Male Impotency
Impotency is a consistent inability to sustain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. Medical professionals often use the term “erectile dysfunction” to describe this disorder and to differentiate it from other problems that interfere with sexual intercourse, such as lack of sexual desire and problems with ejaculation and orgasm. This fact sheet focuses on impotence defined as erectile dysfunction.
Impotency can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. These variations make defining impotence and estimating its incidence difficult. Experts believe impotence affects between 10 and 15 million American men. In 1985, the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey counted 525,000 doctor-office visits for erectile dysfunction.
Impotency usually has a physical cause, such as disease, injury, or drug side effects. Any disorder that impairs blood flow through the penis has the potential to cause impotence. Incidence rises with age: about five percent of men at the age of 40 and between 15 and 25 percent of men at the age of 65 experience impotence. Yet, it is not an inevitable part of aging.
Impotency is treatable in many age groups, and awareness of this fact has been growing. More men have been seeking help and returning to near-normal sexual activity because of improved, successful treatments for impotency. Urologists, who specialize in problems of the urinary tract, have traditionally treated impotency-especially complications of impotence.
The treatment for impotency is usually more complicated than one single approach. First, a distinction needs to be made between men with organic erectile dysfunction and those with so-called “psychogenic” impotence.
Men who never experience an erection because of vascular disease should be referred to a urological specialist. Caution should be taken with the use of medications which dilate blood vessels, such as Viagra, because men with advanced vascular disease in the penis probably have a similar condition in the heart and other tissues and are at great risk of major complications from drug use (such as a heart attack or stroke). Men who use nitroglycerin type medications for angina should be especially cautious and should consult with their cardiologists before strenuous sexual activity or the use of any sexual enhancing drug.
With respect to so-called “psychogenic impotence”, it is rarely purely psychological. Aging, hormones and overall physical and mental well-being all factor into the condition. The psychological problems of the male mid-life crisis along with depression are also major contributing factors. Many doctors agree that if a man has an understanding partner, monitors his medications, alcohol intake and eating habits, stops smoking, and improves the health of his vascular system through aerobic workouts, he will almost certainly see an improvement in his overall wellness and sexual impotency.
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