A few things you should know about Erectile Dysfunction

According to some records, more than 100 million men around the world are dealing with erectile dysfunction. Before we start talking about the causes and treatments, let’s learn more about the problem itself.

The sexual disorder in which men cannot reach and preserve erection and proper hardness for a normal sexual intercourse is called erectile dysfunction or ED. In the past, doctors used the term impotency to describe this problem. A recent study conducted in the Melbourne Australia has shown that about 50% of Australian (between the age of 40 and 70) have experienced erectile dysfunction at least two times in their lives. Of course, the frequency of erectile dysfunction is higher in older men.

The main causes of erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction comes as a result of some of these factors:

1.       Insufficient filling of the cavernous body of the penis due to disturbances in the blood flow

2.       A disorder in the mechanism of erection initiation which depends on endocrine, psychogenic and neural factors

3.       The inability to keep the blood in the cavernous tissues of the penis due to poor closure of the venous system which gathers blood from the penis

What is interesting is that these factors rarely act alone and they are usually combines. Psychogenic factors are present in almost all cases.

Types of erectile dysfunction

There are basically two different types of erectile dysfunction.

Primary erectile dysfunction is a term describing a situation in which the man has never experienced erection. This is a very rare situation which is almost always caused by a psychogenic factor.

Secondary ED is the inability to achieve erection in men who had normal erection before.

Treatment of erectile dysfunction

The most common treatment is the one that includes drugs. Patients can take preparations of prostaglandins too. In cases when all forms of treatment don’t show positive results, the patient can be advised to use prostheses genitals. All patients that have erectile dysfunction caused by some organic factor, should treat the primary disease like high blood pressure, diabetes or neurological disease. In case some of the drugs that are used for treatment of certain health problem leads to erectile dysfunction, these drugs must be replaced. If we are talking about patients suffering from depression, they must take a psychiatric treatment.

Patients are most commonly recommended medications, inhibitors of the phosphodiestrase type 5 (PDE 5) enzyme which provides better erection through increased production of nitric oxide in the smooth muscles of the veins and better relaxation of cavernous tissues of the penis.

Vacuum pump that comes with adjustable elastic ring for the root of the penis can help patients who cannot take PDE 5. This pump has a strong suction mechanism which increases the quantity of blood in the penis while the ring prevents blood from leaving the genital area and supports erection. Prostaglandin E1 is a strong vaso-active substance which is also used in the treatment of ED.

Keep in mind that smoking and obesity can also affect erectile function, so staying away from junk food and cigarettes is always helpful.