Does Erectile Dysfunction Affect All Older Men?

Does Erectile Dysfunction Affect All Older Men?

Erectile dysfunction: many men live in fear of hearing such words from their doctor’s mouth. Erectile dysfunction, or impotence, is the inability to get an erection and have sex. While not being able to get a firm erection once or twice is not necessarily a sign of erectile dysfunction, repetitively being unable to get erect is. If you believe the many commercials on television for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs, you may think that all older men have to deal with this issue.

It isn’t true that all older men will have erectile dysfunction. It is difficult, however, to determine how many people have erectile dysfunction. This is because the issue isn’t clearly defined. For some, erectile dysfunction is defined as the complete inability to get an erection. For others, it is the frequent, but not completely impossible, inability to become erect.

Others consider men who are only able to become briefly erect to have erectile dysfunction. Because of these various definitions, the number of men affected with erectile dysfunction varies. Some believe that only as few as 15 million have the disorder, while other estimates put the number at 30 million or even more.

Over the years, more and more men have been diagnosed and treated for erectile dysfunction. Most physicians don’t believe this is because erectile dysfunction is increasing; instead, they believe that better treatments and the fact that more information is available have led more men to talk to their doctors about erectile dysfunction.

But do all older men have erectile dysfunction? The answer is no, despite what the many commercials would have you believe. Most, in fact, only develop erectile dysfunction due to an injury or illness. Some have erectile issues because of medication. Any medical condition that damages the nerves or causes the blood flow to the penis to be reduced can cause erectile dysfunction.

The chances of having erectile dysfunction does increase with age—around five percent of all 40 year old men deal with erectile dysfunction, while upwards of 25 percent of men age 65 or older have experienced the issue. However, erectile dysfunction is not inevitable. Many older men are still completely able to get an erection and have sex, especially as more and more treatments become available.

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