Erectile dysfunction (ED) is when a man can’t sustain an erection long enough to finish having sex or cannot get an erection. Men who are older than 65 years old are at high risk of developing ED. It is a myth that ED is part of the aging process. It’s common for men to have ED during their early twenties and as you get older, you become less sensitive. Older men should still able to get an erection and enjoy sex.

There are multiple causes of ED. They are more likely to occur with
people who have the following medical problems:

Diabetes (high sugar levels)

Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

It is very common for people that have high blood pressure to experience impotence. The reason being is that their penis does not have good blood circulation.

Other physical causes are nerve damage due to surgery or trauma, brain or spinal injuries, hormone dysfunctions, alcohol abuse and liver failure. If you have any of the above conditions, see your doctor to get blood tests and advice. The other main reason why men develop ED is because of psychological factors. They would have problems because either they had a bad experience (for example, previous episode of impotence), feeling stressed from family or work issues, depression and problems in your relationship with your sex partner.

Society has a heavy influence on men today. Having a good sex drive is very important of our own measure of success and masculinity. If we lose that, it can have devastating to our personal image including feelings of loss or inadequacy and shame. There is a strong culture of silence and inability to discuss the matter.
In fact, approximately one in ten men will eventually experience recurring impotence at some point in their lives. Considering there are three billion men in the world, it is amazing to conclude that 300 million men will eventually have erectile dysfunction!

There are no formal tests to diagnose erectile dysfunction. Blood test can be performed to determine the underlying conditions such as diabetes and hormone changes. The most useful way to determine if the erectile dysfunction is due to psychological (mental) or physiological (physical) problem is to distinguish whether the patient ever has an erection. If the man sometimes (doesn’t matter if it’s rarely), it most likely to be a combination of physiological and psychological but if it never becomes erect then it would be physiological problem. If you do think your erectile dysfunction is due to a psychological problem, see your doctor for a referral to a psychologist or a counselor. Don’t be embarrass to acknowledge you have a problem because there are a lot of men (a lot more than you think) have ED but won’t admit to it. The first and hardest step in curing your problem is to admit you have a problem.