MEN'S HEALTH:  

   

The biggest fear for most men is Impotence, or the inability to have sexual intercourse, is often thought of as a man’s problem, but women can be affected as well. In women, menopause and vaginal dryness may be associated with decreased sexual desire or painful intercourse. In men, impotence is related to erection, ejaculation, and orgasm problems. Other aspects of impotence are a reduction in sexual enjoyment and sexual desire or libido. Advancing age generally reduces sexual functioning. The physical changes associated with aging, increased presence of diseases, and increased drug use combine to cause this reduction in sexual activity. For both men and women, approximately 80% of cases of impotence can be traced to a disease or a drug. In the other 20% of cases, psychological factors like depression or anxiety can play a role.

Leading Factors Causing Impotence

Drugs

Certain drugs can affect performance, enjoyment and desire; however, you may not connect your drug use with impotence. For example: 

• Blood pressure medication such as diuretics, methyldopa, clonidine, propranolol, hydralazine, nifedipine — can affect your sexual activity.

• Antidepressant medications and drugs used to treat psychiatric problems are notorious for interfering with sex life. One group — the phenothiazines — has a 50% chance of reducing your libido. The connection between depression and impotence can be a vicious circle: you are depressed, you have a performance problem, and become even more depressed, and so on.

• Alcohol is a sedative that is often mistakenly used to enhance sexual activity. Although alcohol can reduce sexual inhibition, it will interfere with performance. Any other drugs with sedative effects will have a similar effect on performance.

• Cigarette smoking can impair circulation and lead to male impotence. In one study, men who smoked one or more packages of cigarettes a day were four times as likely to be impotent.

Health Conditions 

Certain health conditions can also lead to impotence, for instance:

Don’t assume that impotence is inevitable. Better control of a disease, better choice of drug therapy, and even smoking cessation may go a long way to alleviate impotence. When no cause for impotence is evident, drug therapies are available.

If a man has difficulty getting or keeping an erection, the problem is called erectile dysfunction. It is not a disease, but a secondary condition or side effect brought about by another cause. Often, the side effects of some diseases and some prescription medications can be the primary cause of erectile dysfunction. The condition is not unusual: it affects approximately 47 million men around the world.

Erectile dysfunction is often assumed to be a natural part of the aging process, to be tolerated along with other conditions associated with aging. In the past, ignoring the problem was common but today, sexual health is often viewed as one indicator of total well-being.

A supportive partner and open communication in a relationship provide a good starting place for solving erectile dysfunction. Confiding in a professional and working together to find proper therapy is the next step. Erectile dysfunction can almost always be treated successfully with the help of a qualified physician using such treatments as prescription tablets, gels, injections, pellets, rings and vacuum therapy.

Your doctor and pharmacist are good resources for finding out more about erectile disfunction.

Some hormones that may be helpful to you are dscussed in the following sections under treatments. 

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

Testosterone, insulin, adrenal and thyroid hormones are some of the key players that determine the health of your heart, the size of your waistline and your ability to function well in the boardroom and the bedroom.  Although the interplay of hormones is complex, there is a simple underlying principle: When levels of one are suboptimal, the others also suffer. The answer to the riddle lies in weight control, not by following fad diets, but by understanding a few key cause-and-effect relationships and acting accordingly. Here’s a look:

Insulin: This hormone holds a key to body weight, risk for diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. Here’s how it works: After you eat, food is converted to blood sugar (glucose). The pancreas then produces insulin to deliver the glucose to cells to be used as energy. 

High-sugar foods and drinks lead to skyrocketing glucose levels, which shift insulin production into high gear. When this high-sugar/high-insulin cycle repeats frequently, cells become overwhelmed with blood sugar and stop accepting it, a condition technically called insulin resistance. Weight gain, increased risk for heart disease and diabetes are among the results.

Thyroid: Hormones produced by the thyroid gland regulate metabolism, and iodine is a key nutrient required to produce suffi cient amounts of hormones. Toxins in today’s environment and reduced levels of naturally occurring iodine in our food result in many American men (and women) having an underactive thyroid or slow metabolism, contributing to insulin resistance and obesity.

Adrenal Hormones: Produced by the adrenal gland, these hormones are necessary for healthy function of the thyroid gland and stable energy levels.

Testosterone: Excess weight, lack of exercise, insulin resistance and inadequate levels of thyroid and adrenal hormones all contribute to low levels of testosterone. In turn, low testosterone leads to further weight gain, low energy, low libido and other sexual difficulties.

The Hormone Solution: “Weight loss is the most important factor, because when you lose weight, you improve insulin sensitivity, sparing the burden on your other hormone systems,” says Gulati.  Cholesterol and blood pressure generally improve at the same time.

The Heart Solution: Our doctors also recommends taking CoQ10, L-carnitine, magnesium and D-ribose to support energy production in the heart. These supplements feed mitochondria, specific components within our cells that are responsible for generating energy. Mitochondria are more concentrated in the heart than in any other organ, so their optimal function is critical. “When I treat men who have heart disease with mitochondrial support, I hear from them and their wives that their libido and erectile potency improve as well,” says Dr. Gulati

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