Causes of Erectile Dysfunction

There are several factors for the condition:
1) Unhealthy lifestyle: Those who have the habit of drinking or smoking excessively may suffer from erectile dysfunction. It has been found that consumption of alcohol might reduce the sperm count. Also the intake of excessive nicotine can lower your sex drive. Those who are on drugs can also be victimized by erectile dysfunction. Thus maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important to keep the disorder at bay. Some studies have also pointed out that those men who are overweight are at a higher risk of suffering from erectile dysfunction.

2) Medicine: Erectile dysfunction can also be caused as side effects of the drugs that you to take to control your blood pressure. Other medications that might be responsible for causing this condition are antihistamines, antidepressants, and cimetidine. There are also certain medicines that can suppress the nervous system leading to serious damage of the blood vessel causing permanent erectile dysfunction.

3) Surgery: Those who undergone radical prostate and bladder surgery can injure arteries and nerves that surrounds the penis. And this can lead to erectile dysfunction. Other causes are penis injury and spinal cord injury may harm the arteries, muscles, nerves and fibrous tissues of the corpora cavernosa and may be a major factor for causing the disorder.

4) Psychological: Psychological factors like stress, anxiety, guilt, depression and low self esteem may also cause erectile dysfunction. In such a condition, it is recommended to seek psychiatric help.

In the case of the reported study, the researchers studied the relative quantities of the proteins in the expandable tissue that runs along the length of the penis and fills with blood when an erection occurs. The rats used in the study were in various stages of developing Type 2 diabetes.

It was discovered that the fifty seven individual proteins identified, all either increased or decreased, depending on the severity of the diabetes and the time that it had endured. These results were compared with a control group comprising healthy, non-diabetic rats.

Professor Mark Chance who led the combined study group reported the collagen proteins that affect strength were less prevalent in the penis of the diabetic rats than in the control group, as also were the proteins responsible for transporting hormones and those responsible for cell death. He hoped that the study would lead to further research leading to improved diagnosis, and treatment. Although conducted on rats, the latest research into erectile dysfunction has significantly advanced the body of knowledge on the subject of the link to Type 2 diabetes.