The relationship between the prostate and sexual function

Prostatitis is a very serious disease for men, because when men suffer from prostatitis, not only will their sexual function be affected, but their urinary system will also be infected. During sexual intercourse, women will also suffer from gynecological diseases due to men's diseases, so timely treatment is necessary. So what is the relationship between the prostate and sexual function?

In recent years, with some media publicity, many men have become more and more concerned about the problem of prostate disease. This is not only because its incidence rate is getting higher and higher, but more importantly, the health of the prostate is closely related to the strength of male sexual function.

The prostate is an important male sex gland, located at the exit of the male bladder. The relationship between the prostate and male sexual function is still under research in the medical community. Although there are often new discoveries, there are still many unanswered questions. Generally speaking, the prostate can be regarded as the internal sexual characteristics of men. When the secondary sexual characteristics of men begin to develop during puberty, the pituitary gland stimulates the growth of the testicles. At this time, in addition to the growth of sperm, the testicles also begin to secrete a large amount of male testosterone. Under the stimulation of this hormone, the prostate begins to grow; that is, the prostate can only develop normally if the testicles function normally.

When a man is sexually stimulated, the changes in his external genitalia are more obvious, such as the erection of the penis and the lifting of the testicles, but the changes in the prostate are less known. During normal ejaculation, the prostate will produce rhythmic contractions, participate in the formation of orgasm, and at the same time tighten the bladder neck to prevent semen from retrograde into the bladder. When the prostate is removed for various reasons, it is possible to cause "retrograde ejaculation" (i.e. semen is retrogradely ejected into the bladder during ejaculation and discharged with the next urination).

The more common prostate diseases in clinical practice include prostatitis, prostate hypertrophy and prostate cancer.

Prostatitis is most common in men aged 25 to 50. Because they are in the age group of frequent sexual life, the impact of prostatitis on male sexual function is more obvious. When acute prostatitis attacks, there will be symptoms such as chills, fever, and local severe pain. At this time, the slightest erection will cause pain, so there are few sexual dysfunctions. In patients with chronic prostatitis, various sexual dysfunctions are prone to occur, such as impotence, premature ejaculation, and low libido. There is soreness and swelling in the perineum, scrotum, and testicles, as well as white urine, lower abdominal and lower back pain, etc.

Prostate enlargement generally does not directly lead to sexual dysfunction, but people with prostate enlargement are often older, and it is normal for older men to have declining sexual function. Therefore, some experts believe that there may be no direct relationship between the two.

Early prostate cancer will not affect sexual function. In the later stage, when prostate cancer causes urinary tract obstruction, urinary tract infection, and local pain, sexual function will be affected. If cancer cells invade the nerves that control penile erection, it will be difficult for the penis to erect. Or cancer cells invade the corpus cavernosum of the penis, sometimes causing persistent abnormal erection of the penis. This erection is often painful and not hard enough for sexual intercourse.

Abnormal sexual function caused by prostate disease often has the following early manifestations: frequent soreness of the genitals during erection, frequent premature ejaculation during intercourse, soreness of the urethra and perineum after ejaculation. This phenomenon usually lasts for 1 to 2 days; some people often feel swelling in the perineum and need frequent ejaculation to get relief; some people lose their sexual desire due to discomfort in the genitals, etc. Therefore, if adult men have the above symptoms that persist, they should pay close attention to the health of the prostate and seek medical treatment as soon as possible.