Erectile dysfunction increasingly common

In the bad old days before there were drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, men were reluctant to talk about the problem. It’s understandable. Why talk about something so embarrassing if there’s no real cure? The admission is only a benefit if there’s a guaranteed treatment. That’s why there were queues at doctor’s surgeries within days of the little blue pills first appearing. News spread fast and men wanted the result. For the first time, it gave researchers a better count on the number of men with the problem. Before then, it was all speculation.

Some said it was less of a problem, pointing to a range of factors starting with the fact men ate a healthier diet. This was in the days before processed food was so packed full of fat. Obesity was rarely used in every day speech because most people were thin. They were also fitter. This was not simply a case more men played sport. More worked in jobs involving physical activity, and this was before public and private transport were so well developed. This forced people to walk more. Modern research confirms men with an active lifestyle are far less likely to suffer erectile dysfunction. Reintroducing exercise is also considered an effective treatment, restoring sexual activity in most men who follow an active exercise program on a regular basis. Further, our grandparents had lower expectations. Sure sex was important and, as evidence of everyone’s enjoyment, there were far more babies born then than now. But no one had any false expectations. There was little or no peer pressure to prove they were the sexual stallions of their generation. Better still, there was less workplace stress and other psychological factors that might cause loss of function.

Come forward in time and we have an epidemic of obesity sweeping the country with men rooted to their couches, working in high-stress environments, and under considerable pressure to perform sexually. You only have to look at the total size of the market for sexual enhancement products and the erectile dysfunction drugs. You’re talking several billion dollars of sales in the US alone. When men fail to live up to their high expectations, they get discouraged and dysfunction results. Experts see this as an accelerating trend and predict more than 300 million men are likely to be suffering the problem by 2025. So why is there a sudden increase? The answer comes from a slightly alarming piece of research. It seems there’s a slow but steady drop in the amount of testosterone men produce. The so-called male menopause is hitting ever earlier. Why? Obesity is one of the primary causes of low testosterone levels. Ignoring the role of contraceptives, this is one of the reasons why there are fewer babies. More men are less fertile.

In one sense, all this is bad news because it means Viagra is increasingly going to be a bandaid we try to stick on to a growing wound. We need to replace our numbers. If we don’t, we’ll grow steadily older, die and there won’t be enough people left to keep the human race going. So, eat a better diet, exercise more and use Viagra. It’s your job to keep the human race going.