A percentage of the population will suffer from male impotence, a condition medically referred to as erectile dysfunction.
The symptoms of impotence are the persistent or recurrent inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for the completion of sexual intercourse or other sexual activity, despite an unaffected desire for sex. Impotence is different to sterility, which is the inability to produce sperm adequate for reproduction.
Impotence affects younger and older men alike and varies in severity from those with a total inability to sustain an erection, to those who suffer an inconsistent ability to attain erections and those with only brief erections.Impotence can occur at any age, although it is less common in younger men and occurs more frequently as men become older. By the age of 45 most men have experienced some form of erectile dysfunction that can result from psychological factors such as performance anxiety, sociological factors such as negative sexual attitudes, medical and physical causes.
Although most men will experience impotence a few times during their life, if it persistently reoccurs then medical advice should be sought. Treatment that follows will depend on the underlying cause.
