Vitality Unleashed: The Functional Medicine Podcast

Placebo or Panacea? The Verdict on PRP for Erectile Dysfunction.

• Dr. Kumar from LifeWellMD.com • Season 1 • Episode 226

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Is the future of men’s health running through your veins? In this episode, we move beyond the temporary fix of the "blue pill" to explore the regenerative potential of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP).

We break down two groundbreaking meta-analyses from 2024 and 2025 that analyzed data from hundreds of men to answer the ultimate question: Can you actually reverse the pathology of Erectile Dysfunction?

In this episode, you will discover:

• The "Liquid Gold" Mechanism: How growth factors in your blood (like VEGF and FGF) may recruit stem cells and stimulate the growth of new blood vessels,,.

• The 6-Month Surprise: Why patience is critical. New data reveals that while PRP results are negligible at 4 weeks, efficacy jumps significantly at 12 weeks and peaks at the 6-month mark,.

• The Ultimate "Power Couple": Why combining PRP with Low-Intensity Shock Wave Therapy (Li-SWT) might be the most effective protocol available, significantly outperforming shockwave therapy alone,.

• The Verdict on Blood Flow: How PRP injections significantly improve Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV) compared to placebo, physically changing how blood enters the tissue,.

• Safety vs. Hype: A look at the safety profile of these injections and why researchers conclude PRP is superior to placebo for mild-to-moderate ED,.

Join us as we analyze the clinical trials to help you separate the bio-hacking hype from the medical reality.

Sources:

• Zhou, Z., et al. (2025). The efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) alone or in combination with low intensity shock wave therapy (Li-SWT) in treating erectile dysfunction.

• Deabes, M., et al. (2024). Evaluating the efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma injection for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your supplement regimen or health routine. Individual needs and reactions vary, so it’s important to make informed decisions with the guidance of your physician.

Connect with Us:
If you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who might benefit. For more insights and updates, visit our website at Lifewellmd.com.

Stay Informed, Stay Healthy:
Remember, informed choices lead to better health. Until next time, be well and take care of yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

I want you to picture a house, a nice house, maybe a little older, built in the 70s or 80s. Okay. One day you notice a water stain on the ceiling. There's a leak in the roof. Now, the standard approach, the approach most people take, is to run into the kitchen, grab a bucket, and stick it under the drip.

SPEAKER_00:

And it works. The floor stays dry. Problem solved, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. For about three hours. Then you have to empty the bucket. Or worse, you need a second bucket. And eventually you're just a guy living in a house full of buckets running around trying to manage the water while the roof above you is just slowly rotting away.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Ross Powell That is a terrifyingly accurate analogy for how we've treated men's health for the last 30 years.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. We've just been handing men buckets, specifically little blue pills. We treat the symptom, the water on the floor, but we totally ignore the hole in the roof.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell But not today.

SPEAKER_01:

No. Today we are flipping the script. We are not talking about buckets, we are talking about calling in the contractors to actually fix the roof.

SPEAKER_00:

We are talking about regenerative medicine, moving from just managing a disease to actually reversing the pathology.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back to the deep dive. Today is a special one because we are putting on our scrubs, figuratively speaking, and acting as part of the team for Dr. Kumar at Life Well MD.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell, which is a fantastic context for this. Dr. Kumar runs an innovative clinic down in Florida, specifically serving the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast areas. His entire philosophy is about longevity and wellness, not just sick care.

SPEAKER_01:

And before we get into the heavy science, and we have some very heavy science today, I think it's important to establish who we are channeling here. Dr. Kumar isn't just a guy with a centrifuge and a strip mall. He is a member of the ISSM, the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the Androgen Society.

SPEAKER_00:

And that distinction really matters. The ISSM is the global body that sets the standards. If you are a member, you aren't just guessing. You are following the most rigorous, evidence-based protocols in the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. He's helped hundreds of men over the last six years navigate exactly what we are discussing today. The P shot, which involves platelet-rich plasma and low-intensity shockwave therapy. And for you listening, if you get to the end of this and think, okay, I'm ready to fix the roof, we'll give you the direct line to his office.

SPEAKER_00:

But first, the blueprint.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell The Blueprint. We are pulling from two major sources today: a 2025, a systematic review from the Aging Male Journal and a 2024 review from Sexual Medicine Reviews.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell These are not blog posts. I mean, these are heavy-hitting, peer-reviewed academic analyses.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell So let's start with the problem. And I don't just mean erectile dysfunction as some you know generic term. Give us the scope here.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Ross Powell The scope is massive. We're looking at a prevalence of 30 to 65 percent of men over 40, globally. But I want to be clear about something.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

We aren't just talking about the inability to perform, we're talking about a vascular failure. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01:

A plumbing issue.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell Precisely. It's endothelial dysfunction. The lining of the blood vessels loses its ability to relax and let blood in. That's the hole in the roof.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Ross Powell So let's talk about the first tool Dr. Kumar uses to patch that hole, the P shot, or PRP. Now I've heard of PRP for athletes, you know, Tiger Woods using it for his knee, that kind of thing. But what are we actually doing here?

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell The concept is elegant in its simplicity, but it's complex in its execution. You take the patient's own blood, you spin it in a centrifuge to separate the components, you toss out the red blood cells, which are just the oxygen carriers, and you keep the plasma. But not just any plasma. You want the layer that is rich in platelets.

SPEAKER_01:

Pause. I remember ninth grade biology. Platelets are the things that stop you from bleeding. Right? If I cut my finger, platelets form a scab. Why would I inject scab makers into sensitive tissue? That sounds counterintuitive.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell That's the common misconception. We think of platelets as just the emergency response team for cuts, but they are actually the project managers for the entire repair process.

SPEAKER_01:

The project managers.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. When platelets arrive at a site in high concentrations, they don't just sit there. They undergo something called degranulation.

SPEAKER_01:

Degranulation.

SPEAKER_00:

They basically break open and release growth factors.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell See, that's where my skepticism kicks in. Growth factors sounds like marketing buzzwords you'd see on a$300 jar of anti-aging cream. Is this real science or is it branding?

SPEAKER_00:

It is absolute hardcore biology. We can identify them specifically. You have VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor.

SPEAKER_01:

VEGF.

SPEAKER_00:

Its sole job is to tell the body to build new blood vessels. Then you have FGF fibroblast growth factor, which helps rebuild the structural tissue, and TGF beta, which manages inflammation.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's a chemical cocktail that your own body makes?

SPEAKER_00:

It's a signaling cascade. It screams at the body, hey, we have work to do here. Send in the stem cells, build new capillaries. It's the format on the construction site.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so logically that makes sense, but here's the catch. You mentioned Dr. Kumar uses specific protocols. Can't any doctor just buy a centrifuge on eBay and spin some blood?

SPEAKER_00:

You could, and people do. And that is where they fail. This is the nuance that separates the pros from the amateurs. The research we are looking at, specifically the background for these studies, suggests there is a magic number.

SPEAKER_01:

A magic number.

SPEAKER_00:

You need a platelet concentration of over one million platelets per microliter.

SPEAKER_01:

One million.

SPEAKER_00:

If you just do a quick, cheap spin, you might only get to 300,000 or 400,000. That's not enough to trigger the repair response in soft tissue. You're just injecting expensive water at that point.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell This is why I mentioned the ISSM earlier. You need a provider who knows that the dose is the concentration.

SPEAKER_00:

It's everything.

SPEAKER_01:

So we have the theory. High concentration platelets build new blood vessels. But does it actually work in the real world? Let's look at that 2024 study by Deebs and colleagues. This was a meta-analysis, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, and that's important. They didn't just look at one clinic, they looked at multiple randomized controlled trials, the gold standard of research involving about 230 patients. And they compared PRP directly against a placebo injection.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is crucial because the placebo effect in the bedroom is notorious.

SPEAKER_00:

It's huge.

SPEAKER_01:

If you think you're getting a magic shot, you might just perform better because you're confident.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. But this study crushed that doubt. They looked at the IIEF scores, the standard scoring system for erectile function. The PRP group saw statistically significant improvements over the placebo group. But forget the P values for a second. Let's talk about the MCID.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell The minimal clinically important difference. Basically, did the patient actually notice?

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Ross Powell Right. Did it change their life? The odds ratio was 5.64.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Ross Powell Whoa, hang on. 5.64. Usually in medical studies we get excited about like a 1.5.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Ross Powell A 5.64 means that the patients receiving PRP were more than five times as likely to report a meaningful, noticeable improvement compared to those getting the saline shot. That is a massive margin. You rarely see that in this field.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell That is startling, but I want to play devil's advocate. That's still a questionnaire. That's still a guy saying, yeah, I think it's better. Did they measure anything physical?

SPEAKER_00:

They did. And this is the smoking gun. They measured peak systolic velocity, PSV.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is what, the speed of the blood?

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. They used ultrasound to measure how fast the blood was moving into the penis. The PRP group showed a significant increase in velocity. You cannot fake that. You can't placebo your way into faster blood flow. The pipes were physically wider and clearer. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the proof in the pudding. Or the pipe, I guess. And there was one other metric that caught my eye, the SEP Q3.

SPEAKER_00:

Ah, yes. Sexual encounter profile question three. It asks a very simple binary question. Did your erection last long enough for successful intercourse?

SPEAKER_01:

The million-dollar question.

SPEAKER_00:

And again, PRP showed significant success compared to placebo.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I'm sold on the efficacy. But I have to ask the question. Every man listening is screaming at their speakers right now. You are talking about needles in a very sensitive area. Is it safe?

SPEAKER_00:

It is the most common fear. But the safety profile in his review was excellent. I mean, remember, it's your own blood. You can't be allergic to yourself. There is no risk of rejection.

SPEAKER_01:

What about side effects?

SPEAKER_00:

Minimal. They reported one case of mild plaque and one hematoma, which is basically a bruise. That's it. Compare that to surgery or the headaches and vision changes you can get from pills. It's incredibly safe.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's the pea shot. But at Life Well MD, Dr. Kumar often pairs this with something else. It's the combo approach. And this brings us to the second tool: low-intensity shock wave therapy, or LISWT. Yes. Now, shockwave sounds violent. Are we electrocuting things?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no electricity. Think of it like sound waves. It's similar technology to what they use to break up kidney stones, but at a much, much lower intensity. It's just acoustic energy.

SPEAKER_01:

So how does sound help?

SPEAKER_00:

It creates what we call micro trauma.

SPEAKER_01:

Wait, trauma? I thought we were trying to fix the roof and not smash it with a hammer.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, think about weightlifting. When you do a bicep curl, you are actually tearing the muscle fibers. You're creating micro trauma. Right. The body senses that stress and says, whoa, we need to reinforce this area and it builds the muscle back stronger. Shockwave does the exact same thing for blood vessels. At least wakes the tissue up. It triggers a stress response that releases those same growth factors we talked about, stimulating angiogenesis new blood vessels.

SPEAKER_01:

So if PRP is the construction crew bringing the materials, shockwave is the foreman blowing the whistle and telling everyone to get to work.

SPEAKER_00:

That is the perfect analogy. Yeah. And this leads us to our second major source, the 2025 study by Zoo and colleagues. This study was fascinating because it didn't compare shockwave to a placebo. It compared shockwave alone versus shockwave plus PRP.

SPEAKER_01:

So good versus better.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. They wanted to know, is the combo worth it? And the answer was a definitive yes. The combination therapy significantly outperformed shockwave monotherapy.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a force multiplier.

SPEAKER_00:

It is. But, and this is probably the most critical part of this entire deep dive, we have to talk about the timeline.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. This section of the study really stood out to me because we live in an Amazon Prime world. We want next day delivery on our health.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you go into this expecting Amazon Prime speed, you'll be disappointed. The zoo study tracked these men over time. They looked at the results at four weeks, twelve weeks, and twenty four weeks.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's walk the listener through this. I go to see Dr. Kumar, I get the pea shot, I do my shockwave sessions, it's been a month. How am I feeling?

SPEAKER_00:

Statistically, you're probably feeling frustrated. At four weeks, there was no significant difference in the data.

SPEAKER_01:

Zero.

SPEAKER_00:

Basically zero. And this is what I call the valley of disappointment. This is where men give up. They think, I spent this money, I did this procedure, and nothing is happening.

SPEAKER_01:

But biologically, what is happening under the hood?

SPEAKER_00:

The construction crew is just setting up the scaffolding. Angiogenesis growing new blood vessels is a slow biological process. You are literally growing new tissue. It takes time.

SPEAKER_01:

So fast forward to 12 weeks, three months in.

SPEAKER_00:

Now we see significant improvement. The curve starts to bend upward, the vessels are forming, the blood flow is increasing.

SPEAKER_01:

And at 24 weeks, six months out?

SPEAKER_00:

That was the peak. The greatest improvement was seen at the half-year mark.

SPEAKER_01:

That is such a vital takeaway. If you are going to commit to this journey with Life Well MD, you have to commit to the patients. You're reversing years, maybe decades, of vascular aging. That doesn't happen on a Tuesday afternoon.

SPEAKER_00:

Correct. And Dr. Kumar knows this. That's why the counseling aspect is so important, managing those expectations so the patient sticks with it long enough to see the win.

SPEAKER_01:

There was one other nugget in that zoo study that I think we need to highlight. It wasn't just about blood vessels, they mentioned nerves.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. This is huge, especially for listeners who might have diabetes or have had prostate surgery.

SPEAKER_01:

Why is that?

SPEAKER_00:

Because ED isn't always just about blood flow. Sometimes the pump works, but the electrical signal is weak. The study cited animal models showing that PRP can actually help repair the cavernous nerve and increase myelinated axons.

SPEAKER_01:

Myelinated axons. Break that down for us non-scientists.

SPEAKER_00:

Think of a charging cable for your phone. Inside there's a copper wire carrying the electricity. Outside, there's that white plastic coating. That coating is the myelin.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, the insulation.

SPEAKER_00:

It insulates the wire, so the signal moves fast and doesn't leak out.

SPEAKER_01:

And in conditions like diabetes, that insulation gets stripped away.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. The signal gets fuzzy. It's like a frayed cord. The brain says go, but the message never really arrives with any force.

SPEAKER_01:

And PRP helps wrap that tape back around the wire.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what the science suggests. Yeah. It promotes the regeneration of that myelin sheath. So for men with nerve damage, this combination therapy is attacking the problem from both sides, fixing the pipes and fixing the wiring.

SPEAKER_01:

That is incredible. It really highlights why this isn't something you can just pick up at a pharmacy. This is sophisticated regenerative medicine.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Powell It brings us back to why the provider matters. We talk about Dr. Kumar being in the ISSM. That means he's weeding these journals. Yeah. He knows that the protocol requires a specific number of shock waves, usually around 3,000 to 4,000 shocks per session, and a specific energy setting.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

If you go to a med spot where they just wave a wand around for 10 minutes, you aren't getting this therapy.

SPEAKER_01:

This isn't a facial, it's a medical procedure. So let's zoom out. Who is the ordinary man that this is for? Is this only for guys who have completely lost function?

SPEAKER_00:

Actually, no. The studies focus largely on mild to moderate ED. This is for the guy who is starting to notice the slide. Maybe things aren't as firm or as reliable.

SPEAKER_01:

The check engine light is flickering.

SPEAKER_00:

The light is flickering. And importantly, these studies mostly excluded men with severe hormonal crashes. So this is for the man whose testosterone is okay, who is generally healthy, but the machinery is just showing signs of wear and tear.

SPEAKER_01:

It's high-level maintenance. We take our cars in for a tune-up at 50,000 miles. This is the tune-up for your vascular system.

SPEAKER_00:

And unlike the pills, the buckets which create a dependency.

SPEAKER_01:

I need this pill to be a man.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. This approach aims for independence. It restores the body's natural ability to function. And that psychological shift from dependency to restoration is powerful.

SPEAKER_01:

It fits perfectly with the name of the journal, The Aging Male. We are fighting the aging process itself, not just hiding the symptoms. So let's wrap this up and crystallize what we've learned today. I'm hearing three big things.

SPEAKER_00:

Three takeaways. Number one, the science is real, PRP works, but only if the concentration is high enough, you need that one million platelet count.

SPEAKER_01:

Takeaway two.

SPEAKER_00:

The combo is king. If you want the best possible result, you combine the materials, the PRP, with the labor, the shock wave, the synergy is proven in the data.

SPEAKER_01:

And number three, which I'll take, patience. You have to wait out that 12 to 24 week timeline to see the full benefit.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't give up in the valley of disappointment.

SPEAKER_01:

If this conversation has sparked something in you, if you're sitting there thinking, I'm done with the buckets, I want to fix the roof, then you have a resource. If you are in the Palm Beach or Treasure Coast area, you don't have to fly to Switzerland for this.

SPEAKER_00:

No, you have a world-class expert right in your backyard.

SPEAKER_01:

Dr. Kumar and the team at LifeWell MD are ready to help. They know these protocols, they use the right equipment, they understand the timeline. If you're ready to start that journey, get a pen. The number is 561-210-9999.

SPEAKER_00:

That's 561-210-9999.

SPEAKER_01:

Give them a call. Stop waiting. Start the wellness journey.

SPEAKER_00:

It's the best investment you can make in yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

I want to leave you with one final thought to chew on. We spent this whole time talking about using your own blood to regenerate blood vessels and nerves. We are basically hacking the body's own repair code.

SPEAKER_00:

We are.

SPEAKER_01:

If we can do this for ED, if we can physically reverse the aging of tissue in one part of the body, what does that mean for the future of aging in general? Are we looking at a future where we don't just manage getting older, but actually biologically refuse to accept it?

SPEAKER_00:

That is the ultimate question of longevity medicine. And I think we are just scratching the surface of what's possible.

SPEAKER_01:

Something to think about. Thanks for listening to the deep dive. We'll catch you on the next one.

SPEAKER_00:

Stay curious.