By Dr. Masroor Ahmad Wani, Sexology
Erectile Dysfunction is a male disorder signifying the inability to ‘get’ or ‘maintain’ an erection firm enough for a sexual intercourse. In common parlance, many refer to this condition as impotence.
Some people consider Erectile Dysfunction to be particularly an old-age related disorder. The fact is that you could also experience this at a very young age, even if you have been following a very healthy lifestyle – eating right, exercising, leading a stress-free life etc. You too may then be tempted to associate the disorder with genetics. But is this thought really factual?
To help you understand this clearly, let’s focus primarily on what might cause this disorder…
Causes-
Erection (arousal) is a process that involves the brain, hormones, muscles, blood vessels and an array of psychological emotions. Erectile Dysfunction can be caused by any of the following:
a) Blockages in or narrowing of blood vessels going to the penis (This could be associated with hereditary diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart ailments)
b) A surgery or an injury
c) Side effects of particular medicines
d) Psychological problems such as anxiety, fear or depression.
You could inherit one of the causes; but not the disorder by itself.
As detailed above, although people with a few ‘inherited’ ailments are more susceptible than others to such a dysfunction but by itself, Erectile Dysfunction is NOT a genetic disorder. You can never inherit this from your genes; neither will you pass this to any of your future generations.
