PABA, or para-aminobenzoic acid, with a formula of H₂NC₆H₄CO₂H, is a white crystalline substance that is slightly water soluble.  POTABA is simply PABA with a molecule of potassium added to it.

PABA has been referred to as Vitamin B_x because it is an intermediate step in the bacterial manufacturing of folate or folic acid in the intestinal tract.  Some bacteria in the human intestinal tract, such as E. coli, require PABA for proper metabolism. Humans require folate since we lack the enzymes to convert PABA to folate, hence it is made available via the bacterial flora.  Sulfonamide drugs are similar to PABA in their chemical structure, and their antibacterial activity is due to their ability to interfere with the conversion of PABA to folate by the enzyme dihydropteroate synthetase.  In this way bacterial growth is restricted through folate deficiency without effect on human cells.

Medical use of Potaba (potassium para-aminobenzoate)

Potaba inhibits abnormal fibroblast proliferation, thus it can reduce formation of scar material early after injury.  It is speculated that this POTABA anti-inflammatory activity is dependent on initial biotransformation that starts with granulocytes that are stimulated through the initial injury.  It also inhibits abnormal fibroblast proliferation, acid mucopolysaccharide and glycosaminoglycan secretion that occur during the normal inflammatory process.

POTABA has been used to treat a variety of conditions characterized by chronic inflammation and fibrosis; this list includes scleroderma, dermatomyositis, morphea, pulmonary fibrosis and Peyronie’s disease.

A POTABA research study was conducted by Carson who retrospectively reviewed 32 patients who were treated with 4,000 Mg of Potaba three times daily, for at least three months and later were followed for an average of 14.4 months.   Carson reported reduction of penile pain in 44% of those studied,  plaque or scar size reduction in 56%, and improvement of penile angulation in 58%. Complete reversal of penile distortion and angulation occurred in 26% of those studied. The average interval to improvement was 4.2 months, and younger patients with a shorter duration of disease were more likely to respond to therapy.  Even thought Carson’s study did not have controls, it suggests a possible role for POTABA in the medical therapy of Peyronie’s disease.

Unfortunately, the results of Carson’s retrospective and uncontrolled research were not reported as an intent-to-treat study.  Further, the number of research subjects who started therapy but stopped because of severe abdominal symptoms prior to three months has never been disclosed.

Because of the expense of POTABA, the need to take POTABA three or more times daily, and frequent occurrence of severe gastrointestinal side-effects (burning pain, abdominal cramping, and bowel irritability0, make it very difficult for the average man with Peyronie’s disease to follow the treatment guidelines for even a short time.  Yet in order to be effective, the length of POTABA therapy is variable, but sometimes lasting 12-24 months of active care.

Medical use of PABA

When a single potassium molecule is added to PABA, it results in what is called a potassium salt; this combination of potassium and PABA is called POTABA.  It is used as a drug against fibrotic skin disorders, and as such it can be used in Peyronie’s disease treatment.  PABA is also occasionally used to treat Irritable bowel syndrome to and related gastrointestinal symptoms, and in nutritional epidemiological studies to assess the completeness of 24-hour urine collection for the determination of urinary sodium, potassium, or nitrogen levels.

Despite the absence of any recognized syndromes of PABA deficiency in humans, many benefits are claimed for PABA as a nutritional supplement.  PABA is said to improve fatigue, irritability, depression, weeping eczema (moist eczema), scleroderma (premature hardening of skin), a patchy pigment loss in skin called vitiligo, and premature gray hair.

Peyronie’s disease:  POTABA or PABA?

The first Peyronie’s treatment work involved PABA, the vitamin.  When this was shown to be successful, work was then done to show that POTABA, the drug, could be more successful.  The interest is working with POTABA – the drug – was greater than with PABA – the vitamin – because the drug is more profitable and is easier to control use and distribution through the medical profession.

The reason PDI promotes the use of PABA for Peyronie’s disease treatment is because it has almost no side effects, is much less expensive to use, does not require a prescription and it combines well with other Alternative Medicine therapies.

For more information about the many ways to use Alternative Medicine to promote tissue repair and reversal of penile curvature, go to Peyronie’s Disease Institute.

There are many important nutrients – vitamin, mineral and amino acids – that should be used to improve and support the ability of the body to heal and repair the Peyronie’s plaque and help reverse the curved penis it causes.  However, since starting this work in 2002, I have never heard of a medical doctor prescribe any supplement other than vitamin E.  I think this says a lot about what MDs know about Peyronie’s disease vitamin therapy; their knowledge is limited, focused only to the obvious, and tends to not go beyond what everyone else is prescribing.

Vitamin E and Peyronie’s disease

The standard Peyronie’s disease vitamin E recommendation of the medical profession is to “get some vitamin E, and take no more than 400 IU a day.”  Occasionally the dosage will be doubled to 800 IU daily of vitamin E by some doctors who think outside the box a bit.  This is important to remember because vitamin E is essentially the only non-drug Peyronie’s disease vitamin treatment that is suggested to a man with Peyronie’s disease.

Vitamin E is available in both a synthetic form and a naturally occurring organic form.  Which form you decide to use ultimately determines how much can be taken safely.  There are eight different members of the vitamin E family.  Four are known as tocopherols and the other four are tocotrienols.  The most widely found vitamin E member is gamma tocopherol, which assists the elimination of nitrogen free radicals, as well as being an effective anti-inflammatory agent.  Tocotrienols are primarily found in the skin and subdermis where they protect against UV and free radical damage. Tocopherols are found in the major organs.  A balanced diet – very difficult to achieve these days – contains all eight members of the vitamin E family.

Because of costs and chemical stability,  and because early research proposed it was the only member of the family to have biologic benefit to man, most vitamin E supplements contain only alpha tocopherol.  This means most men on Peyronie’s disease vitamin therapy as prescribed by their medical doctor will receive only one of the eight members of the vitamin E family.  Since the early days of vitamin E research (not so long ago in the 1950s) it has been proven repeatedly that the complete vitamin E family, stressing gamma tocopherol and tocotrienols in their natural and unesterified form, accelerate wound healing and minimize scar formation.   For this reason I am most insistent that men using Peyronie’s disease vitamin E treatment use a high quality vitamin E product that is heavily slanted toward gamma tocopherol and all the tocotrienols, like Yasoo Health’s Factor 400/400.

If you are concerned about vitamin E safety issues, please read Peyronie’s Disease Treatment and Vitamin E that answers all dosage and safety questions.

The body is like a house

In order to build a solid house and have it operate well, it is necessary to have a wide variety of components available during the construction phase and during the long maintenance phase when the house begins to need help in the form of repairs.

During the construction phase, many problems would develop if all the builder had to work with were roof shingles, or just windows, or just doors.  A wide variety of components are needed to make a good house – lumber of various widths, thicknesses and lengths, concrete, plywood, along with nails, dry wall, electric wire, and so many other hundreds of different things.

During the maintenance phase, many replacements and repair items are needed.  If the home owner only had nails, or furnace filters, or pale yellow paint to work with, it would not help a bit if the problem was a leaky roof, a squeaky door, or a leaky faucet.

It makes sense that a wide variety of replacement and repair parts are needed for all the parts of a house.  It also makes sense that a Peyronie’s disease vitamin therapy program has to also be broad and diverse.   How does it make sense that all the problems of Peyronie’s disease are solved with just vitamin E?

Peyronie’s disease vitamin, mineral, and amino acid treatment

Peyronie’s Disease Institute uses a variety of different nutrients to satisfy the many needs of the body to have all the needed supplies to heal and repair the scar tissue in the best way possible.

Look at the list of different products that are suggested for use in the large Peyronie’s treatment plan.  The list is long because the process is complicated.   Of course, even the large plan does not contain all the nutrients that could be recommended to heal and repair the Peyronie’s plaque; PABA, acetyl-L-carnitine, quercetin, bromelain and herbs to stimulate the process are just some of the additional therapies that can be used.

Your house is large and complicated, but it is nothing compared to the body. When the body develops Peyronie’s disease it just does not make sense to attempt to fix it with vitamin E only.  That would be like trying to fix a broken window with a screw driver.   The screw driver might be a useful to remove some glass from the window frame, but other tools – and glass – will be needed for the repair to be done correctly.

For more information about successful Peyronie’s disease treatment.

Here is interesting vitamin E, PABA and Peyronie’s treatment information from the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, an important arm of the prestigious National Institute of Health, found at http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov /Kudiseases/pubs/peyronie/index.htm

This information about  Peyronie’s treatment and vitamin E is not exactly new, because frankly, there is not much that is  new in the search for a Peyronies cure.  Even so, what makes this section worth reading is that it is interesting and immensely informative in a different way.  What is important to know about Peyronies treatment from a medical standpoint is not what is revealed, but what is not  mentioned about Peyronie’s treatment – in this case concerning the use of vitamin E.

This following paragraph is copied under the NIH’s discussion of “Experimental Peyronie’s Treatments”:

“Some researchers have given vitamin E orally to men with Peyronie’s disease in small-scale studies and have reported improvements. Yet, no controlled studies have established the effectiveness of vitamin E therapy. Similar inconclusive success has been attributed to oral application of para-aminobenzoate [PABA], a substance belonging to the family of B-complex molecules.”

It is important to know that this is as far as the discussion concerning the use of vitamin E and PABA goes in this government article.  It reports that “small-scale studies…have reported improvements. Yet, no controlled studies have established the effectiveness of vitamin E therapy.”   So, if there was some improvement noted when vitamin E and PABA were used in Peyronie’s treatment, exactly why have there been no additional controlled studies conducted to prove or disprove that these early initial positive reports were factual?  If it looked like these two experimental, but natural, non-drug Peyronie’s treatments were helpful, how can it be that no further testing has been done in this direction?

Isn’t the drug industry, or the AMA, or the government, or some private research group out there supposed to be interested in finding a Peyronie’s cure?   If some natural Peyronie’s therapy like PABA or vitamin E showed some initial promise, why has no one looked into it further?   If something comes along that is naturally occurring, easy and inexpensive to produce, safe to take compared to drugs, and readily available in the marketplace, and happens to look like it could help men with Peyronie’s disease, why has it not been investigated further?  Why, indeed!

Vitamin E as a Peyronie’s treatment, or not

The answer to this natural question is found in the second sentence, in which it is mentioned, “no controlled studies have established the effectiveness of vitamin E therapy.”  This means that without these additional higher-level controlled studies, the effectiveness of vitamin E and PABA remain conveniently unproven. Therefore, vitamin E and PABA remain only at the experimental forever.  Exactly where the drug industry wants them to remain.  So long as they continue to ignore vitamin E – to not give it a legitimate opportunity to prove or disprove it’s value to assist in Peyronie’s treatment – the medical community and the drug industry can correctly say it is “unproven.”   This keeps vitamin E, and PABA, and other Alternative Medicine therapies out in the cold, where they would like them to remain.

It appears that the drug industry does not want to know if Peyronie’s disease can be treated with vitamin E.  If it were known that vitamin E, or PABA, or the PDI treatment concept of synergistic use of multiple Alternative Medicine therapies, are actually effective Peyronie’s treatments, then the entire argument against their use would crumble.  No one has stepped forward to conduct controlled studies because of fear that vitamin E, or PABA, might actually help the body heal the Peyronies plaque.

So long as the necessary tests are withheld, it is perfectly honest and legitimate to say that these natural therapies are “not proven” by controlled research.  This is a great discussion stopper, isn’t it?  Yet, no one goes the next step to ask, “And, exactly why have these necessary controlled studies not been performed in view of the small-scale studies that indicated these simple measures were effective?  Why the delay?  Why the lack of interest?”

Well, I guess we all know, and it should not surprise anyone, that the answer is the importance of profit over humanitarian interests.  It is unfortunate but apparently true, since I have found no reasonable answer to explain why this testing has not been conducted.   You can assure that if small-scale testing of a new drug showed the same improvement, that vast sums of additional funding would be forthcoming for controlled studies.  In this way, once that new drug could be proved or disproved, its march to the marketplace and profitability would be hastened.

Lastly, if you think the use of vitamin E or PABA might not be a reasonable kind of therapy to use because they are “unproven,” now you understand that this state of being unproven is a convenient strategy of those who help themselves more than they want to help you.

Perhaps this will help you to understand, and feel differently about, the use of vitamin E, PABA, and the rest of the Peyronie’s Disease Institute program to treat this male scourge.   For more information about the use of vitamin E in the treatment of Peyronie’s disease, go to Vitamin E, and to learn about the use of PABA in the treatment of Peyronie’s disease, go to PABA.

This is why it is necessary for each man to look out for himself and become the master of his own Peyronie’s treatment, since there is no one as interested in your welfare as you – and the Peyronie’s Disease Institute.