Erectile pathology (male impotence) is a sexual pathology defined by the inability to develop and hold sufficient erection for satisfactory sexual performance.
Erection occurs as a presssure of blood enters and is being preserved in a sponge-like bodies within the penis. The process is most often initiated as a result of sexual arousal, when signals are transmitted from the brain to nerves in the pelvis.
Erectile pathology is indicated when erection is consistently difficult or impossible to produce, despite arousal. There are various and often binary underlying causes, whatever of which are treatable medical conditions.
The most important organic causes are cardiovascular disease and diabetes, neurological problems (for example, trauma from prostatectomy surgery), hormonal insufficiencies (hypogonadism) and drug side effects.
Erectile dysfunction can often be a psychological problem or relationship problem. Psychological impotence is where building or onset fails due to thoughts or feelings (psychological reasons) rather than physical impossibility.
Notably in psychological impotence, there is a great response to placebo treatment. Erectile dysfunction, tied closely as it is to cultural notions of potency, success and masculinity, hit severe psychological consequences.
Some people are quiet and with inability to discuss the matter. In reality, it has been estimated that around 1 in 10 men will undergo continual impotence problems later in their lives.
Besides treating the underlying causes and psychological consequences, the first line treatment of erectile pathology consists of a trial of PDE5 inhibitor drugs (the first of which was sildenafil or Viagra).
In whatever cases, treatment involve prostaglandin tablets in the urethra, intracavernous injections with a dustlike harry into the member that cause swelling, a penile prosthesis, a member viscus or tube reconstructive surgery.
There are also many alternative therapies used to improve sexual function. Some include: niacin, zinc, copper, Korean red ginseng root, ginkgo, pine bark, Tribulus terrestris, arginine, Avena sativa, horny goat weed, maca root, muira puama, saw palmetto, and Swedish flower pollen. None of these however have been recognized as effective by the FDA.
While zinc deficiency may be a cause of lower testosterone levels in hemodialysis patients, which may benefit from zinc supplementation, such supplements have no effect on the testosterone levels of healthy males who consume a zinc-sufficient diet.
