We are pleased to announce the results of the 2016 ISSM membership survey! This year, about 600 members shared their thoughts on their ISSM membership experience.  

About three-quarters of the respondents were men and one-quarter were women. Twenty-two percent ranged in age from 31 to 40 years, an increase of 5% over last year. 

Over half the respondents said they had been an ISSM member for 3 years or more. One-fifth of this group had been members for at least 10 years! Most respondents said they would be likely or very likely to recommend ISSM membership to a colleague. 

Urologists made up about 45% of the respondents. The second most-common profession was gynecologists.  

The highest-rated membership benefits were subscriptions to The Journal of Sexual Medicine and Sexual Medicine Reviews, along with discounted registration fees for meetings. 

We are also pleased to announce the names of five survey respondents who were randomly chosen to receive a voucher for EUR 75,00. This voucher can be applied to ISSM membership, meeting registration, and/or publications. The winners are:

• Don Steven Dizon, USA
• Mohamad Habous, Saudi Arabia
• Gert Martin Hald, Denmark
• Woong Hee Lee, Korea
• Suzanne Weber, USA

We thank all of the ISSM members who participated in the survey. Complete details on the survey, including result comparisons for 2015 and 2014, are available here. (Please note that you must be an ISSM member to see the results. Not a member? It's easy to join!)

Low-intensity shockwave therapy (LISWT) could be a viable treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED) in men who do not respond to oral medications, according to a new study in Sexual Medicine. 

The therapy has been used in medicine since the 1980s, but its use for ED is more recent. In general terms, the therapy involves aiming shockwaves toward the treatment area with a device designed for this purpose. 

Researchers from Argentina studied the progress of 50 men with ED who did not respond to treatment with phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, such as sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil. 

For four weeks, each man received LISWT, attending one 20-minute session each week. In this study, researchers used an updated device that could be attached to the penis.  

The men were followed for 12 months. Only 40 of the men (mean age 65 years) completed the study. Of that group, 60% of the men had improved erections, and almost 92% of the responders maintained their results through the follow-up period. 

While the findings are encouraging, some experts point out that other studies on LISWT have found no benefit for men with ED. They call for further research before LISWT becomes a routine ED treatment.

More details on the study may be found here.