Erectile Dysfunction

Impotence or “erectile dysfunction,” happens when a man is unable to maintain or attain a firm erection in order to perform sexual acts. Impotence may also be used to signal other aspects of sex, such as, a decrease sexual desire and inability to have an orgasm or ejaculate. Erectile dysfunction is basically used to describe only the erection problem.

ED or erectile dysfunction may even prevent a total erection, or the maintenance of an erection for long moments. Because of these, erectile dysfunction is not easy to catalog. There is an estimated fifteen to thirty million men living with erectile dysfunction. Based on studies by the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, out of one thousand men in the United States, eight men visited the doctor for erectile dysfunction during the middle 80’s. By 1999, this rate had climbed to 22 visits for every 1,000 doctor consultations. Researchers think that the increase is due to the development of drugs, such as Viagra, that have made the discussion of erectile dysfunction widely accepted and treatable. Viagra (Sildenafil citrate) was developed in March, 1998, by Pfizer. There were over two million doctor visits for treatment with Viagra in 1999.

Erectile dysfunction, in the elderly, is often cause by a physical impediment. In older men there is a higher rate of injury and disease than in younger men. Pathologies that damage the nerve endings and diminish the blood circulation to the penis are among the leading causes for ED. Studies report that over five percent of men over 40 years of age and approximately twenty percent of men over 65 years of age suffer from ED.

Regardless of the age, erectile dysfunction is easily corrected nowadays. Men are increasingly looking for advice and help with this problem in order to return to a healthy sexual lifestyle. Urologists are the medical specialists who treat ED, but, about 75% of general physicians prescribed Viagra in 1999, and not the Urologists.

ERECTION PROCESS

The penis consists of three chambers, two of which are called the corpora cavernous and the third that fills the spaces in between with spongy tissue, called corpus spongiosum. A membrane, the tunica albuginea, surrounds the corpora cavernous. Smooth muscle is found in the spongy tissue, among veins, arteries, and fibrous tissue. The urine and sperm is channeled through the urethra, which runs along the corpora cavernous that is surrounded by the spongy tissue.

Physical or mental arousal usually starts an erection. Brain signals and local nerves make the muscles of the corpora cavernous to dilate, enabling an increase blood circulation to the penis, filling any empty space in its length. The penis enlarges due to the pressure caused by the blood in the corpora cavernous. The erection is maintained by the tunica albuginea, which keeps the blood inside the corpora cavernous. The erection is lost when the penis’ muscles contract, thereby lowering the blood flow into the penis.

Figure. Veins (bottom) and arteries (top) entire the entire length, filling the spaces and running through the chambers of the penis, the corpora cavernous and the corpus spongiosum. Erection happens when dilated muscles permit the corpora cavernous to engorge with extra blood flow by the arteries, while the return of the blood through the veins is highly impaired.