Finally an answer
For years
companies have been searching for that magic bullet that will motivate patients
with diabetes to take better care of themselves. Up until today nothing has
really worked that well and this not for lack of effort. Device and drug
companies have spent millions on a wide variety of campaigns yet the fact
remains that the majority of patients do not take the steps necessary to
control their diabetes. Advances in glucose monitoring technology as impressive
as they have been have done nothing to increase average testing frequency.
There are several excellent drugs available yet these drugs as good as they are,
don’t do much good when the patient is not compliant with their therapy
regimen.
Well all this
could change with the recent news that 44% of patients with diabetes say the
disease affects their ability or desire to have sex. This news comes from a
study conducted by The Research Partnership who interviewed 2,000 patients with
type 2 diabetes living in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.
The study
also found that men and women feel differently about their diabetes, as men
reported feeling more calm and confident while woman were more likely to feel
challenged, frustrated or tired. Sadly the study confirmed something that many
have known about diabetes; particularly here in the United States as patients
both men and women felt their physicians were annoyed because they were not
managing their diabetes well. It’s bad
enough having diabetes and doesn’t help matters any that the person who’s
supposed to be helping you is annoyed by what you’re doing. Call Diabetic
Investor just a little crazy but isn’t it part of a physician’s job to help the
patient and negative reinforcement isn’t exactly the ticket to accomplish this
goal.
Still
Diabetic Investor sees an opportunity here for both drug and device companies –
SEX. Diabetic Investor can see the day coming when companies use sex to improve
sales. Soon we could see two patients sitting around in a bath tub checking
their glucose levels and hearing that famous voice over that patient’s who take
better control of their diabetes might experience a four hour erection. Perhaps
we’ll see another commercial showing a man and woman taking their insulin
injections at the same and then running off to the bedroom and turning out the
lights.
Let’s face
facts sex sells and Americans in particular are just a little paranoid about
their sex lives. Why else would men pay hundreds of dollars for male
enhancements pills that increase performance and size? Or why women spend an
equal amount of money on make-up and certain battery operated devices. The fact is sex sells and Diabetic Investor
can’t think of a better way to motivate patients to better manage their
diabetes than by telling patients that their sex lives will get better as their
diabetes improves.
In fact
Diabetic Investor thinks it’s about time someone conduct a study on the
subject. Imagine what it would do for a drug or device if the study showed that
patients who reached an A1c of 7% or less had better sex lives than patients
who did not achieve control. Think of the outstanding media coverage this study
would receive. We’ve already seen studies conducted that showed a correlation
between a woman’s breast size and diabetes, so doing one on improving sexual performance
and diabetes isn’t all that outlandish. And Diabetic Investor can say with a
high degree of certainty such a study would have no trouble at all finding
patients eager to participate.
Imagine the possibilities.
