Impotence or erectile dysfunction is about not being able to achieve and maintain an erection for a period of time in the process of a sexual intercourse. It can be due to physiological or psychological or even both. One of the common causes of impotence is a disease called diabetes.
Studies show that there about 35% to 75% males who suffer from diabetes will develop some form of erectile dysfunction. It’s also important to know that they develop it 10-15 years earlier versus men that have no diabetes.
So how does diabetes causes erectile dysfunction?
It’s like this. When a man is aroused, it’s a process and it’s all thanks to nitric oxide. When this is released into the bloodstream, it helps the pockets in the penis to relax and get filled with blood casing an erection. For people with diabetes, if they are hyperglycemic, less nitric oxide is produced and there could also be constriction that allows lesser blood flow to the penis. This means only a small amount of blood can flow in the penis and it will not hold off longer or will never will, depending on the levels of nitric oxide.
The factors: There are many factors that contribute to erectile dysfunction and you can find them below:
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Hormonal problems such as low Testosterone
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Spinal cord injury
- Brain damage
- Smoking
- Drinking
- Taking illegal drugs
- Taking medications like for high blood pressure, depression
- Pelvic injury
- Surgery on the prostate
- Surgery on the bowel
- Surgery on the bladder
- Nerve damage
Doctors will advise the tests found below:
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- Blood works: Blood tests to check for possible elevated blood sugar levels that can rule out diabetes.
- Hormonal exam: Hormone levels are also tested like testosterone and so on.
- Nervous systems tests: Other nervous system tests are also performed for accuracy rules out possible damages to the heart, sweat glands and blood vessels:
- blood pressure
- sweat tests
- Urinalysis: Urinalysis helps determine the sugar concentration fund in the urine.
- Physical assessment: Physical assessment assesses the body including the genitals, reflexes and body response.
- History taking: To rule out possible causes of diabetes, physical activities including impotency.
- Sexual health (SHIM) questionnaire: SHIM questionaire helps determine how severity of the impotence is.
Lifestyle alteration: The management of diabetes is about managing the blood sugar levels. This means if you have erectile dysfunction it’s not too late. You just have to better manage your blood sugar levels. Of course, it’s easier said than done.
A healthy diet and exercise: You don’t need a study to actually know that proper diet and exercise can actually help you manage your diabetes. For starters you can have a diet that is low in saturated fat, high fiber and do some moderate exercise should help you normalize your blood sugar levels.
Weight loss: Weight loss is not just about management of weight, it can also help increase testosterone that helps with blood flow that in turn helps with erectile dysfunction.
Managing stress: Stress is a mixture of physiological and psychological circumstances that can cause erectile dysfunction. A good stress management should help manage this like exercise, more rest, less exposed to stressful things.
Knowing about l-arginine and l-citrulline: Amino acids like l-arginine and l-citrulline helps produce nitric oxide. These are non-essential amino acids that the body can produce on its own but if you need an extra, there are foods that contains it that you can take:
- Animal proteins
- Plant proteins
- Watermelon
Erectile dysfunction treatments: So here are the course of action that can take when he has erectile dysfunction due to some diabetic problems. Ofcourse the range and course of treatment will be determined by many factors like severity and so on.
- Oral tablets: Oral tablets is the easiest way in dealing with erectile dysfunction. PDE-5 inhibiting drugs like viagra and cialis are usually the first-line treatments. Basically what these drugs do is help increase the blood flow to the penis to promote erections. These drugs do require you to be aroused and takes a good 30 minutes to 60 minutes to start working. These drugs though are expensive which is why many men turn to the internet forums to hunt for the best place to buy.
- Hormonal therapy: Hormonal replacement therapy like Testosterone has been proven to help with erectile dysfunction. It had been proven that people with erectile dysfunction have low testosterone levels.
- Penile injection therapy: For men who do not respond to any treatments mentioned above, penile injection therapy is the way to go. Basically, it’s an Injection of alprostadil (Caverject) directly into the penis prior to intercourse. This type of hormonal injection treatment increases the blood supply to the penis and you know what will happen next.
- Vacuum pump therapy: A vacuum pump therapy is basically a vacuum tool that is placed over the penis that you pump until blood rushes to the penis and causes an erection.
- Penile prosthesis: Penile prosthesis is one of the few last treatments for erectile dysfunction and is only used in severe cases. Basically, an inflatable rod is implanted inside the penis posterior side to make an erection.
- Psychological treatment: Stress, anxiety, depression and other psychological problems can contribute to erectile dysfunction. A good visit to a shrink and healthy living should help with this.
