Talk openly about this private issue and let more people know about erectile dysfunction!

Author: Tian Long, Chief Physician, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Guan Youyan, deputy chief physician, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

From a privacy perspective, people rarely discuss erectile dysfunction in public. Many patients do not seek medical treatment for the sake of face, which not only aggravates the condition but also causes tension in the relationship between the couple.

Today, we will use the form of an article to talk to you about the issue of erectile dysfunction.

1. Is erectile dysfunction the same as impotence?

Erectile dysfunction is an imported word defined by modern medicine. A word that we are all particularly familiar with before is "impotence", which is named by our traditional Chinese medicine, or "impotence".

Erectile dysfunction is actually defined as the difficulty for a male penis to reach sufficient hardness to complete sexual intercourse, or the difficulty in maintaining hardness during sexual intercourse to complete sexual intercourse. This situation is called erectile dysfunction.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

Its incidence is actually quite high. A classic data is a survey of people of different ages conducted in Massachusetts, USA in the 1990s, which found that about 42% of people aged 40-70 suffered from varying degrees of erectile dysfunction.

In China, the male population is about 700 million, and the number of middle-aged and elderly men is at least 400 million. If we judge only by the data from the United States, the number of men with erectile dysfunction in my country is also very large.

From another perspective, the proportion of young people suffering from erectile dysfunction is also slowly increasing.

Therefore, erectile dysfunction is not a small matter between two people, but a big matter concerning the nation. Only when the family is harmonious can the whole society be more harmonious.

2. Is erectile dysfunction caused by psychological factors?

The causes of erectile dysfunction can be divided into three categories. The first category is psychological factors, and the second category is organic factors. However, in most cases, psychological and organic factors are mixed together. We call it a mixed cause.

From the perspective of psychological factors, we all know that people can only have this desire when they have met their basic living needs and are mentally relaxed. Therefore, one of the most common psychological factors is excessive psychological pressure.

This pressure may come from social work, or from his wife or girlfriend. As for the pressure from his wife, he may subconsciously want to perform better, but the pressure from his wife sometimes makes him have the opposite effect.

In addition, being in a state of anxiety and tension for a long time is also a relatively obvious sub-healthy psychological state. These psychological factors will affect erectile function in various aspects.

So from a psychological perspective, there needs to be a relaxed, pleasant and desirable environment. If this situation occurs during the startup phase, the pressure will be too great and it will be difficult to reach a very relaxed state, which may cause startup difficulties.

Some male compatriots actually have a good start, but during the maintenance process, they may be affected due to psychological factors. What factors will affect erectile function during the maintenance stage?

We all know that the brain actually has a reward and punishment mechanism. If an event is repeatedly encouraged, it is a positive reward mechanism, and then the person will perform better and better in this process.

If a punishment mechanism appears in a certain process, such as a bad performance at a certain time, or during sexual intercourse, his wife gives him a negative emotional impact, or criticism, or contempt, or even disgust, etc.

In this process, the reward and punishment mechanism will be affected by negative emotions, leading to erectile dysfunction.

Therefore, psychological factors can lead to erectile dysfunction.

3. What diseases can cause erectile dysfunction?

Erectile dysfunction caused by disease can be divided into four types: vascular, neurological, endocrine, and local organ abnormalities.

Figure 2 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

The so-called vascular type is mainly due to abnormalities in the function of arteries or veins, which causes changes in the hemodynamics of the penis during erection, leading to erectile dysfunction.

The so-called neurological diseases are erectile dysfunction caused by central or peripheral nerve diseases or injuries due to various reasons. Central diseases include stroke, spinal cord disease, multiple atrophy, etc.; peripheral diseases include diabetes, alcoholism, uremia, multiple neuropathy, etc.

The third situation is endocrine factors. We know that androgen plays a very important role in the entire male sexual function. The earlier the androgen decline occurs, the greater the harm to the male erectile function. In other words, the younger the age, the more obvious the androgen decline, the more serious the erectile dysfunction it causes.

The fourth category is organic diseases, including some congenital malformations or acquired malformations, such as malformations caused by trauma, congenital malformations, or damage caused by surgery. These conditions can also lead to organic erectile dysfunction in men.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that no matter what the cause of erectile dysfunction is, you should actively seek medical treatment and never let your embarrassment affect your physical health and family harmony.