Is Erectile Dysfuction Preventable
Erectile Dysfunction: Can It Be Prevented?
As the old adage says, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” For medical experts, erectile dysfunction (ED) cannot accurately be predicted, but the causes have been documented. Changes in the lifestyle choices of the man may reduce his risk of ED. If prevention is not completely possible, then diagnoses at an early stage, coupled with the proper treatment, can win the battle against ED.
A Look into the Past
The patient’s medical history is an important database that helps doctors find out causes for a man’s ED. Impotence is linked to many other health problems, especially that of the cardiovascular system and nervous system. The doctor examines the list of medications previously or currently taken by the patient, as many drugs are known to have ED as a side effect. Alcoholism and substance abuse in a patient’s history can tell a lot to a practitioner as to why ED is experienced.
Let’s Get Physical
Physical tests are performed to know the overall health of the patient. Observation of the hair and balding patterns can indicate if he has a hormonal imbalance or not, as low testosterone levels contribute to ED. Checking the blood pressure and pulse rate tells if the patient has a problem with his blood flow, which consequently decreases supply to the penis during an erection. Read more
Treatments and Cures for Erectile Dysfunction
Don’t Feel Down, There’s a New Cure in Town
A man’s ability to have sex is greatly affected by impotence. It is a condition in which an erection cannot be achieved or sustained, due to physical and psychological factors. Nearly 70% of cases of men with erectile dysfunction (ED) attribute it to problems such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease, chronic alcoholism, or heart disease. Other causes found out were severe damage to the cavernosal nerves of the penis which may follow after surgery for bladder or prostate cancer. Also, when a person experiences injury to the penis, spinal cord, bladder, or pelvis, it may possibly lead to ED.
Research performed in the Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, may have found a solution to repair damaged nerves and give hope of a cure against ED. Tissue engineering has made it possible to grow organs in the laboratory for transplanting to patients who need them. According to the study, while the body of a penis can be grown artificially under lab conditions, it still needs a functional set of nerves before it works properly. In order for the penis to regain sexual function, the damaged nerves can either be regrown from cells and given a new life, or regenerated.
The experiment involved cutting the cavernosal nerves of the penises of 90 rats. At the area where the nerves were damaged, a graft was attached. The graft may be from nerves from other parts of the rat’s body, or from collagen, which is an elastic protein comprising connective tissues in the body. The graft was properly constructed to follow the shape of a nerve, which will allow new nerve cells to regenerate over it. The graft will serve as a scaffold to support the growth of new nerve cells, and eventually heal the initial damage done. The findings of the study were presented to the American Urological Association. Read more
How To Prevent Erectile Dysfunction
Doesn’t Matter What You Do, ED Could Happen To You
Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been an identified problem for several decades now. When Viagra was released in 1998, most people believed that the number of men with ED would decline over the years. However, with the world’s ever increasing population, environmental problems, and new medical conditions at present, that prediction does not seem to be happening.
ED has been attributed to a patient’s age, previous health problems, lifestyle habits, and mental wellness. There is no known way of preventing ED, although there are several methods to diagnose it. There is no 100% effective cure for ED, but there are many products and procedures available that help remedy the condition.
In the United States, according to a 1994 Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS), the prevalence of all degrees of impotence is 52%. The prevalence of men with moderate impotence is 25.5%, minimal ED at 17.2%, and complete ED at 9.6%. The MMAS found that prevalence of impotence increases with age for subjects between the ages of 40 to 70 years old. Data from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) approximate that 5% of 40-year-old men in the US have ED, while 15 to 25% of 65-year-old men have ED. Read more
Male Impotence Symptoms
Diagnosing And Coping With The Symptoms Of Male Impotence
Unfortunately, men who suffer from impotence often find it difficult to seek medical advice. This is despite the fact that erectile dysfunction disorder is actually quite a common problem, faced by many men as they grow older. It’s also quite simple to diagnose. Usually the doctor will perform a physical examination, some laboratory tests, and sometimes, if the case is more complex, some monitoring may be required.
A physical examination is performed in order to determine if the symptoms are caused by some type of systemic problem. It’s necessary for the doctor to examine the penis closely, checking to see if it reacts the correct way when touched. Irregularities or problems with the nervous system can sometimes cause impotence, and a physical examination is often the quickest way to determine if that’s the likely cause of the current problem.
The doctor will also check for what are known as abnormal or irregular secondary sex characteristics. Strange hair patterns, or abnormal growth patterns may be an indicator that the impotence problem is hormonal in nature. The circulatory system can also be responsible for impotence, and the physical examination will also encompass checks for this type of problem. For example, an aneurysm may exist in part of the body, causing an interruption to the normal flow of blood. There are also other, generally uncommon, conditions such as Peyronie’s disease, which can be recognized by a distinctive bend in the penis. Read more
ED Therapy Without Drugs
Beyond the Drugs: Is there Therapy for ED?
In the United States, over 30 million men experience erectile dysfunction (ED). Medical experts say that ED is a combination of many physical as well as psychological factors. Most of the drugs available commercially, like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra, are made to target the physical hurdle of ED. But for some men, the drugs just don’t seem to work for them. So the question is: Is there therapy for ED?
The answer is yes. If physical elements of ED can’t be solved, then the mental causes can. A survey done in 2001 by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization which provides reviews and information on healthcare interventions, found out that about 43% of the studied men had ED because of physical factors, 43% had ED due to psychological factors, and the rest attribute their ED to both.
In some cases, doctors recommend a patient to undergo psychotherapy, when a patient experiences ED because of anxiety or low self-esteem towards sex. This is done to relieve the stress associated with ED or when undergoing other treatments for ED. Other times, the man’s partner undergoes psychotherapy as well, so both can benefit from techniques to improve their lovemaking and overcome ED. Read more