What causes impotence?

Impotence is a very embarrassing problem for male sexual function, because it is a manifestation of weakened male function, which can have a great impact on male function and cause great damage to male self-esteem. Therefore, countless men are very afraid that they will suffer from impotence. This disease causes great obstacles to the couple's life. Let's take a look at what causes impotence?

"Impotence" is the former name of "erectile dysfunction (ED)". In 1992, after discussion by relevant experts, the National Institutes of Health of the United States decided to replace the term impotence with erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction (ED) refers to the persistent inability of the penis to achieve and maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual intercourse in the past three months; ED is one of the most common sexual dysfunctions in men. Although ED is not a life-threatening disease, it is closely related to the patient's quality of life, sexual partner relationship, and family stability, and is also an early warning sign of many physical diseases.

1. Age

Current research suggests that age is the strongest independent factor among ED-related risk factors. As age increases, the serum androgen level decreases significantly, which may be the direct cause, but there is no research result proving that there is a significant relationship between the decrease in serum free testosterone and ED. In addition, as age increases, the structure of the penis tunica albuginea and corpus cavernosum changes, which may lead to a decrease in venous blood return capacity, an increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and the treatment of these diseases, all of which damage the penis' erectile function to varying degrees, and this trend also increases with age.

2. Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is the main somatic disease associated with ED, including atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension and myocardial infarction. Cardiovascular disease causes arterial ED by affecting the arterial blood supply to the corpus cavernosum. Some studies have also found that ED may be the primary manifestation or "warning signal" of cardiovascular disease.

3. Diabetes

Diabetes can affect erectile function by affecting the autonomic nervous system, peripheral vascular system and psychoneural system. The severity and prevalence of ED are significantly related to factors such as age of diabetes, type of diabetes, blood sugar control, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy and hypertension.

4. Abnormal blood lipid metabolism

The role of hypercholesterolemia in sexual dysfunction is controversial. One study showed that men with total cholesterol (TC) greater than 240 mg/dl had a 1.83 times higher risk of ED than men with TC less than 180 mg/dl. In the MMAS (Massachusetts Aging Male Study), high-density lipoprotein was negatively correlated with the prevalence of ED.