Erectile Dysfunction - DKSH x Cialis (Part 3)

Can Erectile Dysfunction (ED) be Cured?

The answer to the question is another question, which is, what is the cause of the ED? If the cause is a very benign cause, for example, an acute psychological stress or side effect from a medication that the patient is taking, then yes, it obviously can be cured because we just need to take away these factors.

However, for the vast majority of patients, the cause of erectile dysfunction or ED is actually a reduction in the blood flow to the penis. And a lot of this is actually caused by chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And since these diseases cannot be cured, then by definition, the erectile dysfunction also cannot be cured.

What are the Treatment Options for Erectile Dysfunction?

Before we even talk about the treatment options for erectile dysfunction, we have to talk about getting a proper diagnosis. That is why you need to see a doctor. You need to find out the cause of the erectile dysfunction, because we should not just throw pills at everything and hope that something happens.

So first, find out the cause. Second, treat any underlying causes. If there is a reduction in the level of serum testosterone, get that fixed first. If it is a problem with obesity and overweight, get a doctor help you with a medical weight loss program first. Then we move on to the actual treatments of erectile dysfunction, of which there are quite a few.

The least invasive ones are tablets. We will get into more detail later. Slightly more invasive ones are penile injections, and then even more invasive ones would be surgical penile implants. Somewhere in between would be this new treatment called Electro Shockwave Therapy which is to open up the blood vessels in the penis.

So, let's go back to pills for treating erectile dysfunction. Why are they so popular? They are easy, they are convenient, they are painless, and honestly, they are really quite effective and really quite reliable. Right now, there are actually four different pills out there to treat erectile dysfunction. There is the blue pill, orange pill, pink pill, and then there is a white pill.

Are There any Differences Amongst These Pills for ED?

All of them are slightly different. One being the onset of effect. You can see effect as quick as 15 minutes, some take about half an hour or longer. The other being the duration of effect: some will last for eight hours; some will last for up till 36 hours. When I say this to my patients, the usual reaction I get is, “Eight hours?!”

Rest assured you are not going to walk around with an erection for eight hours. That will be exceedingly inconvenient, right? Pills for erectile dysfunction are a little bit different from, say, sleeping pills. So, if you are going to pop a sleeping pill, you’d rather be lying in bed, because you do not want to be driving and then fall asleep. Highly dangerous. When you pop a pill for erectile dysfunction, you are not going to just get an erection, you are still going to need sexual stimulation. So, after taking the pill, honestly, you do not need to be in the bedroom. You can go for a nice dinner, get back home, and when you are stimulated, then you will get an erection.

For pills with a shorter duration action, like four hours or eight hours, this becomes a very important point or even a point of stress for a lot of patients. So, in order to improve spontaneity, there are pills whose duration action is actually 36 hours. So, you're basically ready for that 36 hours.

Do Pills for Erectile Dysfunction Cause Heart Attacks?

This was a very big concern when these medicines were first launched in in the 1980s. What happened at that time that caused this concern was: all these men who were probably a little bit more advanced in age, who already had heart problems, who had erectile dysfunction all their lives, suddenly were now empowered to yet again live the lifestyle that they want.

And sometimes they would, shall we say, put themselves in scenarios which were overly exciting. And it is because of these scenarios that their heart function could not take it. And that is why they got a heart attack. So, it was not the pills that caused the heart problems. It was the pills empowering the men to be in the situation that caused the heart problems.

Will I Develop an Addiction or Dependence to Erectile Dysfunction Tablets?

The answer is no. They will not. You will never be dependent on it; you will never be addicted to it. The reason people get this wrong impression is because they do not address the underlying cause.

For example, a patient has diabetes. He does not control his diabetes, so his blood vessels get more and more blocked, so his erectile dysfunction gets worse and worse. So, he ends up needing a higher and higher dose of the erectile dysfunction medicine to achieve an erection. In his mind, he might be thinking, “Look, I am getting addicted to this medicine. I keep needing more and more of it.”

But the truth is, it is because his diabetes is not controlled. This really emphasises the point why it is so important to see a doctor for erectile dysfunction issues – get properly diagnosed, get the underlying cause controlled, rather than just self-medicating with such medications.