Erectile Dysfunction is the inability to achieve and sustain an erection. It is a very common medical condition, affecting about half of all men between 40 and 70 years old.
The Causes
The causes of erectile dysfunction can be physical or psychological. Among the psychological causes, depression and performance anxiety are the main culprits (and with just one episode of failure, a man can become distressed enough to not be able to sustain an erection in future sexual encounter).
Nevertheless, the vast majority of erectile dysfunction cases are provoked by physical causes, such as:
- Endocrine diseases: These diseases affect the normal behavior of the hormones that regulate your body functions. For example, diabetes causes male impotence because it impairs blood flow and disrupts your hormone levels.
- Neurological Conditions: Neurological disorders can affect your brain’s ability to communicate with your penis. Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and other conditions increase your risk of erectile dysfunction.
- Heart Conditions: If your heart can’t pump enough blood, and your arteries are clogged, then you won’t have enough blood flow to achieve an erection.
- Medications: A wide array of prescription drugs are known to cause erectile dysfunction: beta-blockers for high blood pressure, chemotherapy drugs for cancer, opioid painkillers, diuretics, Valium, synthetic hormones, anticholinergics, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and even Cimetidine (the medication used to treat peptic ulcer)
- Tobacco: Prolonged use of tobacco reduces your blood flow and impairs cavernosal function (it negatively impacts your penis’ blood vessels).
- Prostate Disease: Prostate cancer treatments (surgery, radiation therapy) can damage the delicate nerves and blood vessels that are needed to achieve sustained erections. Besides, drugs used to treat prostate enlargement can also cause impotence.
What to Do About It
Since the most common causes of male impotence are other health conditions, the first thing you need to do is to make sure you’re getting an appropriate treatment for those medical conditions. In some cases, instead of asking your doctor for more pharmaceutical drugs and medications, you can greatly benefit from lifestyle changes… especially if you’re suffering from diabetes or heart disease. For example, if you lose a few pounds and stop smoking, you can improve your impotence problems.
On the other hand, erectile dysfunction can be successfully treated with oral medications and surgery. Your erectile dysfunction doctor New York will tell you about the treatment options for your specific case.
The oral medications available for male impotence are widely known: Sildenafil citrate (Viagra), Tadalafil (Cialis), and Vardenafil HCl (Levitra). These medications work by inhibiting the activity of the enzyme Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5)… allowing increased blood flow to reach the corpora cavernosa of the penis. These type of medications works successfully in approximately 70% of all impotent men, although their effectiveness falls when taken by men with significant damage in their normal erection mechanisms.
Besides, there are two types of surgery for male impotence:
- The first is a penile implant surgery, where two inflatable (or semirigid) rods are placed into both sides of the penis.
- The second is blood vessel surgery, performed in rare cases where leaking or obstructed blood vessels don’t allow proper blood flow to the penis.
If you’re suffering from erectile dysfunction, and you’re looking for an erectile dysfunction doctor NYC, then you need to call (212) 661-7003 to make an appointment with Dr. Jack Bruder.
