Erectile Dysfunction Definition, Symptoms and Causes
From ancient times men wanted to be proud of their masculinity and needed to be confident in their sexuality. Disorder with manhood is usually accompanied with panic and depression. Usually there is no need for this. Knowing the sources and definite signs of the problem it is easy to solve it. We hope this article will help everyone to look at the issue as at curable and not fatal illness.
What Is Erectile Dysfunction?
First of all let’s give clear definition what is ED. Erectile dysfunction is inability to have a long and hard enough erection to accomplish coitus.
It should not be mistaken for absence of desire, males often cannot get a boner with a great wish to have sex. It happens occasionally or becomes a constant complication. And if random failures are often explained by stress or any other outer circumstances, regular troubles with erection are the evidence of serious health maladies.
No matter if it has emotional, psychological or physiological roots, it is better to seek professional medical advice. As without medical treatment it leads to long-term and severe consequences and affects all spheres of professional and social life. Some other sexual abnormalities are premature or delayed and absent ejaculation, anaphrodisia, but they are not always followed by difficulties with erection.
ED Symptoms
Usually guys do not talk about intimate complications even to best friends. A male confesses in his virility incompetence with pain. Fear often results attempts to set a diagnosis without assistance, sometimes making a mountain out of molehill, or, on the contrary, treating the serious problems lightly. Here are some most common symptoms of ED to understand when time comes to call a professional help. Erectile dysfunction may occur if the following signs are observed:
- constant or recurrent inability to achieve an erection during amorous activities;
- difficulties keeping penis erect after the intercourse started;
- lack of sexual drive;
- weak boner regardless bounteous desire and stimulation.
Sometimes such maladies come and pass by in short time, but if they occur for several months – it is a serious alarm, and you need treatment. All above listed indices not necessarily come all together, even one sign of ED during the long period of time is a reason to put strong measures in place to find the source and get rid of illness.
Is Erectile Dysfunction the Same As Impotence?
This term is often used as a synonym to impotence. Impotence refers to older medical terminology, nowadays specialists prefer to use the definition ED, and not without reason. First of all, because impotence sounds like a final verdict, such diagnosis makes severe impression on a patient. The meaning of the word literally is weakness, inefficiency. Some doctors use the word to describe any kind of sexual disease alongside with ED:
- anorgasmia;
- poverty of amorous interest,
- malemission and other ejaculation predicaments.
In contrast, the newer name means that for some reason the penis cannot erect properly, the blood does not go and stay in cavernous body.
I Have Weak Erection – Is It ED?
Not all problems are signs of serious health disorder. The question “If I have soft, weak or slack hard-on, is it the reason to panic?” vibrates throughout the world. It is all relative. If the stiffy is not as hard as rock, it is early to ring the tocsin. While you are able to penetrate your partner, enjoy sexual act and achieve an orgasm, be sure everything is fine. The lack of one of the three is a worrying signal. Attentively look at your intimate life, see when and why misfortune happened. Some factors cause one time ED, too much alcohol to name one.
Different outer circumstances make a male less proud in bedroom repeatedly:
- anxiety;
- family quarrels, loss of interest in a partner;
- bad habits;
- sleep loss and others.
These are the hidden reefs in the sea of intimacy, and to sail successfully a man has to go round each and all of them.
How Many Men Have Erectile Dysfunction?
Bigger obstacles one cannot bypass easily. Due to intolerance to own health or to some inner problems, many people cannot accomplish coitus. It is hard to say how many males have it exactly. Statistics says there are about 30 million males with ED living in America. And hundreds of millions on the planet. Every fourth guy has it in his 40s.
Do not despair! No matter what resulted the illness, an efficacious treatment is always available.
What Causes Erectile Dysfunction?
Penile erection can be achieved in two ways – by physical and emotional, or erotic, stimulation. Two types above are, accordingly, reflex and psychogenic. Direct touching of main erotogenic zones makes work the peripheral nervous system and spinal medulla. Erotic impulsion involves the limbic brain. Both ways lead to nitrogen monoxide production, which results relaxing of the plain muscles in sponge-like tissue of penis by virtue of its vasodilating qualities. It lets the blood flow to phallus and makes it erect.
To make the whole scheme work you also need properly functioning testicles producing hormone testosterone and efficient hypophysis. As you see from the mechanism of action, abnormalities in erection can be effected by flaws in endocrine and neural systems, poor vascular supply of genitals and mental health conditions.
Common Causes
As the organization of erectile health is rather complex, there are many factors interfering with it:
- cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and atherosclerosis;
- way of life – smoking, alcohol overuse, extra weight, drugs, nocturnal habits;
- emotional and mental disorders, such as depression, stress, fatigue, apathy;
- injuries and surgery interventions consequences, usually when the brain, spinal cord or prostate is damaged;
- aging and short of testosterone;
- side effects of various illnesses, like cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol level, metabolic syndrome, different progressive neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and disseminated sclerosis, renal insufficiency;
- penile plastic induration, or Peyronie syndrome, which means the excess curvature of the shaft when erected;
- application of certain medicines, such as antidepressants, antiepileptic remedies, blood pressure regulators like Lisinopril and other ACE inhibitors, chemotherapy, allergy medications, muscle relaxants.
According to some researches, there is a concern about bad influence of bicycling on sexual vigor, because local compression leads to troubles with both vessels and neurology. Watching pornography is also often correlated with impotency, but the medical researchers did not find consensus on this issue.
Some of the listed causes are easily eliminated. Quit drinking and smoking, do not use drugs and start exercising to lose weight and gain muscles. Live healthy life with normal schedule, come to peace with your family, try to avoid stressful situations – and it might happen your intimate life will come to normal. To determine what causes the ED – psychological or physical problems – use the simple method. Check if you have morning wood, and if you do, then the problem roots in your mind. This is the way to find out what kind of doctor treats your ED.
Ibuprofen Medications
In April 2011 group of scientists published an article in the Journal of Urology, the official publication of American Urological Association. The analysts studied the ties between inflammation and ED, and subsequently the influence of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications on male’s health. The object of investigation was the opinion: if NSAIDs cure inflammation, and as it is is one of the reasons of impotence, then such medicines as Ibuprofen could help to prevent manhood damages.
The results of research showed that, on the contrary, patients who use NSAIDs seem to have higher risks having ED. Together with this conclusion the article contained another statement that taking Aspirin alongside with NSAIDs effects ED, 20% of surveyed men suffered from moderate or strong sexual disorder.
There are no other researches and statistics giving the same information about Aspirin. Taking into account that people with vascular diseases often use these pills, we would suggest their virility failures should be associated with the illnesses they had rather than with medicines they took.
High Cholesterol Level
We already mentioned the atherosclerosis as the cause of ED. It is the narrowing of vessels, effected by many factors. One of them is high level of cholesterol. It creates plagues on the walls of vessels and disturbs the circulation of blood.
Some self-restrictions improve the situation with time. Watch what you eat and drink, try to exclude such meals as:
- full-fat milk products;
- pork, steaks, any red fat meat;
- fried food;
- trans-fats, palm and coconut oil, etc.
It will work better if you eat more nuts, vegetables, cereals, whole grains, berries, fruits and citruses, fish and sunflower or canola oil.
Sometimes situation with cholesterol is too serious and there is a need in medical therapy. The remedies from lipids in blood are called statins. There were several studies to learn the connection between them and sexual problems, but they gave different results. The latest showed no correlation between the two, and there are no contraindications to use statins for men with ED.
ED and Age
In spite of the fact that guys do not talk about their intimate misfortunes, an accurate statistics tells how many of them have ED. The general percentage is 6%. But it is like the mean temperature in the hospital – someone has a fever, and someone is dead. On the average, everyone is healthy.
Only 2% of men in younger age, before 20 years old, suffer from problems with getting a boner, usually it is connected with traumas and pathologies. Men before their 50 come cannot have normal sex in 4% of cases. It jumps with aging over 60, and a half of males in 75 are not getting proper erection. But it means 50% of guys in such venerable age live their life to the fullest! Is it a gift from heaven? Partially. Stay active, calm, emotionally stable and healthy. It will help you to enjoy amorous affairs longer than you can expect.
When I Need to See a Doctor?
Do not lay your health on a shelf! Now you know how do you get a boner, why penis is staying hard and why does the dysfunction happen. If you notice the symptoms of real ED, you should consult a doctor immediately. The specialist will determine things causing the illness and assign a therapy.
The tests, interviews and examinations will take some time. But the wish to fulfill the amorous desire lives in men constantly, it is rather hard to wait for the results. Our online pharmacy SildenafilViagra has medicine that cures each kind of ED and PE. Different formulas, various dosages and packages, worldwide known brands, such as Viagra and Kamagra, Tadapox and many others, will bring you immediate relief and help to normalize your intimate life without long fuss.