About Erectile Dysfunction:

Impotency in males (erectile dysfunction) is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain a firm erection for sexual intercourse. A recent study found that 52% of American males ages 40-70 had experienced impaired sexual performance within a six month period of this survey. This and other studies confirm that an estimated 18-20 million males are affected by varying degrees of impotency. About 5-10% of males under forty are impotent while an estimated 25% of males over fifty experience partial or complete erectile failure.

Problems with erectile dysfunction can affect more than just your sex life. They can affect your self-esteem, your relationships, your job, and most important your self-image. Most men feel embarrass or ashamed, but this is a very common problem and can be easily solved. There is no reason to let this problem effect your life any longer.

Your Checklist For Impotency!

One of the most disturbing facts about impotency is that the majority of males who are dealing with this problem do not seek medical help. Physicians report that the majority of their impotent patients have the problem for more than a year before consulting with their physician and only an estimated ten percent of impotent males seek the advice of a physician. There are many reasons that men are reluctant to seek help. Most men assume that reduced sexual function is inevitable by product of aging. They also believe that most physicians have nothing to offer other than drugs or surgical alternatives.

Anxiety, embarrassment, frustration, and feelings of inadequacy prevent men from being able to openly discuss or confront their inability to fully enjoy their sexuality and satisfy themselves or their partner.

For example, the most common cause of impotency in males over the age of sixty is hardening of the arteries. The same process of arteriosclerosis that increases your risk for heart attack and stroke can impair arterial blood flow to the penis resulting in varying degrees of impotency. Weak veins that leak also reduce your ability to develop quality erections. This means that risk factors for heart disease can be risk factors for poor sexual performance: diets high in saturated fats and refined sugars, processed foods, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity and lack of regular exercise. Just as heart studies have shown that hardening of the arteries is reversible, a program of regular exercise, diet modification, stress management, and nutritional supplements that enhance cardiovascular function may be helpful in improving sexual performance. And please don't forget that any increase in your fitness level that improves circulation is going to have a positive effect on the most potent aphrodisiac of all: your brain! Don't be surprised if this results in improved self-image, self confidence, and improved sexual desire! There is really no reason that you cannot improve your sexual pleasure!

Psychological Causes of Impaired Libido and Performance

Not everyone who has lost the raging passion of youth has impaired circulation. By the same token, not every healthy male or female with sexual dysfunction has a psychiatric disorder. In fact, most of us are normal but are overwhelmed with the stress of life. Our libido and ability to perform are sensitive to job stress, financial worries, chronic fatigue, depression, marital discord, performance anxiety, fear of sexually transmitted diseases and/or boredom.

Our emotional state influences hormonal control of the sexual response. A burst of adrenaline during a fight with our partner can be an instant turnoff that is both mental and physical. Our anxiety and dissatisfaction is further amplified by unresolved anger, inability to forgive or understand, or fear of failure that leads to rejection and loss of intimacy. It is not unusual or abnormal to have an occasional erection failure. The occasional erection failure is normal. Only when failure happens frequently in men should there be any cause for concern. Chronic stress, fatigue, and anxiety may induce or make already existing physiologic causes of decreased libido or impotency worse.

Men anxious about an inability to match their performance in the bedroom with their performance in the board room may be driven by their fear of failure to avoid sex altogether. The resultant confusion, misunderstanding, and even alienation that only serves to make the problem worse. Female partners may question their sexual attractiveness, suspect affairs, or assume their male partner no longer loves them. Statistics from medical centers dealing with human sexuality tell us women are often unwilling to press their male partners about their impotency or to tell their physicians, assuming emotionally that the problem is in some way the woman's fault.

Women can be as deeply in denial about problems of impotency as their male partners even to the extent that failure to communicate openly can destroy the relationship and not to mention the sex lives and self images of those involved. We are not claiming to have answers for those with impaired desire and capacity based on emotional factors. If you are not convinced that exercise, diet, supplements, and attitude can have the same positive effect on emotional factors as they can on physical performance, we encourage you to seek professional help.

In men, there is a simple test to distinguish between organic and psychological causes of impotency before you even see your doctor. Do you wake up with a morning erection? Nocturnal erections are nature's way of keeping your penis healthy. Younger men are erect for up to three hours nightly. As men age nocturnal erections decrease and it is more important to have waking erections. Some experts recommend at least three per week. It also goes without saying that the more frequently you have erections the more likely you will continue to have viable erections as you age.

Traditional Medical Approaches to Sexual Dysfunction

No discussion of natural alternatives to sexual performance and healing would be complete without a review of what to expect from your physicians. As we mentioned already, some of you may have medical problems beyond the scope of what we have to offer. This may or may not include sexual counseling, prescription medications, penile injection therapy, surgical implants, or vacuum therapy.

Erectile dysfunction medications and treatments work because they stimulate the nervous system or circulatory system, which means potential side effects. The most common prescription medication for male impotence is Yohimbe Hydrochloride. Critics of this medication point out a low efficiency rate and high risk of side effects. About one-third of impotent males in several trials regained ability to have a functional erection. Average response time is about six months; the drug is expensive and a significant number of patients are unable to tolerate the side effects.

More drastic measures are generally reserved for those with impotency secondary to severe peripheral vascular disease or neurological disease. This includes penile injections before sexual intercourse. Sticking needles into one's penis is not for everyone. These shots are not only painful but expensive and have potential side effects, one of which is prolonged erection. Not only is this quite uncomfortable but it could require another injection to reverse the first. A more permanent solution is to have a penile implant. Implants can be semi-rigid or inflatable. Finally, you can choose external vacuum pump therapy. The penis is inserted into a plastic cylinder to create a partial vacuum that encourages increased blood flow into the penis. A tension ring at the base prevents the blood from draining. For proper counseling about these alternatives we recommend you see an urologist specializing in male impotency problems.

It is no wonder, after reviewing these alternatives, that men have sought the assistance of Mother Nature throughout the centuries in his search for sexual bliss. Natural herbal formulas can and do work just as effectively as the above remedies.