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the BABY BOOMER BODY BOOK ©
THE COMPLETE HEALTH REFERENCE
FOR OUR
GENERATION
BY
BRIAN PECK,
M.D., DAAPM, BCFM, FAADEP
Forty-nine year old Harry Petersen stayed down in the family room to watch Letterman after his wife Betty went up to bed. He had been doing this more and more lately, sometimes three nights a week. Once or twice he even pretended to be asleep in front of the TV set when she called to him.
He really liked to watch Letterman late at night while he drank a scotch on ice and smoked another cigarette. If he went upstairs Betty might be awake. TV was much easier and potentially less embarrassing. And he definitely could not bring himself to discuss his problem with her. They had never discussed such things.
It was not like he did not want sex. He did, at least sometimes. But it seemed the older he got, the more work it was to “get it up”. Lately, it was sometimes just too much. The investment of time and effort was getting to be more than it was worth. It used to just happen by itself. Now it was almost like a job. It might be easier if he did not feel he had to do it.
Virtually all men over forty can occasionally have difficulty establishing and maintaining an erection. When this happens regularly, it is called impotence, or erectile dysfunction (ED). The topic is so sensitive and hidden that it is not really possible to get accurate figures. These secrets are held more tightly than the Pentagon's budget proposals, and are possibly more explosive.
Nowhere does the phrase "ignorance breeds fear" have deeper meaning. The perceived threat to the male ego is frequently just too strong to breach. Many men with this problem are petrified that they might have some dread disease making them impotent, and most are too proud and embarrassed to see a doctor. Consequently, millions of them live in fear, and their significant others with sexual frustration.
THE MOST COMMON CAUSES
Harry
Petersen just could not understand it. A
Victoria's Secret ad or an x-rated movie could still get him excited, but he
never knew when things would work out with Betty. When they were first married, they had sex almost every night.
Oh, sure, if they waited a long time between encounters, like a few
weeks, it was easier. But the
intervals were getting longer and longer. Harry
knew that most of their friends did it at least once a week, or once every two
weeks, and some of them two or three times a week.
After three or four weeks of avoiding
sex, he would not know what to say. It
was just too humiliating when he could not perform. He was definitely running out of excuses.
Betty was no dope. Harry
knew that she knew something was “up”, but it was not Harry.
While the occasional difficulty with sexual function is perfectly normal, true ED can be caused by physical or psychological problems. The physical causes are usually vascular (poor circulation), usually associated with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), or diabetes. Other physical causes can be spinal cord injury, surgery for the prostate or colon, or hormonal dysfunction.
· Psychological
· Vascular (poor circulation): atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, diabetes.
· Neuropathic (nerve damage): spinal cord injuries, diabetes.
· Post-surgical (also a type of nerve damage).
· Drug-induced: anti-hypertensives, tranquilizers,
alcohol, pain killers, anti-depressants.
· Hormonal dysfunction.
· Normal age-related changes.
Side effects of common prescription medications are increasingly recognized as physical causes of ED:
(Medication
side effects are dose-dependent. Do
not
· Anti-hypertensives (blood pressure medications).
· Anti-depressants.
· Analgesics (pain medications).
· Tranquilizers.
·
Anti-seizure medications
Half of the causes of ED are psychological.
That was one reason Harry could get an erection from a fantasy, but had
more trouble with his own wife. There
was no pressure to perform in the fantasy, but his wife was real and in person.
The fear itself can be overwhelming, especially when combined with one or
two real physical problems. In
Harry's case, besides anxiety, there were at least two physical causes, smoking
and drinking.
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