexual
health.
And the potential impact of thisdata, not just on improving
(05:33):
cardiovascular health andinspiring men to comply with
their diabetes regimen, taketheir hypertension pills, lose
weight, be cardiovascular fit,but the potential to for people
not just to have a better healthspan, but to have a better sex
span is enormous.
We all would like to enjoylonger lives of love making.
And if we're enjoying longerlives of love making, we're also
going to get all the otherbenefits of sexual health, uh,
(05:54):
which are you don't have sexualhealth without cardiovascular
health.
Your immune system is improveswith sexual health.
Men who have sex regularly, andwe're looking three or more
times three or more times aweek, having working out three
more times a week, reduce theircortisol levels by up to 50%.
That's the stress hormone.
Uh we know from a huge study inthe United Kingdom of men over
the age of 70, that men over theage of 70 who have sex three
(06:15):
times a week versus less thantwo or three times a month, they
decrease their risk of suddencardiac death, excuse me,
cardiovascular majorcardiovascular events, a heart
attack, sudden death, angina byup to 50%.
Uh and most important, perhapsjust as importantly, we know
that um and there's a reductionin uh prostate risk of prostate
cancer cancer with by having atleast one orgasm a week.
(06:36):
Couples stay together.
And one you know, one of the bigconcerns in our society today is
disintegrating family.
Divorce rate, as you know, isyou know, is is enormous.
And the impact of divorce on thechildren is the children in a
divorced couple, the childrenare more likely to become
alcoholics, do drugs, becomecriminals, not finish college,
have lower incomes.
I'm not saying people can'tsuccessfully single parent, but
(06:56):
it's hard.
And the benefit to people havingcouples that have sex in a
committed relationship uh threetimes a week versus those that
have sex less than three times amonth, separation rate goes down
by 50 percent.
And so the impact would beenormous.
So when when this doctorapproached me with this with
this with this technology, Imight just mind start to spin
about the possible benefits ofit.
SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
Yeah, and relating that to the Parkinson's
audience, there's a lot ofpeople with Parkinson's with
rigidity and stiffness.
And a lot of times we don'tthink about our sexual health
and and in terms of thecaregiver as well.
So can you talk a little bitabout how the device that you
have at FirmTech can helpParkinson's patients and their
caregivers?
Because I think that's one thingthat often gets overlooked is
(07:38):
that people sexual health iskind of when people talk about
sex, it almost becomes like ataboo.
People don't want to talk aboutit.
But it does like you, as youmentioned, it plays uh an
important role in intimacy,mental health, and overall
cardiovascular fitness and andother things as well.
So can you talk about how yourfirm tech product can relate to
people that have Parkinson'sandor their caregivers?
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Sure.
Well, the you know, uh I'll justgive a personal act.
My father developed Parkinson'sin his late years, and my mother
regarded them almost like almostlike damaged goods.
And he would complain to meabout the impact upon the
intimacy and their relationshipas a consequence of his getting
Parkinson's.
And also there are medicationspeople take on part with
Parkinson's that can have animpact upon them upon their
(08:20):
sexual performance.
So the value of the device is itgives people data not just about
their cardiovascular health, butabout whether they whether um
about the impact of the thedisease and upon but maybe more
specifically medications upontheir sexual health.
I'll I'll just pick up myself.
I'm 72 years old.
I have a certain, you know, I Iaverage four nocturnal erections
(08:42):
per night, they're a certainduration of firmness.
Uh if I start taking medicine orif I develop Parkinson's, I
would want to know what's what'sthe impact upon my sexual
health.
Am I still able to performsexually or the what's the right
doses of these medications andtheir uh in their potential
impact upon my upon my sexualhealth?
And and then the the the obviousbenefit in a relationship.
Some because men and soon we'regonna we're developing device
(09:05):
for women as well too.
The fact that people have asignificant chronic illness
doesn't mean this that theirsexual health and their sex and
their passive intimacy has beenso you were you were saying
about your father withParkinson's and taking
medications and yeah, I mean Imean he f he felt that he felt
he that he that he could that hewas still enjoying sexual
activity, but my my motherregarded him with some of his
(09:28):
motor disorders as being, in hiswords, damaged.
Uh and uh, you know, he felt youknow impacted he was very
stressed because he hadParkinson's and he f and it you
know and he felt increasedstress because of this
withdrawal, you know, ofintimacy from their their
relationship.
I mean the relationship betweenParkinson's and E.D.
(09:49):
is, you know, is interesting.
And not much is really, youknow, really known about.
I mean it's felt the incidenceof erectile dysfunction is felt
to be twice as high as I recallamong uh men with Parkinson's as
among men of equivalent age uhoverall health.
Well, is that true?
I mean it's that because thosethose are being reported by uh
you know with with subjectivequestionnaires.
(10:10):
Our device can actually say,well, is that really true?
So I I would love to have aParkinson's researcher actually
utilize our tech our technologyto further assess that, you
know, whether whether that thatis the case.
There have also, as I recall,been reports in the medical
journals about ED, about rectiledysfunction being an early sign
of Parkinson's disease, not justcardiovascular disease.
(10:30):
Well, those reports are areretrospective.
They have to do with men whodevelop Parkinson's saying, oh
yeah, well, whatever, I don'trecall the study exactly, but
yes, six months ago or a yearago I started to develop a
rectile dysfunction.
But that's subjective reporting.
And so with our device, mencould actually see whether
whether they eventually developParkinson's or a cardiovascular
(10:51):
problem, they can actually see,I I'm ha I'm developing a
problem.
The great thing about the thewearable technologies is that
the goal is to see a problembefore it becomes a much larger
problem, much more difficult,you know, to more difficult to
treat.
We're all on the road, all ofus, all men, but we're all on
the road from erectile fitness,if you will, to erectile
dysfunction.
(11:11):
And we all would like to know,well, well, where am I on that
road?
Or I'd like to slow down, I'dlike to make a U-turn.
But we can't we can't lay underthe hood.
We don't have we don't have anydata.
We're drive, we're drivingwithout data.
So it's no wonder breakdowns andyou know and crashes crashes
occur.
So our technology gives men andhealthcare providers uh data, a
dashboard, it tells them wherethey are.
So with our technology, I meanwe have 4,000 men in database,
(11:35):
and most of those men betweenthe ages of 45 and 70.
So with our database, men getcompared to a thousand men or
more men, five years old thanthem, or five years younger than
them, and then they know whereI'm am I in comparison to these
other men, and where am I incomparison to the two optimal
men, to men who've optimizedtheir sexual health in in this
category?
You know, I think the technologyon the research side would be
(11:58):
really valuable for physicianswho are researching Parkinson's
because they can figure out isthis an early, is he is the an
early warning sign ofParkinson's?
Um and what's the impact of themedications?
You know, the uh are the are thedopamine agents are they
restoring sexual function?
We don't know.
(12:18):
What's the right what's theright dose that might you know
be that might help to restoresexual function?
And with men like my father, uhI think the value would be,
okay, I'm having these thesethese motor problems, and it's
harder for me to to to make lovebecause the because of these
motor you know motor issues, butI still can make love.
Let's work you know with thepartners.
Let's you know, let's work youknow work work work this out.
(12:38):
Let's not be frightened of this.
Let's try to try to work thisout.
Uh, I know it's been reportedthat Syldanophil Viagra is
particularly effective attreating rectal dysfunction in
men with Parkinson's.
Well, what's the right dose?
Is it objectively working?
Um and that can be worked onwith this technology.
And the same thing withtestosterone replacement
therapy, which I think iscontroversial.
I don't know why.
By the way, but it seems to methat that testosterone placement
(13:01):
therapy probably for all agingmen is is beneficial and that it
some or other be controversialbecause Parkinson's disease is
something that I don'tunderstand, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (13:10):
Aaron Powell So if if people are interested, how is
how is your device differentfrom somebody taking a
medication like Viagra orCialis?
Because a lot of times pe peoplesay, well, it's it's easy to
it's easier for me just to takea pill or whatever if I'm having
issues.
So can you talk a little bitabout how your product is
different?
SPEAKER_01 (13:30):
Aaron Ross Powell Because the pill actually is not
that effective.
It's easy, but it's not thateffective.
So if you go back to theoriginal Pfizer application to
uh for sodanophil um generic theFDA, there was I as I recall,
there were seven studies, two ofwhich showed no more benefit
than placebo.
One showed significant benefit70 percent, but that was in men
(13:51):
who had prostate surgery.
And that group should have beenexcluded because that they most
men don't have don't haven't hadprostate surgery.
And there were four studies thatshowed benefit 35 to 40 percent
range.
Well the cutter for placebo is30 percent.
Uh and so the benefit of of uhof Viagra is valuable in men who
(14:11):
have uh arterial insufficiency.
They're not getting blood intotheir penis, usually because of
hypertension or diabetes,they're just not gonna get the
blood flow in.
And it's small, but it's youknow it it's significant.
But the vast majority of men asthey get older, that's not their
problem.
It's keeping blood in.
And this is what the you know,with this large large database
we have, it's shown that whatthe doctors were thinking was
(14:31):
the major cause of erectiledysfunction, they thought it was
going to be heart failure,arterial insufficiency.
Heart failure meaning men withangina, heart attacks, heart
failure, conditions of thatnature, or hypertension,
diabetes, or athosclerosis,narrowing their arteries, not
getting blood to the penis.
But the vast majority of men,their disease, their heart
disease, cardiovascular disease,is not sufficiently advanced to
(14:54):
have an impact upon theirerections.
This is surprising to me, it'ssurprising to the academic
urologist, world leadingurologists on a scientific
advisory board.
As the incidence of erectiledysfunction goes up 10% per
decade, by my age, it's 70%.
The expectation was that thenumber of nocturnal erections
will come down, firms' nocturnalerections will come down, and
the firms' sex erection willcome down.
But we only we're seeing alittle bit of tapering in the
(15:15):
60s and 70s, early 60s and early70s.
Not enough of a tapering,though, that men should be
reporting erectile dysfunction.
Well, it turns out these guysdon't have dysfunction.
What they have is are fadingerections of aging.
So the problem is on the venousside of the circulation.
Doctors tend to go where theyget data.
So we can get data about heartfunction, we can get data about
(15:36):
narrowing of arteries, we can'tget data about the deterioration
of smooth muscle function andhardening of the venules.
How does what do I mean by that?
I'll I'll draw an analogy.
I'm 70 years old.
If I get on a plane to visit myfamily in Stockholm, Sweden, sit
on a plane for eight, ten hours,my rings get a little tight, my
socks get a little bit tight.
That didn't happen to me when Iwas 25 or 30 years old, probably
(15:57):
didn't happen to you at 25 or 30years old either.
Right.
Because at that age, the smoothmuscles around our veins are
strong and our veins are healthyand they pump blood back to the
heart.
As we get older, they theyweaken with aging, um, and they
need support.
So if a man is getting anerection, yeah, putting more
blood in is helpful to sustainthat erection.
But the major thing that'll helpsustain that erection is some
(16:20):
mechanical collusions.
So what our device does is itcompresses the superficial veins
and provides that support.
It gives men uh a longer-lastingerection.
It also restores confidencebecause if a man gets an
erection and loses it forwhatever reason, you know, uh
he's worried about paying themortgage, he's worried about his
grandkids, he's takingmedications that we doctors
prescribe that can interferewith sexual function,
(16:41):
hypertensive, certainantihypertensites,
antidepressants, anti-anxietymedications, whatever the reason
is, if he's getting an erection,the goal, the primary goal of
therapy should be to keep theblood in.
And only there's no pill thatwill do that.
Only a ring will do that.
And that's a surprisingconclusion, but that the data
clearly shows that.
And if you told me Chris fouryears ago when I started getting
involved in this project, uh,that I would be promoting
(17:02):
erection rings on a Parkinsonpodcast about Parkinson's
disease and erectiledysfunction, I would have said,
Really?
I I wouldn't I wouldn't havebelieved it.
Um now um but now the evidenceis is is clear.
And there are I know whetherprobably eight or nine published
papers about the value of ourdevice in helping men with
erectile dysfunction, but itreally isn't dysfunction.
We shouldn't even I'm kind of atwar with that word because this
(17:24):
yeah, if a man struggles to geterection, can't obtain erection,
just some Mount Parkinson'sdisease, man, in the general
population, that's but it's only10 to 12 percent of the of the
population.
That's dysfunction.
That's a problem that needs tobe assessed by a cardiologist
and a urologist.
But if a man gets an erection,or if a man has healthy
nocturnal erections, ornocturnal erections at least
(17:45):
indicate he's gettingsignificant blood flow into his
penis at night, then that isthat that's not really the
dysfunction.
It's a problem.
It's a problem that can beaddressed by a ring and a pill.
If a man wants to optimize hisif my man can get an erection
and loses it, he wants tooptimize his performance.
The ring should be probablyfirst-line therapy along with
the pill, though.
I don't want to take away fromthe value of a Viagra,
(18:06):
especially for the Parkinson'spopulation, because there are
studies that indicate itseffectiveness in treating ED
with Melbourne's.
But they mention should alsoconsider putting a ring on it,
because Viagra puts more bloodin, but it doesn't keep it
there.
And the ring and rectional ringwill keep it there.
Also, memo Parkinson's.
Go ahead, talk, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (18:22):
Oh, I just wanted to ask you in terms of that,
there's a a large percentage ofpeople with Parkinson's that
have anxiety and depression,which I'm sure is going to be
related to sexual health aswell.
Do you have available, is thatgonna would that be able to help
people with Parkinson's thatthat also suffer from anxiety
and depression?
Or there's no data on that?
SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
There's not there's we don't have you know, we don't
have any data on uh men withParkinson's.
And again, I we make our deviceavailable free for researchers.
I hope some researchers arelistening in right now and will
and will you know feelinterested in reaching out to me
and discussing research researchopportunities, subjects for
research.
But to generally project fromthe general population to your
(19:06):
point, the number one issue formen is is performance anxiety,
is is confidence, impacted byother factors, could be impacted
by worries that don't relate tosex, you know, can't pay the
mortgage or medications that wedoctors prescribe.
The man loses his erectionseveral times, it it has an
epistemic impact upon upon theirtheir confidence, their mental
health.
I mean, a background emergencymedicine doctor, uh short of a
(19:27):
heart attack or a stroke, thereare a few things that alarm a
man as much as sexual failrepeated sexual failure.
Back in the back in the 90s whenViagra first came out, uh only
urologists could prescribe, butman restricted to 10 pills a
month.
We had guys come into the ER onFriday and Saturday nights, like
around midnight, you know,looking looking for Viagra
because they had they had aproblem and they and their
(19:48):
alarm.
For men with Parkinson's, if ifthey have if they're getting
nocturnal erections, you won'tknow that without the data, and
or you're getting you're gettingerections but you're but you're
losing them, the ring the ringwill help you.
I guess the question I have ishelping with conference because
the ring is going to keep youhard.
And a man who's staying hard isin a very different mental state
(20:08):
about anxiety than a guy who'slosing his erection.
Sorry I interrupted you.
SPEAKER_00 (20:13):
Oh, that's okay.
I was just thinking a lot oftimes sexual health is something
that's difficult for a lot ofpeople to talk about.
So for people with Parkinson's,do you have any suggestions on
how they might approach usingusing the firm tech device or
talking to their care partnerabout sexual health and and
their feelings?
SPEAKER_01 (20:30):
Yeah, if that's a difficult question.
I because every everyrelationship is different, but
in a sense of our relationshipis also the same and that people
people need to communicate aboutabout these about these
subjects.
And uh given the given theimportance to uh sex of sexual
performance, to mental health,and to the and to the uh
(20:51):
intimacy we can get in arelationship, don't think the
men with Parkinson's shouldshould should give up on this.
They need to you know they needto communicate with their
partners that they want want tofigure they want to continue to
make love and they want tofigure out how to do this most
effectively.
And obviously, if it's a mode ofdisorder, people need to
communicate about what positionsare going to work if on the
(21:11):
other hand, the it's alsoimportant to get the data
because a man is struggling, isis losing his erections, or even
not getting them, to have thenot the nocturnal data and see
whether the potential is thereto have erections.
Because a man again, if a man ishaving uh two or more nocturnal
erections per night and there'smaybe one to ten scale, and the
(21:31):
strength is is is greater thanfive or five or five point five,
that man can still performsexually.
Uh, and that's very reassuringto the man.
It's also something thatobviously needs to communicate
to his partner.
I think that most practitioners,most doctors are are unaware of
our technology, especially ifthey're not they're not out of
the field of your of urology.
Uh and you know, if they want tolearn about it, it's something
(21:52):
it's up to the patients toeducate about it.
Doctors don't like that.
Patients, every all patientstoday, most old patients they go
online, and doctors need to nolonger have uh doctors need to
accept the fact that theirauthority is no longer
unquestionable, uh, and that thepatients actually can educate
them.
That's a difficult conversationas well too.
But I think it really starts itreally starts with the with the
with the with the with therelationship between the man.
(22:14):
What are your goals?
How can you achieve those goals?
The goal is to is to continue tomake love, getting data is
valuable, the utilization ofrings in addition to Viagra is
is valuable.
So I think the FREMP FRIPTEC canhelp these people.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
So is your is your device considered a commercial
product or is it uh an FDAregulated medical device?
SPEAKER_01 (22:35):
Both.
Um so we are it's technically,uh legally rather, it's a class
two medical device and K-waved.
And what does that mean?
That means that we're approvedby the FDA for safety.
We're not approved by efficacy.
We can't claim that we are adiagnostic, for example.
And I use it not it's somedegree it's quite getting full
approval.
Well, we do we are covered byFSAs and HSA plans, all the
(22:57):
blues.
In order to do that, we have toaddress the 510 K waved issue.
We have to demonstrate efficacy,which is why we've been doing
one of the reasons why we'rehaving all this research
performed and that there areseveral published papers about
our device and its safety, itsefficacy.
Uh and we so we need to applyfor to get that become a full
class two medical device.
But we're it's expensive.
(23:18):
I know I I mean in Chris in thefantasy world, the FDA would
come to me and say, hey, whatyou're doing is really great.
How can we help how can we helpyou move this forward?
But you and I both know that'snot that's not the real world.
I have to pay lawyers uh and Ihave to wait for things to get
processed.
So we're we're coming out with aversion 2.0 of the of the tech
ring probably next summer.
Uh we're adding additionalsensors uh that will increase
its sensitivity and specificity.
(23:40):
Also that will tell us aboutcardiac rhythm at night, give us
other information.
Uh so we're saving our money forthat application.
SPEAKER_00 (23:47):
So are there clinical studies that are being
conducted to to support efficacyor yeah, many.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
I mean I mean if you if you if you go to
myframfric.com and click on thescience section, you'll see
them.
So the gold standard for umassessing what's called
nocturnal penile tumescence NPT,the gold standard is a device
called the RIGISCAN, and it'sfalling out of favor in the
United States because they cost$16,000.
You basically have to go to asleep lab and stay overnight.
(24:13):
Our device can be used at homeunder real life circumstances.
But the rip the readings of theRIGIS can regard as the standard
in assessing sexual health bylooking at nocturnal erections.
And there are three papers.
Um that one was in Japan, it'sbeen presented.
There's another large studythat's being conducted in Egypt
uh that's going to be presentedat the NASA science for sexual
(24:33):
medicine in uh in February.
It's gonna have over 100patients in it.
And and and there's a third onegoing on in in Spain.
These studies all show that ourdevice is I've seen the I've
seen the preliminary data.
They show that our device is asaccurate as the REGIS can this
old gold standard.
Urologists also use um a Doppleror ultrasound in the office to
look at sexual function.
(24:53):
It's limited because it's notbeing done under realized
circumstances at home, it's notlooking at nocturnal erectus
overnight.
And there are two papers, one'sat the University of Utah, the
other one's at Baylor, uh, thatthat that are that are looking
at this and the data ispositive.
So all these um and there arestudies looking at utilizing our
device to to uh give tell peoplewhat the right dose of uh PD5
(25:13):
medication is, that's why I oweus.
Do you even need it?
You know, if a man has fournocturnal erectins per night,
the pill's treating his head,which is fine, but the placebo
effect is really powerful.
Uh you know, what we do withwith with with those medications
right now is we just give peoplea pill.
I mean, if a man withParkinson's goes to a doctor and
says that he has uh erectiledysfunction, they hardly ask any
(25:34):
questions.
They should ask, is theretrouble that you can't take
erection or you get an erectionand you lose it?
Because most of them geterection, they lose it.
But the doctor will just givethem a pill.
What's the right dose?
We don't treat blood pressurethat day.
We don't treat blood pressurewithout a blood pressure
machine.
We don't treat cardiacarrhythmias without
electrocardiogram or a hold ofmonitor.
But some in the area of men'ssexual health, we just give out
(25:54):
pills.
And that's just not scientific.
We want to take health care inthe 21st century, sexual health
care, the 21st century ofobjective, actionable, most
important personal data, becausewe're all we're we're all
different.
So yes, the research is beingdone on whether we apply next
summer to the FDA for the forversion 2.2 to the device.
I'm confident that we willachieve regulatory recognition
(26:15):
by the FDA as a diagnostic, butthen we have to go to Medicare
and the Blues, Medicaid, andapply for them to cover it.
It's it'll be two years, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (26:25):
Okay.
No, you brought up aninteresting point in terms of
the device, but you also talkedabout medication.
And I think that's one thingthat, at least from my
experience, is when you go tothe doctor, that's one thing
they don't typically ask aboutis sexual health, unless the
patient brings it up.
Why, from your perspective as aphysician, why do you think that
is?
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
It's to my mind, it's the word stupid and and and
uncaring.
So why is that?
Well, you can say culturallywhere we're still, you know, a
pruder society.
That's not really true, though.
Maybe doctors are.
And doctors, so there I thinkthere's several issues here.
One, there's no money in it.
So the whole health care rightnow is driven by the electronic
health record.
People get the care that canbill for, as I indicated
(27:06):
earlier.
Not necessarily the care thatthey that they need or want, but
the care that can be billed for.
So if I'm examining, I'm puttingmyself in either in in like an
internal medical situation.
If I'm seeing my my a Medicarepatient, I don't make any, I
have to have to examine or haveto quit.
On history, I have to query acertain number of systems.
In the physical part, I have toexamine a certain number of
(27:26):
systems in order to maximize myreimbursement.
There's no box for askingquestions about sexual health.
There's no box for examiningsexual organs.
So there's no financialincentive.
Whatever, however, the point ishow we're pretty dish, people
don't want to talk about it,doctors don't want to talk about
it.
Uh the fundamental problem isthere's no money in it.
If there's money in for thedoctors, every man, every woman
will be asked questions abouttheir sexual health.
(27:48):
And sexual health is soimportant to our overall health.
It's really appalling.
The other area is doctors todaydon't want to spend any time
with people.
They don't make money that way.
Average doctor, well, I'll Ijust focus on one study in
urology done by Dr.
John Mobwall, who I reallyadmire.
He's more so a cataract in NewYork.
And he did a study looking athow long a urologist spends with
a patient, talking with them.
(28:09):
Seven minutes.
Well, it's not a lot of time.
So you're not going to reallyfind out details.
I'll give you an example.
One, if you can ask what is aman's problem, is he can't tain
erection or that he loseserection, both those situations
need to lead to f to otherquestions as to what under what
circumstances, what's going onwith your partner, is it
alcohol, drugs, well, you whatwhat what else is going on?
It's it it's 15-20 minutes toreally take a good sexual sexual
(28:33):
history.
And the doctors don't want to doit.
They're too busy, there's nomoney in it for them, and it's
wrong.
Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00 (28:39):
Yeah, I just thought that was interesting because
that's I'm glad you provided thethat perspective because a lot
of times you don't get askedthat when you go to the
physician's office.
And I d I was just wondering whythat is.
And because it is such anwhether you have Parkinson's or
not, it's such an important partof relationships and mental
health and just overall fitnessas well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:56):
Aaron Powell Let's compare it to another problem.
If I if you're all I told thedoctor, I feel short of breath,
the electronic health record isgoing to give them a list of
things, conditions to rule out,a list of questions to ask.
When a c man if man sells adoctor, he has ED, there's
nothing.
So it's you know, I I I wasn'tthinking about this four years
ago because I wasn't involved inthe sector of health, and now it
now it's it's just a glaringgap.
SPEAKER_00 (29:18):
Yeah, it does make sense.
So to switch gears a little bit,can you tell us a little bit
about how your product works andthen uh where do they have to
see a urologist to get aprescription, or is this
something that they can get overthe counter?
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:32):
So basically we we've embedded sensors into an
erection ring.
I don't like the phrase cockring because that puts it in the
one, may sound like a sex toy, anovelty.
Two, it's really an erectionring because it's giving you
data about your erections and ithelps this to sustain along your
erections.
You get men with our device willget harder and will uh and will
(29:53):
last longer uh and will havemore intense orgasms because of
the nature of the form.
Then it sends us into a ring,one of a night.
We count the number ofnocturneal erections and men
have the duration and firmness.
90% plus of men have have noproblem with the technology.
8 to 10% of men statisticallyeither say it's uncomfortable or
they have difficulty with theapp.
You know, we're men, we tend wejust want to put things on and
(30:13):
have them work right away.
A lot of guys don't read theinstructions.
Not a lot, but eight to tenpercent of men don't read the
instructions.
And then um, in terms ofdiscomfort, it really we
encourage those men, hey, we'rejust wear around the house for a
few hours.
Forget about the data.
Because men are not where usedto sleep with things on their
body.
Women are.
And yes, the device will if yougotta pull your pubic hair out
of the way or trim it, or youhave, or you um, I don't know,
(30:37):
old men have probably noticedthat women adjust their bras
throughout the day.
Someone someone launched in thefashion industry told me it's
eight to ten times a day a womanwill adjust, you know, adjust
the bra.
Well, why is that?
Because the bar has silicone init and it's pulling on, you
know, kind of pulls on the skin,and the women just pull
re-re-stretch it.
Same thing with our device too.
If you're wearing it over, Imean, I'll talk for myself.
Well, you know, sometimes whenwe're using it, I wake up at
(30:58):
three or four o'clock in themorning and it's like irritating
me.
Well, I just unhook it, re-hookit, reposition it, and the
problem goes away.
So the vast majority of men, nowwe're talking about 99, 99.8% of
men after two or three uses, Iyou know, are you are
comfortable with with wearing itovernight.
So you can learn more about thedevice by going to my firm tech,
(31:19):
M Y F I R M T C H dot com.
Click on the sign section.
If there are people out therethat want to reach me
personally, uh just reach I'm atElliot Yell L Io T at
MyFermtech.com.
And I might I spend about fouror five hours a week just
answering questions from doctorsor from or from custom potential
customers, men about theirsexual health.
(31:40):
And go ahead, Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (31:41):
I was just gonna say, based on what you're
saying, it's continuouslymonitoring data while you sleep,
and it's transferring that to anapp then which you can you can
transmit.
SPEAKER_01 (31:53):
It's an easy to use app.
It's Bluetooth enabled.
The Bluetooth is often on yourbody because it because it
concerns about radiation.
This device we all carry aroundis is is much more dangerous
than a little bit of Bluetoothin our in a in in our erection.
Uh yeah, it's Bluetooth enabled.
We provide notifications.
Hey, it could be, hey Elliot,your your nocturnal erections
(32:14):
are 20% less hard this month asthey were last month.
Have you had a change ofmedication?
If this problem persists, youshould see a doctor.
Or it could be a positivesomething positive.
It could be, hey, Elliot, youryour sex erections, your sex
duration is approved by 20%.
No.
Way to go, what's changed, youknow, in in in in in your life.
And on the account page, peoplecan actually put in the name of
(32:36):
their doctor or doctors so thatthe doctors can get their data.
All of the data points havegraphs associated with.
So it's not just, hey, lastnight I had X number of
nocturnal erections.
Here's your trend over time.
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
Now, is there an age age limit or age range for the
device?
Because some people developearly onset Parkinson's, and
then uh there's other peoplethat are in their 70s and 80s,
or is this convenient by a fewyears?
SPEAKER_01 (33:03):
We have men in the database from 24 to 82, the vast
majority of men being in the agegroup that you're concerned with
with Parkinson's, which is menin their late 40s to their late
70s, that's where the the thatno, I would say probably
three-quarters of the men are inthat, maybe like seven days of
men are that age group.
SPEAKER_00 (33:20):
Okay.
And so to get the device, howwould if someone in the audience
that has Parkinson says, hey, Iwant to get the device, and do
it, do they have to contacttheir urologist or do can they
go to your website?
How does that work?
SPEAKER_01 (33:34):
It's direct, it's direct to consumer, like many
consumer wellness products.
You know, if you want a bloodpressure cost or a digital scale
or a pulse oximeter, you don'tneed a doctor's prescription.
Uh we're not covered byMedicare.
We are if you have a FSA or anHSA plan, you can it'll pay for
it.
Uh, we're not yet covered byMedicare.
I said earlier earlier, I thinkit's gonna take two years.
So you don't you don't need aprescription.
It's oh you know, oh it'sessentially over the over the
(33:57):
counter online because most ofour business.
SPEAKER_00 (33:59):
Okay.
And they would just go to thewebsite and order it, and then
it's it's delivered.
You know, I guess from from myperspective, it's no different
than ha wearing an Apple Watchthat that's collecting data.
It'll tell you w exercise wherethere's uh a lot of different
Parkinson's apps out there thatyou can use that that'll measure
your motor symptoms and collectdata.
(34:20):
So this is really no differentthan than that.
It's just helping you with youryour sexual and your emotional
well-being.
SPEAKER_01 (34:27):
Yeah, well we but we live, Chris, in this incredible
age of healthcare wearables,even down to sectors, if you
will, with Parkinson's.
But there's a gap, and that gapis sex.
And what's more important tomost people that's not, you
know, uh so it's really givingpeople the vital signs of their
most vital organ.
And and again, I'll go back tomy father.
It was frustrating to him whenhe was regarded as being damaged
(34:50):
when because he had Parkinson's.
He wanted to have have continuedintimacy despite his motor, you
know, you know, issues, but hedidn't get any support from his
his wife or from his doctorsabout this.
It was just to your point, uh noone asked him about it.
I'm his doctor's son, so hediscussed it with me, but never
discussed it with his doctor.
His doctor never raised withhim.
He he was getting a particularmessage from his wife about, you
(35:11):
know, well, you're you're illnow.
And so we need to be more openabout these things and recognize
the importance of sex uh pointsof sexual health and intimacy to
people's overall well-being.
SPEAKER_00 (35:21):
Yeah, whether you have Parkinson's or not, I think
that it's important and and uhyou know, and it it also helps
the caregiver as well, becausesometimes I guess they have to
switch roles from caregiver tointimacy partner, and and
sometimes that maybe can bedifficult as well.
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
Yes, yeah.
And and and and Chris, it's youknow, people sh I really it
behooves the doctors and theyand they won't do it to ask
about this because it's soimportant.
SPEAKER_00 (35:47):
So if you could leave the audience with uh two
key takeaways from ourdiscussion today, what would
they be?
SPEAKER_01 (35:53):
If you're if you're concerned about your sexual
health, and all all men shouldbe, whether they have
Parkinson's, don't haveParkinson's, and you're over the
age of 45, 50, you should getthe data about your sexual
health just the way if you go toa doctor, you expect them to get
data about your heart.
I want electrocardial.
You know, go into a doctor myage or your age, Chris, and they
say, Hey Chris, you look good.
See you next year.
No, you would expect to getbaseline, electrocardiogram,
(36:16):
little proteins, andanti-inflammatory markers, a
whole series of tests toestablish a baseline so we have
a problem, we can then measure,assess the difference.
It's the same thing with sexualhealth.
So my first message should be ifyou're over the age of 45 or 50,
get the data for your sexualhealth.
If you want to optimize yourperformance, whether you have
performance and pleasure,whether you have ED or don't
have ED, whether you haveParkinson's or don't have
(36:38):
Parkinson's, a ring is aseffective, if not more
effective, than Tadalaphil,Cyalis in two studies.
But both the more but both workreally well together.
The PD5 medications wereaggregate and to Dalaphil, they
put more blood in.
The ring helps to keep it there.
We need to think about rings notas crutches, but as optimizers.
So get get the ring for data,get a ring for your performance.
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
Yeah, it's just like any other technology that's out
there.
I mean, like we talked about theApple Watch or any other type of
watch or you know, some of theother apps out there that that
track things.
So to plug your product, howwould you again just tell people
here's here's where you can getthe product, here's where you
can go if you have questions,where would they go?
SPEAKER_01 (37:18):
Sure.
Go to myfront tech, m y-f-i-r-mt-c-h.com.
Uh if you want to get answers toyour question specifically,
either you can go to the sciencesection or you go to customer
service at myfreptech.com, oryou can reach me directly at L
at MyFreamTech.
SPEAKER_00 (37:35):
Great.
Well, I want to thank you forbeing on today because I I
really think this is animportant topic that doesn't get
addressed, especially withdealing with the Parkinson's
community.
But a lot of times people think,well, I'm I'm dealing with my
motor symptoms and the othernon-motor symptoms.
This but sexual health is alsoan important piece of that for
to maintain good mental healthand intimacy with your your
(37:56):
partner or and and or caregiverand just overall health.
So I I think this was animportant discussion, and I want
to thank you for being on theshow today.
SPEAKER_01 (38:04):
Chris, well, thanks so much for having me.
I really welcome theopportunity.
SPEAKER_00 (38:07):
And uh, if uh people have any questions, I'll make
sure I point them in yourdirection.
So again, thanks for being on.
I'll pr appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thanks.
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