What Is Erectile Dysfunction?

Erectile Dysfunction is a male sexual dysfunction that makes men incapable of triggering off erections or sustaining the erections long enough to have a satisfactory sexual intercourse. Male sexual health is often placed at risk on account of a whole range of sexual disorders and among all the sexual problems suffered by men; erectile dysfunction is a prominent one. The other sexual disorders that constantly afflict men are ejaculatory problems like premature or early ejaculation, delayed or retarded ejaculation, dry orgasm, peyronie`s disease, priapism, male infertility et al.

Erectile Dysfunction: Another Name For Male Impotence

In 1993, the NIH Consensus Development Panel on Impotence called impotence "an important public health problem." The panel proposed that the term "impotence" be replaced by the less pejorative and more precise "erectile dysfunction" (ED) to signify "the inability to attain and/or maintain penile erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance."

How Erectile Dysfunction Sterilizes The Sex Life Of Men?

All the sexual dysfunctions affect men one way or the other but when it comes to male impotence or erectile dysfunction, the impact is very strong for the reason that once a person falls in the grip of erectile dysfunction, adequate amount of blood fail to reach his penile section. When proper blood flow to the penis is restricted, the person fails to trigger off erections necessary for satisfactory sexual intercourse. Erectile dysfunction not only sterilizes a man's sex life but also becomes a cause for other diseases such as depression.

Other Consequences Of Erectile Dysfunction

After erectile dysfunction or male impotence makes a man incapable of achieving sexual fulfillment with his partner, a whole array of unwanted circumstances evolve as the ultimate end result:

* Erectile Dysfunction means more than just the sexual incapability of a man. The emotions and uncertainties that coincide with this condition often have a significant effect on a man's self-esteem, as well as, his relationship with his partner.
* In case of erectile dysfunction afflicted married men, relationship breakdown is an inevitable outcome.
* There are significant consequences of erectile dysfunction like looking down upon by friends and peers and most particularly the rejection from girls can be very painful for a man.
* Guys are increasingly at the risk of losing their girlfriends as soon as their erectile dysfunction secret is out.
* Erectile dysfunction, the premier male sexual disorder is generally accompanied by tension, stress and other mental setbacks. These mental disorders further accelerate disaster in a man's personal as well as social life.

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The Side-Effects of Viagra

Every drug is accompanied with some of its side effects too apart from its benefits and Viagra is also no exception to it. But the side effects of Viagra are very mild and do not last for a long time. Some of the side effects of Viagra occur only if you take large dosages so if you are taking Viagra for the first time then it is best to start with the lowest pill dosages.

The most common are

* Headache
* Flushing of the face
* Upset stomach.
* Stuffiness of the nose

Less common medicine effects that may occur are

* Temporary changes in color vision (such as trouble telling the difference between blue and green objects or having a blue color tinge to them)
* Eyes becoming more sensitive to light or blurred vision
* Cloudy or bloody urine
* Increased frequency of urination
* Pain on urination
* Diarrhea

Some of the rarest side effects which have been noticed are as follows, though you must remember that these are some of the rarest side effects and does not necessarily mean to be experienced by everyone taking Viagra.

* Painful genital erection that lasts many hours.
* Convulsions or seizures
* Bleeding of the eye
* Decreased or double vision
* Prolonged and inappropriate erection of the penis.
* Anxiety

You should call a medical doctor immediately if you ever have an erection that lasts more than four hours.

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The causes of Erectile Dysfunction

The causes of erectile dysfunction can be broadly classified into two principal categories, physiological and psychological causes. From these two, physiological factors are found to be the primary cause of erectile dysfunction. However physicians state that approximately eighty-five percent of erectile dysfunction is attributed to physiological/organic conditions while only fifteen percent is due to psychological or mixed origin (both psychological and organic). Moreover, there are some lifestyle factors which are also found to cause erectile dysfunction to a substantial degree.

Physiological Causes Of Erectile Dysfunction

Some of the prominent physiological causes responsible for erectile dysfunction in men are detailed below:

* Vascular diseases like arteriosclerosis, hypertension, hypercholestremia,
* Diabetes
* PrescriptionMedications

(i)Antihypertensives such as beta-blockers, diuretic medications and calcium channel blockers.

(ii)Antidepressant/antipsychoticmedications

(iii)Antiandrogen medications used in the treatment of prostate cancer

(iv) Chemotherapy/radiation therapy used in the treatment of cancer
* Substance abuse like the chronic intake of marijuana, cocaine, alcohol e.t.c.
* Radical Pelvic Surgery
* Neurological Diseases
* Deficiencies in the Endocrine System
* Psychological Erectile Dysfunction
* Anatomical deviation of the penis

Psychological Causes Of Erectile Dysfunction

Even though physiological reasons account for most of the cases of erectile dysfunction, the role played by psychological causes in triggering off erectile dysfunction in men cannot be ruled out altogether. The effective functioning of a man's sexual life depends a lot on his mental well being and only when a man is mentally steady and fine, he is able to extract the maximum sexual satisfaction by physically uniting with his partner. There are a lot of factors that cause mental disturbance in a man and make him a victim of erectile dysfunction thereby ruining his sex life. The psychological causes that lead to erectile dysfunction are namely,

* anxiety with regard to one's sexual performance
* Indifference towards the existing sexual relationship between partners
* Stress caused by hectic lifestyle and other factors
* Serious depression on account of relationship failure, business loss and similar other setbacks
* low self esteem resulting from earlier episodes of unfulfilled sex

Lifestyle Causes of Erectile Dysfunction

A healthy lifestyle prevents the occurrence of erectile dysfunction or male impotence to a considerable extent but if men continue to indulge in harmful vices like smoking, drinking, drug usage et al, then sooner or later they are likely to become erectile dysfunction patients. Important facts concerning lifestyle causes and erectile dysfunction are placed below:

* Excessive alcohol intake may increase high blood pressure levels and induce erectile dysfunction.
* High levels of nicotine released in the blood on account of cigarette smoking and the smoking of other tobacco containing substances reduce blood flow to the penis and lead to erectile dysfunction.
* Apart from alcohol and tobacco containing products, the intake of marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy is also a primary cause of male impotence.
* Overweight men as well as people leading sedentary lifestyle are highly at risk of erectile dysfunction.

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Viagra and Depression Induced Erectile Dysfunction

The term 'Impotence' has been replaced with 'Erectile Dysfunction' by the National Institute Health, USA . The erectile dysfunction is one of the most common sexual problems regarding male sexual health.

Erectile dysfunction has a range of physiological and psychological causes behind its occurrence. The psychological causes take the maximum share amongst the percentage of the reasons responsible for erectile dysfunction. According to a survey for both men and women approximately 78% cases of erectile dysfunction or inhibited sexual desire are of mental or emotional origin. This shows that erectile dysfunction is often the consequence of either sexual guilt or disturbed and cold relationships between the spouses or the partners. It is very important for us to clearly understand the causes which are responsible for erectile dysfunction like fear of intimacy, sexual guilt or may be some recreational drugs.

Coming to an altogether different area of discussion, let us throw some light on depression too which is often found closely related to many cases of erectile dysfunction. Impotence and Depression are highly coexisting condition. Depression is one of the most common and the most serious mental health problems that men are facing today. According to a study published in American Journal of Psychiatry successful treatment of erectile dysfunction or impotence in depressed men can lead to marked improvement in depression. 60% of all men over the age of 40 showed some degree of impotency and 30% of Americans have a depressive disorder every year. Study found a correlation between change in Impotence and change in depressive symptoms - but it was not cleared whether the depression caused impotence erectile dysfunction (ED), or impotence erectile dysfunction (ED) caused the depression.

For millions who suffer from depression the sexual side effects of the medication can be a big turn off for them to continue their treatment with the anti depressants like the selective serotonin inhibitor drugs used for treating depression. In a study it has been proved that Viagra, the oral pill to treat erectile dysfunction, can ease a man in his condition of depression by having a positive impact. When a person knows that he can lead a normal sexual life with Viagra, in spite of the sexual side effects caused by the anti depressants, he will surely not hesitate to shy away from his treatment for depression. This way, a man suffering from anxiety no more has to worry about his sexual problem of erectile dysfunction which is an undesired side effect of taking anti depressants. Viagra increases the body's ability to achieve and maintain an erection during sexual stimulation. A Survey indicates that Viagra showed great improvement in Men in their Impotency as well as in their depression.

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