Erection and Its Relation to Aging

Dinner was appetizing, kissing was luscious, her scent was inviting, and the foreplay was stimulating. But when it came to showing her just who the man is, the little soldier remains in hiding.

Well there comes a time in every man's life where he must come to grip with the fact that little johnny is sometimes shy. This is the time where a man's self-esteem is most vulnerable.

Erection problems are vastly common among adult men. In truth, nearly all men experience occasional difficulty getting it hard or maintaining it. In several cases, it is a temporary condition that will go away with little or no treatment at all. While in others, it may be an ongoing problem that may eventually damage a man's self esteem and harm his relationship with his partner. Thus immediate treatment is required.

So just how would you know if you have a problem? Well if you have difficulty either having or keeping an erection for over 25% of the time, then it is a problem. At one time, erection problems were thought to be "all in the man's mind," just like women's PMS. Oftentimes, they receive unhelpful advice such as "don't worry" or "just relax and it will take care of itself." Doctors nowadays believed that when the problem is not temporary or do not go away on its own, physical factors are often the cause.

Erection problems, commonly known as erectile dysfunction or impotence refers to a man's inability to achieve satisfactory erections suitable for sexual intercourse. This is common to about 25% of the male population. Men who are experiencing repeated impotence tend to be middle aged men, mostly common at the age of 60. The problem may derive from a variety of causes, but aging is the most remarkable factor in erectile dysfunction associated to the decrease in male hormones. For about 20% of sufferers the problem is psychological. While one third is due to physically related diseases and the remainder is the combination of both causes.

In the past few years, the medical community had been committed to enhancing treatments for erectile dysfunction through a wide range of alternatives. But how should a man with erectile dysfunction is treated in this age of vacuum pumps, penile injection, medication and prostheses?

Just like in any other ailment, when a person begins having this problem continually, physical examinations is the first step in the treatment process. This is done to rule out injury, side effects from medicine or diseases and disorders such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney disease, alcoholism, or multiple sclerosis.

A considerable part of the evaluation includes a detailed patient history that can give the doctor virtual clues regarding the patient's condition and the severity of the condition. Treatments should be tailored to the individual, with the severity and cause taken into consideration. Common treatments include medications, vacuum devices and surgery.

Prescription medications such as Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis are commonly prescribed, as well as other options such as vacuum devices and surgery.

Vacuum are non-drug options. This is a device which creates a vacuum around the penis that draws blood into the penis and allows it to engorge, thus causing an erection.

Surgery can be performed in order to restore blood flow to the penile area if the vasculature (blood vessels) to the area is compromised. However surgeries have fallen out of favor in recent years because of the possible risk of infection due to such invasive procedures.

Threats to Male Fertility

Both a man and the woman need to be healthy in order to produce a child. When a couple cannot conceive a child in a span of one year, they might be having infertility problems. According to research, infertility affects 10% (or about 6.1 million) Americans in the reproductive age. Contrary to myth, infertility is not always a "woman's problem." A third of the cases (about 35% are actually due to male infertility factors.

Infertility in men may be caused by many factors such as low sperm count (or nothing at all), ejaculation problems, or "abnormal" sperm, which is said to be malformed and have a short life span.

Generally, your fertility is based upon your general health. If you live a healthy lifestyle, there is a high probability that your sperm will also be healthy. There are quite a number of threats that may affect male fertility. Nicotine, alcohol and drugs (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are on the top of the list. According to studies, smoking drastically decreases the sperm count and overall health of sperm cells.

Poor diet (malnutrition) can also contribute to male infertility, including deficiency in vitamin C and zinc in your diet. Some diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, fevers, anemia, and mumps in adulthood) and infections are also suspect. These are infections of the reproductive system such as epididymitis, orchitis, and prostatitis. Some sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia or gonorrhea also damages the spermatic ducts. You also risk transmitting your disease to your partner causing her to be infertile.

Some medications are also believed to be causes of male infertility. This include cancer-treating agents (e.g., chemotheraphy), anti-fungal medication (ketoconazole), antidiarrheal drug (sulfasalazine), Azulfidine (a drug used to treat ulcerative colitis), and some groups of antibiotics (nitrofurans and macrolides). Likewise, the use of anabolic steroids is also known to cause testicular shrinkage and infertility.

Other threats to male fertility also include testosterone deficiency, trauma or injury to the testes, structural abnormality or blockage in the vas deferens, and varicocele, a varicose vein in the testicle that produces too much heat harming and killing sperm.

Some are also connected to your lifestyle, like excessive stress, overly intense exercise (may lower your sperm count by producing higher levels of adrenal steroid hormones, which lower the amount of testosterone in the body), tight underwear or jogging pants, hot tubs, saunas, or anything that raises the temperature of your scrotum, including overheated vehicles and hot work environments, and exposure to environmental hazards such as pesticides, lead, paint, mercury, benzene, boron, radiation (x-ray), radioactive substances, and heavy metals.