Impotence is medically called as erectile dysfunction. It is the term given to the condition in which a person does not get a proper erection, i.e. the erection is not hard enough to carry out proper penetrative sex. Impotence is an issue with an alarmingly large number of men in the world today. A major responsible factor is the hectic lifestyle that we lead today.

There can be two different cases of erectile dysfunction. One is the case in which the person has never had an erection; while the other is in which the person does sometimes have erections, but not all the time. The former case is due to a biological problem which can be treated by medication or surgery. But the latter case stems out of psychological or lifestyle factors.

Erection is the hardening of the penis when it is aroused. The penis can be aroused by any kind of sexual stimulation, which could be physical (touch), visual (watching porn) or even psychological (thinking about sex). The penis is made erect by the filling of its spongy tissues with blood. This engorgement is very important to increase the size and the hardness of the penis which is an important necessity for penetrative sex. Surely without a hard penis, it would become impossible to ejaculate and thus impregnate a woman.

Weak erections occur due to many factors. As already mentioned above, the modern lifestyle is a major contributing factor. This is because stresses and tensions can reduce the male libido, and also the capacity to achieve an erection. When a person is under stress, blood circulates more in the head region, and hence it is insufficient to engorge the penis. Added to this, the cases of diabetes and prostate gland diseases are rising – such diseases are directly linked to erectile dysfunction. The busy lifestyle of today is making people cope up with a host of drugs such as antidepressants, painkillers, antihistamines, etc; all of which can cause the man to lose his ability to achieve a sustained erection.

Erectile dysfunction is rampant in people who smoke and consume drugs. In the early stages these kinds of addictions may cause a high in the sexual act, but as time wears on and the addiction increases, there is irreparable damage to the reproductive system, which plays havoc with the ability to achieve an erection.

There are several men who can get erections when they masturbate or watch porn, but they do not get erections when they are in the actual sexual act. This issue needs to be looked into seriously, because it can be treated with proper counseling. Men such as those described here – assuming they are heterosexual – are perhaps so much overwhelmed of the female sex that they cannot carry out the sexual act. Their brain does not respond to the stimuli of their body, because it is too busy with the mental channels of the man’s mind. Perhaps the person is suffering from the Oedipus complex and is in awe of women. All these issues need to be discussed with a therapist.

Achieving an erection is as much a mental condition as biological. It is not necessary to say that men cannot have sex when their minds are preoccupied with something else. Sometimes, problems of erectile dysfunction can be solved just by keeping the mind free during the sexual act.

Recently there has been a surge of medicinal advancement in the field of penile erections. With the discovery of the powers of sildenafil citrate in guaranteeing male erections, there was a spurt of other chemical discoveries with the same effects. However none of the later drugs managed to capture the power of Viagra, which is the market name of sildenafil citrate. Some other drugs that have the powers of creating and maintaining erections are Levitra and Cialis, though they are not as popular. Furthermore, all these drugs come with several side effects, which are still being studied.

One of the best (and the safest) resorts in the case of impotence is herbal remedies. Indian traditions are using several herbs since ancient times in order to cure the disease. Saw palmetto, ginseng, kawa kawa, oat, caltrop, etc. are used in different preparations in order to cure impotence. Some of them have really been found to be beneficial by the western world also, but their effects are still a matter of research.

At the same time, it must be remembered that the human penis is not an organ that will function for the entire life of a person. Most men lose their capacity to get erections during or after their forties, and that is because of age reasons, which cannot be avoided. With some techniques like yoga, the age limit of getting erections can be increased, but it cannot be made to last forever. Hence, a time comes in every man’s life when he has to accept the condition of erectile dysfunction.