Why impotence occurs

Find out more about the effect of lifestyle changes on ED. There are two types of procedures that may be used: implants and vascular surgery. A penile implant, also referred to as a prosthesis, can be placed in the penis. There are two different types. An inflatable implant allows you to use a pump to make your penis larger, while a malleable implant allows you to adjust the position of your penis manually.

Vascular surgery repairs arteries that may be blocked. This can help to restore adequate blood flow to the penis. Younger men are typically better candidates for this type of procedure. Every surgery has its benefits and drawbacks. Be sure to discuss these with your doctor if you decide to undergo surgery for ED. ED and diabetes can occur together. In fact, the risk of developing ED is approximately 50 percent in men who have diabetes.

But why is this? Diabetes affects how your body processes glucose. There are two major types of diabetes : type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Having high amounts of sugar in your blood can lead to damage of the blood vessels and nerves. This damage can also affect the blood vessels and nerves located around the penis, leading to difficulties attaining or maintaining an erection.

This can help to prevent damage that can lead to ED. Explore the connection between ED and type 2 diabetes. There are many risk factors that may increase your likelihood of developing ED.

These risk factors are often related to blood flow and circulation. Other risk factors can include injuries. One important risk factor for ED is increasing age. You may also notice that you may require more direct stimulation to get an erection. Around 30 million U. The prevalence of ED increases with age. However, ED can also occur among younger men. One study found that 1 in 4 men seeking their first treatment for ED were under 40 years old.

A stronger correlation between smoking , drug use, and ED was observed in these men when compared with older men. This suggests that lifestyle choices are an important factor for ED in younger men. In general, the healthier you are, the better your sexual function.

Learn more about aging and ED. In many cases, you can improve your ED symptoms. Many medications and treatments are available. Certain devices, such as vacuum pumps, can also help you temporarily manage your symptoms so that you can continue to engage in sexual intercourse.

Your doctor will work closely with you to explain the benefits and risks associated with each type of treatment. That way, they can rule out underlying causes and begin a treatment plan. There are several steps you can take to help prevent ED. Many of these steps involve making healthy lifestyle changes.

You should also be sure to keep up with your regular checkups. Your doctor will monitor important clinical measurements, such as your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This can help with early identification and treatment of conditions that can potentially lead to ED. Find out more ways to prevent ED. Erectile dysfunction doesn't mean the end of your sex life. Try these lifestyle changes to reverse the symptoms of ED. Not happy with how hard your erections get?

You're not alone. Regarding diet, one side of the coin is to consume healthy foods and drinks, so that you provide your body and mind with all they need. The other side of the coin, is the damage you do to yourself by consuming unhealthy foods and drinks. If you consume more sugar glucose than your burn, this will float around your blood. It may make your blood thicker, increase blood pressure and cause atherosclerosis.

Excess sugar can also increase your levels of the free radical superoxide. Your antioxidants kill these free radicals.

But if you have more free radicals than antioxidants, these free radicals can run rampage in your body. Also, antioxidants protect nitric oxide from free radicals. With less antioxidants to protect your nitric oxide, your nitric oxide level is likely to drop.

A high salt intake can increase your blood pressure. When you have too much salt in your blood, your kidneys struggle to filter out water from your blood. Smoke contains more than 7, chemicals , many of which can cause great harm to your body. Smoking can reduce your nitric oxide levels, it can damage the normal release of dopamine in your brain, it can cause insulin resistance, it can blast stored fat into your bloodstream, it can increase your blood pressure, and more.

In other words, this may also potentially cause erectile dysfunction. Alcohol should not enter your body. At least not in large quantities. Because it is a toxin. It can therefore cause all kinds of damage.

Alcohol can damage the dopamine production in your brain. Hence, excessive consumption of alcohol can cause you to manufacture less dopamine than you should. It can also hurt the arteries to your heart, called the coronary arteries. In fact, it can damage any and all arteries in your body. This can make it harder for your arteries to produce nitric oxide.

It can also lead to an increased production of cortisol and a decreased production of testosterone. Exercise is one of the best actions you can take to combat erectile dysfunction. Because it can improve your bloodflow in several ways.

And the opposite, not exercising enough or simply being out of shape, will also often cause ED. Exercise and diet have lots in common when it comes to ED. Meaning that lack of exercise causes many of the same issues as does a poor diet.

These substances thicken your blood, which makes it flow slower around your body, particularly in your very narrow arteries. In addition, thicker blood can increase your blood pressure. Which in turn can make your arteries stiffer, make them rupture, and make them less able to produce nitric oxide. This will cause plaque build-up, which when severe, can lead to the condition called atherosclerosis.

Hence your bloodflow suffers. But your arteries compensate by expanding, so that the same bloodflow is maintained. Now they have to expand further. At some point, they cannot expand anymore. Also, as your arteries are covered with plaque, it will be much harder for them to produce nitric oxide. If you weigh more than you should, and particularly if you have a large belly, your body will likely start converting your male sex hormone testosterone into the female sex hormone estrogen.

As your muscle mass declines, you will need less energy. Which means you will burn fewer calories. And more fat means even less testosterone. And the vicious circle has started. Excess amounts of cortisol will normally reduce testosterone levels, and hence by being overweight, testosterone gets attacked by yet another front. Hence, not exercising enough, directly slows down your bloodflow, it reduces your testosterone production and it reduces your nitric oxide production.

The modern human being stresses a lot more than he probably should. And stress can be one of your worst enemies to having a normal sex-life. It is a mechanism for dealing with a situation that is perceived as potentially dangerous, or requiring special attention. Someone you think has bad intentions. You now get a burst of energy, which will make you more alert, see clearer, hear better, and mobilize extra energy in your muscles — in case you need to run or fight. What just happened was that your body produced cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, dopamine, and other chemicals, and release them into your bloodstream.

But at the same time as your body channeled resources to those parts of your body that were critical hearing, vision, muscles needed for a quick escape, etc.

Some parts of your body that were not useful in the dangerous situation, such as your reproductive system , and your immune system. Think about it: When your life is on the line, your reproductive system is not important. So you shut it off. The same happens if you stress every day. Then your body essentially shuts down your reproductive system every day. And the result is higher likelihood of erectile dysfunction.

Excess levels of cortisol will also normally reduce testosterone levels, because cortisol and testosterone compete for the same space, meaning more of one normally means less of the other. Also, elevated stress levels over a long period of time puts additional strain on your heart. And may eventually lead to heart disease, which in turn may lead to impaired bloodflow. You need sleep to restore functions that have been used extensively throughout the day muscles, hormones, etc.

And you know the feeling of not getting enough sleep, right? You get tired, slow, sluggish and fatigued. All you really want is sleep. You will normally be less interested in sex when you are tired, and you will also normally find it more difficult to get erections. Your body is simply less keen on sex. However, the most important reason why lack of sleep can cause erectile dysfunction, has to do with testosterone production.

So if you get 5 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, you will produce significantly less testosterone. And if you are sleep deprived over longer periods of time, your testosterone level is likely to be depressed.

Inadequate sleep also impacts your production of dopamine, and hence creates dopamine imbalances. By the way, if sleep deprivation goes on for long enough, bodily functions will not only slow down, but they will shut down. You may not be aware that you need sunshine to be able to function optimally sexually.

But you do. Vitamin D3 is an essential building block of testosterone. And with low testosterone levels, it will normally be very difficult for you to get and maintain erections.

Yes, you can get some vitamin D3 from foods, but it is practically impossible to get enough vitamin D3 from foods in the long run. What do you do if getting sunshine is impossible or impractical?

For instance if you live in a place where the sun seldom shines, or if you work inside during sunshine hours. But sunshine is not only important for testosterone production. Sunshine is a life-giving force that is essential for our bodies in several ways.

Your immune system needs sunshine to function optimally, sunshine increases serotonin levels and is necessary for you to be happy. Sunshine also reduces many diseases and cancers, increase fertility, and much more. Psychological factors can cause imbalances in your brain. They can cause your dopamine levels to get out of whack, your serotonin production to falter, it can ramp up production of cortisol, etc.

Common psychological issues are: Anxiety, guilt, depression, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, fear of sexual failure, indifference, etc. Although each of these factors can impact you in a specific way, they also have something in common:. With a mind filled with negative thoughts, you often will not have mental space for sex.

It therefore simply may not interest you. Or you may develop an unhealthy relationship to sexuality. This can take on many forms, but it can cause imbalances.

And as a result of these negative processes taking place in your mind, you may find it difficult to get erections. And therefore suffer from erectile dysfunction. The pelvic floor muscles are important becuase they are support your erections. Therefore, should you have weak pelvic floor muscles, your erection gets less support and it becomes more difficult to maintain erections. Should your pelvic floor on the other hand be well trained and in good shape, this will normally make it easier to keep your erections.

You can strengthen your pelvic floor with what is called Kegel exercises. Significant time spent on the bike can also lead to erectile dysfunction. But please note that biking is healthy. Only hours and hours on the bicycle seat will normally cause ED. Sitting on the saddle for long periods of time may cause damage to the nerves and arteries in this area. And these nerves and arteries are essential in the erection process.

Therefore, if you weaken the functioning of these nerves and arteries, it may be more difficult to get erections. And a possible outcome is erectile dysfunction. The sensations of libido, arousal, sexual pleasure and orgasm, are all generated in your brain. Therefore, your brain is your most important sexual organ. And in order for your brain to communicate with your penis, for instance to make it go from flaccid to erect, it sends information through your nerves and via your blood stream.

For instance, an injury to the back causing spinal cord damage , or a damaged prostate as a result of prostate surgery, can damage this information nerve system. This may make it more difficult, or impossible, to get erections. Hence this can also lead to ED. Medications for depression and anxiety can cause ED. Very often these kinds of medication are SSRIs selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These SSRI drugs interfere with your natural level of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

However, studies have shown that this can also change your production and uptake of both dopamine and testosterone. Another class of medication that often causes ED as a side-effect, are high blood-pressure drugs. Particularly beta blockers and diuretics. Beta blockers interfere with your nervous system, and sometimes also affect the signalling that instructs your penis to fill with blood.

Diuretics can reduce the bloodflow to your penis, and hence can make it difficult to get erections. It has been discovered that variations in a specific place in the genome near the SIM1 gene, have a high correlation with an increased risk of erectile dysfunction.

However, very little research has been done on this to date. Hence, we should wait for more studies before we draw firm conclusions. Venous leak describes the situation where the blood is not being retained in the penis, but rather quickly flows back out of the penis. Therefore, even if there is adequate bloodflow to the penis, you are not able to maintain an erection because the blood flows out and away. It can be caused by low nitric oxide production.

Meaning, you produce enough nitric oxide to get an erection, but not enough to maintain the erection for long. If you are struggling with erectile dysfunction, there are steps you can take to recover.

Most ED is a result of an unhealthy lifestyle. Therefore, this can in many cases be resolved by starting to live super healthy. If you want to learn how to overcome your ED naturally and permanently, I would encourage you to read this guide. Both of these factors can contribute to impotence. Several neurologic conditions can increase the risk for impotence. This can prevent you from achieving an erection.

Long-distance bicycle riders can experience temporary impotence. Repeated pressure on the buttocks and genitals can affect the function of the nerves.

Taking certain medications can affect blood flow, which can lead to ED. Examples of medications known to cause impotence include:. Conditions that affect the heart and its ability to pump blood well can cause impotence. Atherosclerosis , a condition that causes the blood vessels to become clogged, can cause impotence. High cholesterol and hypertension are also associated with increased risks for impotence. This phase can be an emotional response.

Depression and anxiety are associated with increased risk for impotence. Depression is a feeling of sadness , loss of hope, or helplessness. Fatigue related to depression can also cause impotence.

Performance anxiety can also cause impotence. Abuse of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines can also cause impotence. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism can affect your ability to achieve or maintain an erection as well.

See your doctor if you suspect that you may have a substance abuse problem. Treatments are available for impotence, including medical interventions, natural remedies, and lifestyle changes. There are a variety of medical interventions that can be used to treat impotence. Learn more about vaccine availability.

Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Related Articles. Trending Topics. Share this article via email with one or more people using the form below. Send me expert insights each week in Health Essentials News.