What Is Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction, sometimes called "
impotence," is the repeated inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse.
The word "impotence" may also be used to describe other problems that interfere with sexual intercourse and reproduction, such as:
- Lack of sexual desire
- Problems with ejaculation or orgasm.
Using the term "erectile dysfunction" makes it clear that those other problems are not involved.
The Penis, Erectile Dysfunction, and Erections
Hormones, blood vessels, nerves, and muscles must all work together to make an erection. The brain starts an erection by sending nerve signals to the penis when it senses sexual stimulation or arousal. Touching may cause this arousal. Another trigger may be something a person sees or hears. It may even be a sexual thought or dream.
The nerve signals sent from the brain cause the muscles within the penis to relax and let blood flow into the spongy tissue within the penis. Blood collects in this tissue like water filling a sponge. As a result, the penis becomes larger and firmer, like an inflated balloon. The veins in the area then become closed off to keep blood from flowing out.
There are a number of causes of erectile dysfunction (also known as
ED). In older men, it is usually due to a physical cause, such as:
- Disease
- Injury
- Side effects of drugs.
Any disorder that causes injury to the nerves or impairs blood flow in the penis has the potential to cause erectile dysfunction.
The incidence of erectile dysfunction increases with age. About 5 percent of 40-year-old men and between 15 percent and 25 percent of 65-year-old men experience erectile dysfunction. However, it is not an inevitable part of aging.
Erectile dysfunction is treatable at any age, and awareness of this fact has been growing. More men have been seeking treatment and returning to normal sexual activity because of improved, successful treatments for erectile dysfunction.
Some treatment options include:
- Lifestyle changes (such as losing excess weight, quitting smoking, and exercising more)
- Counseling
- Medications (such as Viagra®, Levitra®, and Cialis®)
- Vacuum device
- Implanted devices.
In rare cases, surgery involving veins or arteries may be considered for
erectile dysfunction treatment. The amount of research being done on drugs for erectile dysfunction treatment is expanding rapidly. Patients should ask their doctor about the latest advances.
Erectile dysfunction, as mentioned, can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. These variations make defining erectile dysfunction and estimating its incidence difficult.
It is estimated that
ED affects between 15 million and 30 million American men, depending on the definition used. According to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), for every 1,000 men in the United States, 7.7 physician office visits were made for erectile dysfunction in 1985. By 1999, the rate of visits for erectile dysfunction had nearly tripled to 22.3.
The increase was gradual, probably because as treatments such as vacuum devices and injectable drugs became more widely available, discussing erectile dysfunction became more acceptable.
Perhaps the most publicized advance in
erectile dysfunction treatment was the introduction of the oral drug
sildenafil citrate (
Viagra) in March 1998. NAMCS data on new drugs shows an estimated 2.6 million mentions of Viagra at physician office visits in 1999, and one-third of those mentions occurred during visits for a diagnosis other than erectile dysfunction.
A Summary of Erectile Dysfunction
- Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the repeated inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse
- It affects 15 to 30 million American men
- Erectile dysfunction usually has a physical cause
- Erectile dysfunction is treatable at all ages
- Erectile dysfunction treatments can include counseling, drug therapy, vacuum devices, and surgery.
