Not only women undergo emotional stress and sexuality crises, but men also undergo these changes. We researched and found the top five conditions and problems that can affect men’s sexuality.
- Obesity
Obesity or being extremely overweight is one of the leading causes of erectile dysfunction in men.
This condition is super heavy on your own body that it begins to wreak havoc in all kinds of ways and erectile dysfunction is just one unpleasant consequence that comes out of being excessively overweight.
To go into more detail, obesity can usually cause heavy inflammation in your body, then even the heavy-fat foods that you have been consuming make your blood very acidic.
This then decreases testosterone levels and this condition also very commonly causes blood vessels and arteries to become damaged.
As a result, you begin to have a very low sex drive with an inability to maintain an erection due to a lack of blood rush toward the penis.
To avoid obesity, you need to become more aware of the kinds of food that are bad for your health and start to create a habit of liking only healthy foods.
- Diabetes
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that disrupts the blood supply to your penis. This condition makes your blood out of whack and sexual function is very commonly affected.
Some people are under the impression that diabetes is a genetically inherited trait. Meaning that if your parent has had a history of diabetes then you are more likely to develop this ailment, too.
However, further studies have suggested that this may not be entirely true.
The idea suggests that diabetes is not genetically inherited, but your eating habits are culturally embedded into you by your parents.
A major sexual issue arising from this blood sugar intolerance is the inability to erect. Diabetes damages the blood vessels and prevents blood from freely flowing.
Since erection is a function of efficient blood supply, according to the American Diabetes Association publication titled “Sex and Diabetes,” you are likely to experience no arousal.
It’s because you have the same eating habits as your parent(s) that you are also likely to develop the same ailment that has made them diabetic.
To avoid getting diabetes yourself, change your diet and eat things that will decrease acidity in your bloodstream. With that said, processed sugar is something you need to curb.
- Damaged arteries
Many health conditions can cause arteries and blood vessels to become damaged.
Illnesses like heart disease or conditions like diabetes and obesity can all cause arteries to become damaged.
The problem with damaged arteries is that this situation tends to negatively impact a man’s ability to get an erection.
This is simply for the fact that the body is unable to send enough blood supply to the pelvic area, and the penis subsequently suffers from being unable to get firm.
Although many treatments can ease the symptoms of erectile dysfunction and even improve the workings of your blood flow, it is still best to prevent such situations from occurring in your life.
With that said, your first and foremost advice is to avoid foods and habits that can create too much acidity in your bloodstream.
Drugs, alcohol, and smoking all can make your blood acidic and eventually burst some blood vessels and arteries.
- Stroke
A stroke is a horrible condition where your nervous system gets damaged.
This condition may not always affect a man’s erectile function extremely, but it certainly can have the potential of causing erectile dysfunction.
For one, a stroke can typically damage the nerve endings that connect the brain to the penis, subsequently making it hard for the penis to receive a signal for an act of hardening from the brain.
According to a PubMed Central publication July-Sept 2022 edition, post-stroke sexual dysfunction is common. It causes reduced libido and a poor or curtailed erection and ejaculation.
The topic “Post-stroke Sexual Dysfunction in Men: Epidemiology, Diagnostic Work-up, and Treatment” mentions that stroke damages to veins alter the anatomical and physiological systems responsible for male sexuality.
It is quite similar to how stroke can cause limping in certain body parts, like the arm or the leg, so in the same way, it can cause a limping of the penis.
It is usually also hard to correct a man’s sexual function when that man has contracted a stroke.
To prevent a stroke, you need to abide by these boring credos that tell you to eat clean and exercise more as part of your daily living.
- Smoking
Can you believe that smoking used to be promoted as healthy back in the heyday of cigarettes as a lifestyle icon?
We know, it sounds too stupid, right? But luckily, now we know that smoking does absolutely nothing that can be said positive for the body.
If anything, we now know that smoking is a total poison. For starters, smoking causes acidity in your body to increase to abnormal levels and this is especially the case with regular and heavy smokers.
High levels of acidity in the bloodstream are never a good thing as they can damage or even burst blood vessels and arteries.
When this happens, it is almost a given that the sexual function becomes agitated.
After all, the penis needs a good supply of blood to get hard, and hard long enough to be able to enjoy good penetration. So, do everything in your power to not give in to the temptations of smoking.
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- Priapism
Sometimes you could experience a prolonged erection that isn’t caused by sexual arousal.
This is called Priapism and lasts more than four hours. Although it’s a rare condition, it still happens and is commonly accompanied by pain.
Several factors cause this condition. The first is a trauma or injury to the penis, perineum, or pelvis. These affect the ejaculatory muscles choking them and preventing them from relaxing.
It’s a dangerous situation that requires urgent medical intervention. Still, you may try some first aid as you prepare to visit a medical center.
Here, you may swallow antidepressant pills to relax the affected nerves.
If priapism isn’t treated quickly, it may permanently damage the penis tissues resulting in erectile dysfunction.
Tablets and injections can be applied directly on the painful penis to relax the vessels. If it’s caused by an accident that blocks the penile veins, a needle or surgery may be used to drain the blood under local anesthesia.
- Hormonal issues
Hormones regulate a lot of sexual functions. Thus proper hormone development is essential for robust male sexuality.
The main male sex hormone is testosterone. Together with Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle Stimulating Hormone, they form androgen. This is the hormone that controls the male reproductive system.
These are essential in determining sexual function and any disruptions to these hormones could create major sexual dysfunctions.
A PubMed publication titled “Sexual dysfunction in men and women with the endocrine disorder” mentions that endocrine disruption triggered by whatever cause has long-lasting effects on sexual stimulation and arousal. Studies show that the use of PDE5 inhibitors only provides marginal reprieve.
They help in setting up masculinity features such as muscle build, facial hair, and increased bone density. They also regulate the functioning of organs responsible for initiating sexual arousal, erection, and ejaculation.
Testosterone helps in sperm production and hence male fertility levels. But hormone imbalance may result in the insufficient secretion of this hormone.
Likewise, when FSH and LH aren’t produced in accurate doses, they fail to correctly coordinate the operations of the vital sex organs. This affects the delivery of neurochemicals responsible for libido.
When this situation occurs, it negatively impacts sex functions. The consequences vary but could include infertility, retrograde ejaculation, or premature ejaculation.
