More Sponsored Links For:
impotencePhysical causes include low testosterone levels, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, prostate cancer surgery, and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Many drugs, illicit (e.g., marijuana, heroin, and cocaine) and prescription (e.g., ulcer medicines such as cimetidine (Tagamet) and hypertension medicines such as beta-blockers and diuretics), have been associated with impotence in some men. Smoking and alcoholism also can inhibit sexual excitement. Often, more than one factor is involved. In general, anything that can affect the flow of blood to the penis can cause impotence.
Treatment depends on the underlying cause, and may involve education and counseling of the man and his partner. Treatments include self-injection of a vasodilating drug before intercourse, and implantation of rod-shaped devices into the penis that are inflated via an attached fluid reservoir. In 1998 the first pill for the treatment of impotence, a prescription drug called Viagra (sildenafil citrate), was approved for sale in the United States. It acts by blocking an enzyme called phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), which can end an erection prematurely.
See also sex therapy.
The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
- sex therapy
Sex therapy, treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunction, including impotence, orgasmic dysfunction, vaginismus (spasm of the muscles of the vagina), premature ejaculation, and lack of sexua...
- Hazael
Hazael, fl. 840 B.C., king of Damascus; successor and murderer of Benhadad. In the Bible he appears as the ally of the party of Elisha in Israel and later as the conqueror, taking all the Hebr...
- papaverine
Papaverine, alkaloid found in opium that acts as a muscle relaxant and vasodilator. The drug relaxes the smooth muscle of the larger blood vessels and is used to increase the blood supply to t...
- nullity of marriage
Nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for example, is...
- Murad, Ferid
Murad, Ferid, 1936–, American pharmacologist, b. Whiting, Ind., M.D., Ph.D. Western Reserve Univ. (now Case Western Reserve Univ.), 1965. Murad taught at the Univ. of Virginia (1975–81), Stanf...
- single tax
Single tax, any levy that serves as the government's only source of revenue. Generally, however, it is understood to mean a tax derived from economic rent and used as the sole source of public...
- Margaret Maultasch
Margaret Maultasch [Ger.,=pocket mouth], 1318–69, countess of Tyrol, called the Ugly Duchess, probably because of her unattractive appearance, especially her mouth. When Margaret's father, Hen...
- prostate cancer
Prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in...
-
tiger
Tiger, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera tigris, found in the forests of Asia. There are six subspecies of P. tigris: Amur or Siberian, Sumatran, Malayan, North Indochinese, Bengal, ...
- Constitutional Convention
Constitutional Convention, in U.S. history, the 1787 meeting in which the Constitution of the United States was drawn up. The government adopted by the Thirteen Colonies in America (see Confed...
