Is Erectile Dysfunction a Symptom or a Disease?

According to Dictionary.com (medical dictionaries do not provide any better definition than those that follow), a Symptom is a phenomenon that arises from and accompanies a particular disease or disorder and serves as an indication of it.

A Disease is a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment. 

Few diseases have just one symptom; most have several. Sometimes there’s one big symptom that points a physician to a particular diagnosis. As an example, the appearance of specific skin eruptions will flag measles – a viral infection – as a disease that needs little additional testing to confirm. Fever and a red, inflamed and irritated throat can lead to a quick identification of Strep throat, a bacterial infection, but often a culture is taken to rule out any other possible cause.

What about one disease, here dis-ease might be more appropriate, such as erectile dysfunction, that is the result of the cumulative effect of many causes? Medical science doesn’t really have a name for that. Sure, if a man has had surgery or an injury to the erectile mechanism, there may be a single reason for lack of function, but 70%+ of men with ED, don’t have any identifiable cause. Unless we look at lifestyle, of course.

Taking genetic and developmental errors out of the definition, these men – the 70%+ -- can point to almost all of the other “disease” factors as the reason for their inability to get an erection: infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity,  unfavorable environmental factors, illness, sickness, and ailments.

Here’s what you have:

·                     Infection: your dietary habits, especially the consumption of processed sugar, opens your body to yeast infection. Your woman may buy some vaginal ointment to get her through a bad bout, but you might have caught it too. It can fester in your penis, and you can pass it back to her. Further, if you’ve had oral sex – presumably when she’s asymptomatic – you might have ingested it as well. It can live in your gastro-intestinal  tract and blossom when you pound down an entire bag of M&Ms or honey roasted peanuts. Yeast – Candida – will stress your adrenal glands and throw your hormones out of balance. It will contribute to erectile dysfunction.

·                     Poisons: aspartame (artificial sweetener), chlorine and fluorine in water, food dyes, nitrates in processed meats, and all those things you can’t pronounce that are listed in the ingredients of your packaged foods are all poisons. Many are cytotoxins that kill cells in the body, numb your nervous system, and again, stress your adrenals.

·                     Nutritional deficiency and imbalance: Duh! It is unlikely you’d be reading this if you didn’t have a diet from hell. I don’t mean diet as in “weight loss.” I mean diet as the complement of food and drink you consume. When was the last time you had a salad – or maybe a salad a day for an entire week? I’ve written a lot about this, including my book “HARD!” It’s a major factor in losing your bone.

·                     Toxicity: There’s lots of overlap here. Infections, poisons, and unfavorable environmental factors all lead to toxicity. Pain medications – excluding aspirin – and other prescription and over the counter drugs tox you badly. The pesticides on your food and in your water add devastatingly to the toxic load on your body. This goes straight to your man-parts.

·                     Unfavorable environmental factors: Ever come home and the little lady has scrubbed the floors and polished the furniture, and removed all the soap scum from the bathrooms, and cleaned all the windows? Okay, me neither. But when there is cleaning to do and the cleaners, solvents and polish are aerosolized in your home, it will tax your liver and contribute to shutting down your dick. Certainly if you use a polish for your tires or dashboard, or spruce up the leather seats of the car with a particular product from whose lawyers I’d rather not get a letter, you’re inhaling those fumes for weeks until they finally dissipate. The new carpet or paint at the office will do the same. They weaken the body’s ability to communicate within itself. Orders from the brain to boner mechanics don’t get there effectively, and when they do, the valves that control erection hydraulics don’t respond as they should.

·                     Illnesses, sicknesses and ailments: All of the other factors I’ve bulleted suppress your immune system. You become susceptible to getting sick. Sickness itself will stress your internal organs as they try to support an immune system that's under attack. Non essential functions, like erections, get shut down as other systems drain resources to try to keep your alive.

·                     Mental and emotional stress: I guess this might have been included as an “ailment,” but it’s so fundamental to maintaining or regaining full erectile function that I thought I’d break it out separately. I’m not going to convince you to ignore all the shit that’s happening in your life. You may be out of work or working for a complete asshole, and in a lousy relationship, and not having gotten laid in about a year, and finding out you’ve got bone issues when you anniversary comes around. Plus there is the political and social scene [see: http://robinader.com/BanNews.htm], and more. But you’ve got to understand that internalizing all this and letting it foment in your mind is going to blind your dick to any opportunity that comes along.

So have I answered the question? Erectile dysfunction is both a disease, and a symptom of many other diseases and effects.

I treat each of these in my book. The good news is that while you may have many causes of your ED, you may only have to deal with some of them and only to some degree to bring you back up above the threshold you crossed that stopped your dick from working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2nd Edition updated May 2012 is "NOT just for those with Erectile Dysfunction"

HARD! Maintaining Potency, Eliminating Erectile Dysfunction, and Enjoying Healthy Sex for Life is for all men who want to keep functioning well  throughout their life. This concise and powerful men’s health guide provides a protocol for how to do everything right.

Available at BN.com/Nook, Apple, and Amazon/Kindle.

Also available in iBooks, Kobo, Sony and all eBook formats for immediate download:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65109.

Viagra® and Cialis® go Generic – Is This Dangerous?

Sildenafil citrate, marketed as Viagra® by Pfizer, Inc. is beginning to become available in generic form as the patent on this medication expires around the world. Already available in Brazil and New Zealand, ownership of the formula expires in the United States in March of 2012. This will bring the cost of the erectile dysfunction medication which averages over $20 per pill in the US down to about $8. 

Cialis® goes generic in 2016.

 

Is this good news? I say, not necessarily.

There is a danger in taking these quick fix medications to address erectile dysfunction. I’ve written about this extensively in other articles on this blog and in my book – see link at bottom of post. Suffice it to say that the side effects and contraindications for these medications are extensive. So, I’m not going to beat that point to death again here.

However, there’s a new phenomenon. Men, most often over 50, but some as young as their early 20s, are taking these medications where no erectile dysfunction exists. Suffering from performance anxiety, an entirely psychological malady, men are seeking the drugs as they enter into new relationships, often after a long period of – albeit involuntary – celibacy. They are uncertain. They are afraid of the embarrassment.

Taken in this context, the drugs act entirely as a placebo, assuring men of performance where the mere stimulation of a lover’s touch would most likely be sufficient to attain erection.

Many doctors know this. They write a script for a small number of pills just to jump start a patient who thinks he’s got a problem, but has no diagnosable basis of his dysfunction. The savvy physician will advise a patient that, having successfully made love to his partner a few times, he should try going the distance without taking a pill. Most often the medications are no longer necessary; he and his partner live and love happily ever after.

There’s also a middle ground. Some men, most often those past 40 whose lifestyle – nutrition and exercise habits – have left them in poor physical condition, suffer from what they perceive to be the inability to get “hard enough.” Not as turgid as they were in their 20s, they demand prescriptions for ED meds – most often Viagra® or Cialis® – to firm them up.

They do not have erectile dysfunction. They have pre-dysfunctional warning signs that they should heed. They should get on a treadmill and cut out some of the poison they ingest – read my book. Taking an ED medication because you begin to feel that you’re losing your potency, is like putting face makeup to cover the burgeoning skin cancer that growing on your nose.

They will experience complete erectile dysfunction anyway. When they start having heart disease other maladies of “getting older,” they’ll be forced to take nitrates, beta blockers, or alpha blockers. They won’t be able to take ED drugs because of their other medications. They won’t be able to get it up. They’ll just be hanging around waiting to die.

The danger of Viagra® and Cialis® going generic lies in human nature. Once these medications are inexpensive enough to be purchased in bulk and on a whim, their use will increase exponentially. Ironically, not among those men that really need them; those guys are finding the resources to purchase them at their currently obscene prices.

The man who just wants to be harder without listening to his body screaming for health will take these drugs when they are just not needed.

The recreational user – perhaps even teens – will start to experiment with these powerful medications that impact the biochemistry of a man’s entire body. And they’ll do so just to get a tougher bone. The urban myths will abound about taking these drugs in high doses or combinations, “...will double the length of your dick, man.”

I’m not anti-drug. I think the DEA should be dismantled and that marijuana should be legalized. Hell, I think pot should be mandatory in the Halls of Congress – those guys really need to just chill the eF out.

But of all the things that a man does, making love – or just fun sex – should be experienced as close to nature as possible. Keep your body healthy through diet and a modicum of exercise and you will be able to perform well for life. As far as not being able to pound a 10-penny nail through a mahogany board with your pecker like you used to – live with it. She’s more than willing to.

* * *

2nd Edition updated May 2012 is not just for men with erectile dysfunction.

HARD! Maintaining Potency, Eliminating Erectile Dysfunction, and Enjoying Healthy Sex for Life is for all men who want to keep functioning throughout their life. This concise and powerful men’s health guide provides a protocol for how to do everything right.

Available at BN.com/Nook, Apple, and Amazon/Kindle.

Also available in all eBook formats for immediate download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65109.

The Taste of Semen: A Women’s Guide to Men

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Erectile Dysfunction & Erection Drugs: Not a lifetime solution

A friend of mine, a man in his early fifties who has beat the living shit out of his body both physically and chemically his entire life got a new girlfriend a few months ago. An instant envy kind of woman. A lady in her 40s, not only is she great looking both in face and body, but she’s got a libido to match that of any man of her age... and perhaps 10 years younger.

My buddy couldn’t keep up. In fact, he couldn’t get it up. The first of my friends to “come out,” he admitted getting a prescription for one of the high-profile medications for his erectile dysfunction from a doctor who was willing to write the script without even the bother of an examination.

$600. Thirty pills at $20 per pill. He bought just 5 to start, though he’s probably sprung for a lot of additional money since; I last saw him and his lady almost two months ago. When we spoke on the phone more recently, he said things were still going “strong.”

I’d be disingenuous if I didn’t report that he was very, very satisfied with the way the drug brought good things back to life. Unlike the pharmaceutical companies, I’m not going to leave something out of my story to make a point. Most of the time, the pills work. And if you’re otherwise in a reasonable state of fitness – and you can afford them – they certainly act well as a quick fix.

While in his 50s now, he certainly wants to make it to his 60s and beyond. I can’t see him – as I cannot see any man – deciding to give up sex at any time while there’s still life in his body.

But with age, comes other issues. If you have not been the paragon of health -- exercise and balanced nutrition – for much of your life, other things will start to go wrong. Diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and other heart and circulatory issues will occur. You’ll be taking medications for your life-threatening challenges that can conflict with erectile dysfunction drugs.

In short, you won’t be able to take Viagra®, Cialis®, or any of the other ED drugs because the combination of these with your other medications can kill you – or worse – can cause you to collapse at the most embarrassing moment. And forget about a four-hour erection... you don’t have that kind of luck.

Here’s a brief synopsys:

• You can’t take ED drugs if you’re also taking nitrates that are often prescribed for chest pain in men with angina or other aspects of heart disease, an all-to-common dimension to western longevity.
• You shouldn’t take ED medication if you have liver disease, kidney disease, or either high or low blood pressure.
• If you think your eyesight might normally go bad as you age, PDE5 inhibitors – some oral ED medicines including Viagra – can cause sudden decrease or loss of vision. Hearing, too. I said, IT CAN EFFECT YOUR HEARING, TOO! Viagra’s web site says, “It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to the PDE5 inhibitors or to other factors.” Cialis says about the same thing. Great. They don’t even know why.
• Prostate issues and alpha blocker medications. Not the best thing to which to add ED meds.
• Stroke and blood cell issues may also disqualify you from using these drugs.
• Viagra, Cialis and the others don’t protect you against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Actually, not taking them does.
• Plus, The most common side effects of VIAGRA are headache, facial flushing, and upset stomach. Less commonly, bluish vision, blurred vision, or sensitivity to light may briefly occur. For Cialis: headache, indigestion, back pain, muscle aches, flushing, and stuffy or runny nose.

Erectile Dysfunction drugs are a wonder of pharmaceutical science. They’d be much more effective if, like your natural biochemistry, they acted only on your dick. But they dose your entire body. Every organ of your body gets a taste of your ED medications and some parts of your body just don’t like it... especially your heart.

We don’t yet have a clear picture of what long-term use of these drugs will be. Even men in their 50s that may have been early adopters of Viagra – introduced barely a dozen years ago – don’t know how they’ll react to its use when they are in their 70s.

Will lifetime users still have the urge? What unintended consequences may we discover? What stress is put on the adrenal glands and liver by dosing them with this additional chemical assault?

You want a lifetime cure? Read my book:

HARD! Maintaining Potency, Eliminating Erectile Dysfunction, and Enjoying Healthy Sex for Life is not just for those with ED, but for all men who want to keep functioning throughout their life. A concise and powerful men’s health guide, HARD! provides a protocol for how to do everything right. 

Available at BN.com/Nook, Apple, and Amazon/Kindle.

Also available in all eBook formats for immediate download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65109.

The Danger of Ignoring Erectile Dysfunction

There are two points I want to make. First, while a cigar is sometimes just a cigar, erectile dysfunction is sometimes NOT just erectile dysfunction. ED can be a symptom of a much more serious problem. It could be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

If you haven’t already been diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes, loss of potency can be an early warning sign. Get a checkup. There are other diseases associated with loss of the ability to get an erection including, but not limited to, some of the nastier prostate issues. Get a checkup.

Even if you think you never will need an erection again, if through some unforeseen series of circumstances you discover that you can’t – get a checkup. It could save your life.

Topic number next:

Some of you are unsure of your potency. Masturbation may work “okay.” Certainly you can have an orgasm and ejaculation, but you’re not as hard as you used to be. Perhaps it only works some of the time, and you may be unsure if you can perform with sufficient success, should you get an invitation to a new partner's bed.

Some of you may have given up, confident in your lack of confidence about ever attracting a mate.

Stranger things have happened than your finding someone with whom to have sex. Alright, it’s not going to be Charleze Theron who recently announced on national TV that she’s looking for a man, but you may run into a nice woman with a warm smile. Suffering from an undiagnosed cerebral lesion, she may find you attractive.

Penis size is like money. It's only important to the extent that you don't have it.

You don’t want your dick to permanently shrink to the point of embarrassment. You don’t want the guy to be too small to really do the job. 

Long, short or average, you want to exercise your muscle to keep your bone the length it always has been. However, your dick is neither muscle nor bone. Muscles can be reinvigorated if it shrinks, your penis can’t. And there’s no bone there, so taking your mother’s osteoporosis medication is not going to help you.

If you discover you have difficulty getting an erection, don’t give up and say, “Well, I’m never going to get laid again anyway,” unless you have some reason why you just don’t want to ever have sex again – in which case you wouldn’t be reading this.

Read the previous post: Erectile Dysfunction and Permanent Penile Shrinkage. It's free. And buy my book. It's not free, but for the cost of just one latte...

* * *

2nd Edition updated May 2012 is "NOT just for those with Erectile Dysfunction"

HARD! Maintaining Potency, Eliminating Erectile Dysfunction, and Enjoying Healthy Sex for Life is for all men who want to keep functioning well  throughout their life. This concise and powerful men’s health guide provides a protocol for how to do everything right.

Available at BN.com/Nook, Apple, and Amazon/Kindle.

Also available in iBooks, Kobo, Sony and all eBook formats for immediate download:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65109.

Erectile Dysfunction and Permanent Penile Shrinkage

Most men – in the United States – are familiar with the television show Seinfeld. In their 85th episode, entitled “The Hamptons” that aired on May 24, 1994, the term Shrinkage, came into the American-English lexicon.

The scene (in brief): George Castanza goes swimming in the cold waters of the Atlantic. He returns to his room and while changing out of his swimming attire, Jerry’s girlfriend accidentally walks in on him and sees him in Full Monte. George is embarrassed by his state of contraction and claims he is a victim of “shrinkage,” which, as every guy has experienced, happens in cold water regardless of your normal hang.

A penis is composed of a spongy material fed by arteries, emptied by veins, and wrapped in skin. When the arteries open up to let blood in and the veins close capturing that blood inside, an erection occurs. When resting, the artery that allows blood in is pretty much closed. Only a little blood gets through the valve to keep your penis alive. The process is described in more detail in other postings of this blog and in my book linked at the bottom of this page.

The amount of ambient pressure in your penis determines your normal hang and varies from guy to guy, and often from one thought to the next. However, when bathed in cold water, the artery that allows blood into your penis contracts and less blood flows in. Your penis gets temporarily smaller, until it warms up again. Shrinkage is not just a cutesy name for the phenomenon, it’s a valid descriptor. And that’s where the joke ends.

Prolonged impotence – lack of an erection due to erectile dysfunction – allows your penis to atrophy.

The spongy tissue that swells so nicely in a healthy man will shrink permanently.

A man who enjoyed an average 6-inch erection (measured from above the penis as a gauge of the depth of vaginal penetration) may lose an inch or more of this tissue. Those with longer organs will lose more – it’s a percentage thing – and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Even if you regain erectile health, your dick will be forever shorter.

If you have the type of erectile dysfunction that still allows you to get even transitory erections – perhaps only through masturbation, alone or with help – then DO IT! Keep your organ in the game. Several times a week, get that erection and keep it going for a few minutes if you can.

And here’s where I advice you against your best interest. Those of you that have read my writings, in my book or elsewhere on this blog, know that I discourage use of the ED drugs – Viagra®, Cialis®, and the others. Their side effects are unacceptable and they don’t address other important health issues that lead to a vibrant sex life.

With that in mind, even if you don’t have an available partner at the moment, a case can be made for the use of a very small dose – 5 mg or less – of one of the ED medications solely for the purpose of promoting regular erections sufficient to keep your penis at its normal length.

Better than this, of course, is to follow the guidelines I’ve set forth in my book, HARD!, that will put you on a course to healthy sexual function, normal erections, and a longer – double entendre intended – happier life.

2nd Edition updated May 2012 is "NOT just for those with Erectile Dysfunction"

HARD! Maintaining Potency, Eliminating Erectile Dysfunction, and Enjoying Healthy Sex for Life is for all men who want to keep functioning well  throughout their life. This concise and powerful men’s health guide provides a protocol for how to do everything right.

Available at BN.com/Nook, Apple, and Amazon/Kindle.

Also available in iBooks, Kobo, Sony and all eBook formats for immediate download:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65109.