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When you hit the hay, does it sound like a backfiring car engine has ended up in your room? Does your partner often think that a jet engine has set up shop in your bed? You may have a snoring problem, more commonly known as sleep apnea. While snoring is a normal occurrence, think of sleep apnea as snoring on steroids. People afflicted with sleep apnea snore like their lives depend on it, because they actually kind of do. When you’re afflicted with sleep apnea, you tend to stop breathing for 10 to 30-second increments as you sleep, which causes your body to sputter and snore in an attempt to get oxygen.

To add insult to injury, sleep apnea doesn’t just cause your bedroom to sound like the hang out spot for a bunch of chainsaws. Because sleep apnea temporarily halts the intake of oxygen, this can lead to the oxygen count in your body lowering. The lower the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, the worse your body’s overall function will be, which includes your sexual function.

Erectile dysfunction is very common amongst men that suffer from sleep apnea, with a whopping 46% of men with the disease reporting experiencing erectile issues, while 69% of men with the disease reported experiencing reduced sexual desire.

If you’ve found yourself uninterested in sex and unable to get your little guy stand at attention, it could be your sleep apnea to blame. Talk to your doctor about perhaps investing in a CPAP mask or OAT mouth guard, both of which have been found to be very helpful in fighting sleep apnea. With a solution in place, your body will get all the oxygen it needs, and your erection can go back to normal.

When your hair begins to thin, and that once full head of hair slowly transforms into a receding hairline, it can be troubling. Many men opt to rage against this hair change instead of going quietly into that balding good night by investing in hair loss medication. One of the most popular hair loss medications on the market is finasteride, more commonly known by its brand names Propecia and Proscar, with over 400,000 men filling prescriptions for the drug just last year. But while finasteride has been found to be effective at combating hair loss, it’s got the unexpected side effect of affecting your ability to perform between the sheets.

Yes, if you’ve been taking a finasteride-based drug and you’ve recently struggled to achieve an erection, there’s a connection. This is because Propecia and Proscar work by reducing the amount of dihydrotestosterone circulating in your blood stream, which has the benefit of encouraging hair growth. The downside, however, is that dihydrotestosterone is a male sex hormone, and is vital to communicating to the brain that it’s time for the erection to get to work. With reduced sex hormone levels, sexual feelings have a tendency to get scrambled, which results in the body being unable to achieve an erection.

Thankfully, the solution for this issue is simple: stop taking finasteride. If you’re experiencing side effects such as erectile dysfunction, halt taking finasteride and tell your doctor. There are other hair loss drugs on the market, so you can work together to find one that works better for you. And you won’t have to worry about the side effects sticking around, because finasteride has not been found to linger in the body.

Blood pressure is fickle. If it’s not operating at it’s optimum level, the rest of the body can pay the price. So when you develop high blood pressure, it can somewhat nerve wracking. After all, you’ve heard that spike blood pressure levels can lead to deadly problems such as heart attack and stroke. But high blood pressure doesn’t just affect your heart. It can also affect other extremities that are dependent upon the heart, such as the penis.

Yes, while it may feel like you’ve got enough to worry about with high blood pressure as it is, high blood pressure can also lead to erectile issues. That’s not to say that every man that deals with high blood pressure will find himself unable to achieve an erection, but the correlation is high. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that 49% of men between 40 to 79 with high blood pressure reported suffering from erectile dysfunction.

It’s easy to understand how high blood pressure can lead to ED. Your erection is dependent upon your heart, which causes important blood vessels to dilate as blood is passed through the body. With high blood pressure, the heart can be dealing with this newfound stress, which in turn can lead to arteries not dilating properly, which equates to not enough blood being supplied to the penis to achieve an erection.

So, short answer, yes, men with high blood pressure are at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction than normal men. If you find yourself experiencing erectile issues, speak to your doctor and work together to figure out how to beat the problem. Your plate is full enough with high blood pressure, so there’s no reason to add ED to the mix.

While intercourse is supposed to be a fun, relaxed experience, many men find themselves nervous to perform. A new partner means new likes, new dislikes, and new quirks to learn and discover, and the fear that you won’t be able to satisfy your partner can be overwhelming. For some men, this anxiety can translate into the inability to rise to the occasion. This performance anxiety induced erectile dysfunction is very common, and it can be very frustrating. Thankfully, there are ways to overcome this issue.

Sexual performance anxiety-induced ED is related to your brain. Your brain interprets your anxious feelings, and this jumbles up the signals of sexual excitement that are being sent from downstairs, leading to your brain not communicating to your penis that it’s time to get to work.

First and foremost, you need to remind yourself that sex is supposed to be fun, not nerve wracking. Relax and enjoy the ride. If you get in your head that this, that, and the other could go wrong, you’ll struggle to get it up. Shake off your nervousness and focus on enjoying the experience.

Secondly, take it slow. Skipping foreplay and jumping right into sex could lead to your sexual anxiety getting worse, ensuring that you won’t be able to achieve an erection. Tell your partner that you want to ease into it, and work your way up to sex. Give your body time to relax and prepare for the act.

Temporary ED is very common, but it can be beaten with work.

You’ve always been healthy. Whether it was from exercising daily or eating only the healthiest foods, you’ve always looked after your body. You’re also free of stress, anxiety, or depression, so you like to think that you keep a healthy mind, too.

Then why, you might wonder, are you dealing with erectile dysfunction? You’ve combed over the list of potential causes, and nothing relates to you. You aren’t on any new medication, so that can’t be the cause of your erectile woes. In a moment of panic you start to wonder if perhaps you’re just destined to deal with ED. Maybe, you wonder, it’s simply genetics?

Not quiet. While there are several health ailments that can be inherited through heredity that can lead to erectile dysfunction, ED itself is not a hereditary disease. Medical issues such as diabetes and heart disease are commonly hereditary ailments, and both have been linked to erectile dysfunction. But erectile issues aren’t passed from generation to generation.

However, some experts believe that there are certain genes that can be inherited that make a man more susceptible to erectile dysfunction. These experts suggest that certain gene variables have been linked to high risks of ED developing, and that these genes can be passed from father to son. However, this study is still ongoing, and nothing has been established as of yet.

So while there is the possibility that your genes have dictated your erectile health, it’s likely that your ED isn’t a hereditary issue. You also won’t have to worry about your bedroom issues being passed through your family line, so push that thought out of your mind.

Odds are, if you’re dealing with ED, there’s an underlying cause, though it may not always be obvious. But the solution does not lie in your genes.

The list of things that can cause erectile dysfunction seems to never end. Drinking too much, not working out enough, heck, even not practicing perfect dental hygiene has been found to cause ED. But not all ED causes are physical in nature. In fact, sometimes erectile dysfunction is all in your head.

You see, your mental headspace holds major sway over various aspects of your body, including your ability to achieve an erection. This is because your erection relies upon signals from your brain to know when it’s time to get to work, and when you’ve got a mental block upstairs, signals get crisscrossed and imbalanced.

Scientifically speaking, intense feelings such as depression, anxiety, and stress all have biochemical components that flood the brain. When your brain is full of these chemicals, it can lead to other feelings getting lost in the hubbub. Specifically, when your penis communicates to the brain that it is time to achieve an erection, these signals can get lost in the flood of chemicals being released, leading to missed erections.

The problem with psychological-induced ED is that missing erections can lead to the feelings only getting worse, thus worsening your erectile dysfunction. It’s something of a vicious circle, as your feelings get more intense, which leads to missed erections, which leads to worse feelings.

Psychological-induced ED is very common, with a recent study finding that 61 percent of men that suffered from severe depression reported experiencing sexual problems. Thankfully, it is an issue that can be beaten. Talk to your psychiatrist about the problems you’re having, and together you can determine if medication is needed or how you can overcome the feelings.

The sky is blue, grass is green, and men lose their ability to achieve an erection when they get old. These are just facts as far as the world is concerned, but the whole “loss of erection” thing isn’t as set in stone as everyone seems to think.

While it is true that your body will experience a variety of changes as you grow older, this does not mean that your erection is going to kick the bucket the moment you hit your golden years. In fact, it’s not even a guarantee that you’ll lose your erectile virility even when you’re into your 90’s. It all depends on whether or not you take care of yourself.

You see, your erection depends upon steady blood flow from your heart. As you grow older, your arteries will narrow and your heart might struggle to keep up with the newfound needs of your body, which all equates to reduced blood flow.

However, with healthy living, you may be able to sidestep these issues entirely. Eating well, staying active, and avoiding vices such as smoking and overdrinking can do wonders for your body. By living well, you can ensure that your body won’t have to struggle to keep up with the demands of poor living.

So, while erectile dysfunction might strike one day, you can ensure that it won’t be for a long, long time by living well. If you look after your body, erectile dysfunction isn’t an inevitability. But if you consistently eat fatty meals, live a sedentary lifestyle, and smoke and drink too much, you’re erection will kick the bucket one day and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

If you’ve found it difficult to get your little guy to stand at attention as of late, you may be wondering if you’re dealing with a temporary issue or full-blown erectile dysfunction. You’re running out of excuses for your significant other, and you’re starting to worry.

Worry not. Erectile dysfunction is not a death knell for your erection. ED can be caused by a variety of issues, so as long as you face facts and admit you have a problem and work with a doctor to beat the problem, your erection will be just fine. But while there are plenty of solutions for your issue, it can seem next to impossible to tell your partner about your ED.

Remember, in a relationship, communication is key. If you simply withdraw sexually and refuse to talk about your issue, resentment and anger may build and seep into the rest of your relationship.

When dealing with ED, it’s always nice to have someone to lean on. Let your partner know that you’re dealing with the issue, and talk through what this means for the best of you. It’s important to remember that your issue does not affect solely you; with sex off the table, it affects your partner, too. Talk about how you can both deal with the issue, and come up with compromises to ensure that nobody walks away hurt.

Erectile dysfunction also does not have to mean that your sex life is D.O.A. With patience and reliance upon techniques such as the stop-and-go and deep breathing, you can last in the bedroom. It will just take a little more time than usual.

If you’re dealing with erectile dysfunction, don’t hide your problem from your partner. Be honest, be frank, and together you can get through it as a team.

High blood pressure is a relatively common problem, affecting millions of Americans. But while high blood pressure can be regulated and lowered to a healthy level, many men dealing with the affliction find themselves dealing with a much more embarrassing problem as a result of high blood pressure.

Yes, while you wouldn’t guess that the two health issues would even be mildly related, the truth is that high blood pressure, if left unchecked, can lead to issues downstairs. In fact, high blood pressure-induced ED is fairly common, with a recent study published in the Journal of Urology finding that 68% of men with high blood pressure reported having some degree of erectile dysfunction.

When you step back and think about it, the correlation makes perfect sense. Your penis is entirely dependent upon the network of arteries in your body to provide it with the blood necessary to engorge and become erect. When left unchecked, high blood pressure can lead to artery damage. When damaged, your arteries will struggle to dilate as they are supposed, thus drastically slowing blood flow to the penis. With no steady blood flow, the penis cannot properly engorge, which equates to a missed erection and an embarrassed man.

But that’s not to say developing high blood pressure is an automatic death sentence for your love life. If kept in check and monitored, your arteries can be left unaffected, allowing blood to freely flow throughout the body and supply the penis with all the blood it needs.

So, if you’ve got high blood pressure, keep a close eye on your numbers. Your erection will thank you.

When it comes to erectile health medication, it’s all about getting the best bang for your buck. If you take the drug at the wrong time, you’ll find yourself twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the effects to kick in. Alternatively, if you take it too early, you may find the effects wearing off before you can put them to use. When it comes to erectile dysfunction medication, it’s all about timing.

The state of your body can also play a large part on when your ED medication kicks in, which is why it is imperative to take your medication at the right time. One of the most important factors for your ED medication is the state of your stomach.

You see, because ED medication is ingested, it ends up in the stomach. Once in the stomach, the fullness of your stomach plays a large role in when you can expect your medication to take hold.

Many advise taking ED medication after eating, but this isn’t necessarily wise if time is of the essence. When ED medication is taken on a full stomach, it’s going to take longer for the medication to do what it needs to do. Your stomach addresses food on a “first come, first served” basis, digesting the food that came in first, working through everything in your stomach until it is empty. If you take your ED medication after a large meal, it will be a while before your medication is fully digested, which means it will be quite a while into it’s effects take hold.

As such, if you’re looking to put your ED medication to work sooner rather than later, take your medication on an empty stomach. This ensures the medication is unimpeded, allowing it to be processed quickly, dispersed throughout your body, and allowing you to get down to business.