What Are the Seven Main Causes of Erectile Dysfunction?

Men can fail to have erections for truly benign reasons at any age, but if it happens more than half the time when you’re trying to have one, you may have one or more risk factors for erectile dysfunction, and may in fact be suffering from it. Although this may be embarrassing and even humiliating, erectile dysfunction can signify far more serious problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure, among other things.

Following are seven major causes of erectile dysfunction and what you should do about them.

Diabetes
In order to have a healthy erection, blood vessels, nerves, a healthy libido, and proper amounts of male hormones are also necessary.

Diabetes can interfere specifically with the nerves or blood vessels that help an erection happen. So even if you have normal sexual desire and healthy hormone levels, if you have diabetes, you may still not experience a proper erection.

Drug interactions
Drugs, whether prescribed or illegal, can interfere with proper erectile function. It may surprise you to know that if you abuse drugs meant to help with erectile dysfunction, like Viagra, you can actually cause erectile difficulties.

In addition, other drugs that may contribute to erectile dysfunction are those used for diabetes, high blood pressure, or even drugs prescribed to treat seasonal allergies. Illegal drugs, too, can cause erectile difficulties, including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin.

Alcohol can also cause difficulties with having an erection; although it can make you want to have sex, as Shakespeare put it, “It provokes the desire, but takes away the performance.”

High blood pressure     
If you have high blood pressure, it can cause problems with the arteries in the penis just as it can with the arteries in the other parts of your body. These arteries can fail to dilate fully, thus resulting in failure to have an erection.

Smoking, too, can cause erectile dysfunction because it increases blood pressure and damages blood vessels.

Anxiety and stress    
Although not necessarily a physical cause, anxiety and stress over performance can in fact cause you to fail to have an erection. However, experts from the American Urological Association say that up to 75% of erectile dysfunction cases are physical rather than psychological in nature.

Overweight/obesity   
If you are overweight or obese, you may have difficulty having sex because of lack of stamina or problems with body image. Even losing just 10% of your excess weight can greatly improve your sex life.

Atherosclerosis   
Atherosclerosis, which is a disease of the blood vessels and heart, can cause erectile dysfunction. That’s because plaque can build up and harden artery walls everywhere in the body, including the arteries of the penis. This then prevents an adequate blood flow to the penis, resulting in failure to have an erection.

These are just a few factors that can contribute to erectile dysfunction. If you have any of them, though, you can take measures to correct these problems and therefore reduce the probability that you are going to have problems with erectile dysfunction.

If you are someone who highly values your sexual performance and thinks it makes you more masculine or worthy, you may find it especially embarrassing to have problems in this area. However, men’s health breakthroughs mean that you no longer have to suffer with this disorder in silence.
Media attention has made the public in general much more aware of erectile dysfunction; if you do have problems with this, make sure you talk to your partner about it and your doctor as well.

Ayurveda Remedies for Erectile Dysfunction