Impotence:A common problem among men characterized by the consistent inability to sustain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse or the inability to achieveejaculation, or both.Impotencecan vary. It can involve a total inability to achieve an erection or ejaculation, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only very brief erections.
The risk ofimpotenceincreases with age. It is four-fold higherinmen in their 60s compared with those in their 40s according to a study published in the Journal of Urology (2000;163:460-463). Men with less education are also more likely to experience impotence, perhaps because they tend to have lesshealthylifestyles, eat a less healthy diet, drink more and exercise less. Physicalexercisetends to lessen the risk of impotence.
Impotence can have emotional causes but most often it is due to a physical problem. The physical causes of impotence include diseases (such as diabetes and hypertension), injuries (such as fromprostatesurgery), side-effects of drugs (such as theproteaseinhibitors used in HIVtherapy), and disorders (such asatherosclerosis) that impairbloodflow in thepenis. Impotence is treatable in all age groups. Treatments include psychotherapy, vacuum devices, surgery and, most often today, drug therapy.
Advertising for drugs for the treatment of impotence has greatly popularized the problem better known in the ads by its other name, erectile dysfunction.
