Sunday, June 12, 2011

Erectile Dysfunction - Causes

Erectile dysfunction is often associated with cardiovasculardiseases: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease.

Diseases leading to reduced blood flow to the penis(atherosclerosis, diabetes or the presence of a thrombus) arecauses of erectile dysfunction. In addition, vein abnormalities cancause excessive drainage of blood from the penis so that erectioncan be maintained in spite of sufficient blood flow to the penis.

Neurological diseases is another possible cause of erectiledysfunction. Nerves that go to or from the penis can cause erectiledysfunction and are often the result of surgery (commonly prostate),diseases of the spine, stroke, excessive consumption of alcohol ordrugs.

Sometimes, hormonal disorders (low testosterone) is at the origin of erectile dysfunction. Hypogonadism, characterized bydecreasing levels of testosterone affects libido and erectile function. Hypothyroidism is a rare cause of ED.

In addition, impairment of erectile function is a side effect of manydrugs, especially in elderly men. Responsible for erectile dysfunction drugs are antihypertensives, antidepressants, somesedatives, cimetidine, digoxin, and antipsychotics.

Psychological disorders - depression, performance anxiety, guilt, fear of intimacy and ambivalence with regard to sexual orientation -may reduce ability to get an erection.

Psychological causes are more common in younger men, whileorganic causes predominate in older men.

Most patients experience multiple etiological factors. It is difficult toassess the contribution of each factor to this problem. Since thepredominant organic causes, a thorough assessment is needed to properly identify the etiology of each case.

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