Age
Erectile dysfunction is an age-related problem. The older the man, the more likely it is to meet difficulties in sex relations. However, everything is not so simple even in natural aging, when the level of male sex hormones decreases and a gradual decrease in sex life occurs, including libido and potency.
A study by scientists at the University of Massachusetts found that 28% of men between the ages of 30 and 40 already have certain erectile function problems; among men over 40, their number exceeds 40%; every second man over the age of 50 knows what permanent or episodic erectile dysfunction is. Obviously, this is not about the age when the lack of an erection can be taken for granted.
It has long been known that your age is not always a direct reflection of the biological age. The preservation of health and the prolongation of youth largely determines the lifestyle that a man keeps.
Lifestyle and habits
During the entire history of mankind, a man performs the difficult role of a leader. Although in the modern world the conditions of “hunting” have long changed, not everyone could adapt to them. The assurances of the andrologists that every man is naturally endowed with remarkable sexual potential – the so-called 15-fold margin of safety – seem unreal and fantastic. Meanwhile, only the ability of a man to satisfy several women at a time helped mankind to survive in the most difficult periods of evolutionary development.
An irrational, unbalanced diet, sedentary lifestyle, bad habits, constant stress and nervous tension are imperceptible but purposefully kills male abilities to keep a long sexual life. Ultimately, the pursuit of leadership in the social, professional sphere and material well-being turns into non-satisfaction of sexual life.
Naturally, a man who cares about his health will have to make another choice: either happy sexual longevity or bad habits, coupled with poor nutrition. There is no other choice. In matters of male potency, smoking, alcohol abuse, unbalanced diet are not so terrible in themselves, as their influence on the general condition of the systems and organs of the male body.
Smoking causes vascular disease, significantly impairs the blood supply to all organs of the human body. At the same time, the physiological mechanism of erection is provided primarily due to intensive blood flow to the penis. It turns out that heavy smokers suffer from erectile dysfunction 2 times more often than those who are not burdened with nicotine addiction.
An irregular, unbalanced diet with an emphasis on fatty, spicy, fried food results in an increase in blood cholesterol levels, obesity, and also damage to the blood vessels’ walls.
The abuse of alcohol, whether it is beer or a 5-star brandy, inevitably leads to the complete disruption of the entire male reproductive system, which is reflected in a significant decrease in testosterone levels.
In other words, smoking and alcohol will probably not affect male potency. But erectile dysfunction is virtually unavoidable caused by an unhealthy lifestyle of a man.
Diseases
Facts suggest that over 40% of men who suffer from erectile dysfunction have a history of cardiac and vascular disease; 33-35% – diabetes mellitus and hormone problems, including age androgen deficiency; 10% – neurological disorders. About 7-10% of men with erectile dysfunction underwent surgery on the organs of the urogenital system (prostate and kidney diseases are among the leading ones). And only 1-2% of men experience erectile dysfunction due to congenital or acquired problems associated directly with the penis.
Medicines
In about 10–15% of men with the presence of a conscious desire for sexual intercourse, a medication that is not related to his sexual health provokes lack of erection. In medicine, there is a clear definition of this cause: drug-associated erectile dysfunction.
Psychological factor
Shame, fear, stress, resentment, depression, waiting for failure, low self-esteem and echoes of growing up in a Puritan family can become a real psychological obstacle for a man to a full sex life. The nature of psychogenic erectile dysfunction is so deep that it requires a separate discussion. There are no irreversible psychological conditions leading to erectile dysfunction. In every 5th case of erectile dysfunction, the sex life of a man returns to normal without outside intervention. Only some cases require work with a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Sometimes the only way to solve the problem is to change the sexual partner.