Electronic Org@sm Article

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    New Scientist Magazine
    February 10, 2001

    Push my button

    Electronic implants may help women who can't org@sm any other way

    IN THE Woody Allen comedy Sleeper, a machine called an org@smatron
    delivers an org@sm at the push of a button--without the hassle of
    sex. Now life is imitating art as scientists in the US have
    patented an implant that achieves the same effect for women whose
    lives have been blighted by an inability to achieve org@sms
    naturally.

    Org@smic dysfunction is not uncommon among women, says Julia Cole,
    a psychosexual therapist and consultant with Relate, the
    relationship counselling service. And a number of issues can cause
    it, says Jim Pfaus, who studies the neurobiology of sexual
    behaviour at Concordia University in Montreal. "Some women confuse
    what's called sympathetic arousal, like increased heart rate,
    clammy hands, nerves and so on, with fear," he explains. "That
    makes them want to get out of the situation." Psychotherapy is a
    common treatment for the condition, although if anxiety is a
    factor, patients may also be prescribed valium.  "But valium can
    actually delay org@sm," says Pfaus.

    Stuart Meloy, a surgeon at Piedmont Anesthesia and Pain Consultants
    in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, got the idea for an
    org@sm-producing device while performing a routine pain-relief
    operation on a woman's spine. "We implant electrodes into the spine
    and use electrical pulses to modify the pain signals passing along
    the nerves," he says. The patient remains conscious during the
    operation to help the surgeon find the best position for the
    electrodes. Meloy's breakthrough came one day when he failed to hit
    the right spot. "I was placing the electrodes and suddenly the
    woman started exclaiming emphatically," he says. "I asked her what
    was up and she said, 'You're going to have to teach my husband to
    do that'."

    Meloy expects clinical trials to begin later this year with
    Medtronic, a company based in Minneapolis. Meloy says the
    stimulating wires could connect to a signal generator smaller than
    a packet of cigarettes implanted under the skin of one of the
    patient's buttocks. "Then you'd have a hand-held remote control to
    trigger it," he says. "But it's as invasive as a pacemaker, so this
    is only for extreme cases," he says.

    Meloy believes the device could help couples overcome problems
    caused by org@smic dysfunction. "If you've got a couple who've been
    together for a while and it's just not happening any more, maybe
    they'll get through it a bit easier with this," he says.

    He's quick to add that the device will be programmed to limit its
    use. "But whether it's once a day, four times a week--who am I to
    say?"

    But would women subject themselves to such invasive surgery? "If
    young women of 15 or so are having painful operations to enlarge
    their breasts when they don't have to, are you kidding? Of course
    it'll be used," says Pfaus. Cole agrees that some women would try
    it if they felt the problem was severe enough. "I feel about this
    the way I feel about Viagra," says Cole. "It may help some people,
    but they should also address the underlying reasons for the
    problem."

    Meloy has yet to test the device on men, but says there's no reason
    it shouldn't work in the same way.Ian Sample