Prevalence and causes of erectile dysfunction (ED)

ED is one of the most common sexual dysfunctions in men and its prevalence is beyond imagination. In the United States, according to the results of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study conducted from 1987 to 1989, more than half (52.2%) of men aged 40 to 70 had varying degrees of erectile dysfunction, of which 17% had mild, 25.2% had moderate, and 10% had severe. In China, the results of a survey conducted in 1997 on a random sample of 1,582 male residents over the age of 39 in urban Shanghai showed that the prevalence of ED was 32.8% among men aged 40 to 49, 36.4% among men aged 50 to 59, 74.2% among men aged 60 to 69, and 86.3% among men aged 70 and above. It can be seen that ED is as common as coronary heart disease, hypertension and other middle-aged and old-age diseases. Erectile dysfunction (ED) has a variety of pathophysiological causes, mainly divided into two categories: psychological and organic. Organic can be subdivided into neurological, vascular and endocrine. The cause of the onset of an ED patient can be single or multifaceted, but no matter what the cause of ED, basically more or less psychological reasons, some people only psychological reasons. In addition to psychological factors, the most common pathological factors that cause ED are endocrine diseases and vascular diseases, endocrine factors including hyperprolactinemia, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, diabetes, cortisol Endocrine factors include hyperprolactinemia, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, cortisolism, Addison’s disease, hypogonadism, etc. Vascular factors include atherosclerosis, primary venous lesions, damage to cavernous smooth muscle, arteriovenous fistula, arterial embolism, trauma or surgical injury. In addition, neurological diseases or nerve injury, and drug side effects are also common causes.