Definition
Description
Statistics
Conditions
Causes
Diagnosis
Signs and Symptoms
Treatments
Conventional
Natural Treatments
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Definition
Sexual health refers to sexual function, reproduction, desire, ability and enjoyment. It involves relevance in and effect on your overall life and health status.
Description
“Experts in the field of sexual medicine agree that sexual function can be related to overall health, especially heart health.”
Your sexual health is an integral part of your life. Feelings and experiences of a healthy sexual relationship are important to develop and maintain social and interactive skills, as well as contributing toward a healthy heart and circulation.
Factors affecting sexual health may include one or many physical, psychological and emotional issues. Health conditions that affect these areas can impact your sexual health as well as your relationships and self-image. If you are not feeling happy with your life, are constantly ill, tired, or suffer from chronic illness or disease it is unlikely that you will be able to fulfil a satisfying and stimulating sexual relationship.
Hormones
Estrogens and testosterone are the major sex hormones essential in sexual functioning.
Both classes of hormones are present in males and females alike, but in different amounts.
Men generally produce around 6-8 mg of testosterone per day, compared to most women who generally produce around 0.5mg.
Estrogens are also present in both sexes, but of course in larger amounts for women.
Premature aging, illness, certain medications and chronic illness all affect your body's hormonal balance, sometimes causing drastic changes in sexual interest and ability.
More awareness has been gained regarding the importance of sexual health since the World Health Organization (WHO) stated over 25 years ago that "There exist fundamental rights for the individual, including…freedom from organic disorders, diseases and deficiencies that interfere with sexual and reproductive function."
However, even today there are still many obstacles that prevent this from becoming a reality. This is a general lack of understanding of the relationship between your general health and your sexual function and abilities.
Various factors limit your sexual interest and capacity as you age. Heart disease, diabetes, depression, obesity, hormonal and nervous system disorders can all seriously lower your abilities and confidence in the sexual arena.
The American Association of Retired Persons has done numerous studies and surveys to find out how non-prevention of such problems in early years has effected lives latterly (in both general health and sexual function and enjoyment).
As well as producing many individual facts and figures, their overall findings can be summarised in one sentence…
“Sexual health is not only an important part, but an essential element of the quality of life of adults over the age of 45.”
Revelations regarding the effects of prescriptive treatments are also continuously brought to our attention. Preventative measures, general nutritional health, lifestyle and exercise continually prove to be the way ahead to maintain your level of sexual health throughout life.
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Statistics
Here are some interesting statistics:
More people seek help for sexual health matters than any other condition (37% up from 26% in 1999).
More people agree sexual activity is a critical part of their relationship (60% up from 55% in 1999).
Almost 40% of men and 15% of women rate their sex lives as currently being at the bottom of the satisfaction scale.
Healthy and physically active people are generally more satisfied with their sex lives than those with a medical condition. (AARP)
31% of men believe that better preventative and curative measures for their overall health would increase their satisfaction with their sex life. (AARP)
The majority of middle aged and senior people don't receive adequate information on prevention and cure for the growing variety of both acute and chronic conditions. This affects their sexual health as part of their overall health and well-being. (AARP).
Conditions
"There's an incredibly important link between a man's health and sexual performance," (Professor Lamm, New York University)
Male sexual function changes constantly through adulthood. At the age of 18 puberty reaches its peak and allows for maximum sexual ability. This continues through your 20s and 30s.
Anywhere from age 40–50+, without adequate nutritional and hormonal maintenance to optimize health, you may experience a reduction in erection times, less forceful ejaculation and longer refractory times. This can worsen from around 60+ where hormones may reduce and physiological responsiveness, arousal and function may lower.
However, although by your 60s the changes noted above may be quite noticeable to you physically, your psychological desire may still be strong. This is because these problems lay more in your overall health status as opposed to any kind of age-related lack of interest.
Impotence (ED)
The prostate
Prostate cancer
Testicular cancer
Premature ejaculation
Male infertility
Loss of libido
Impotence (erectile dysfunction) or EDimp
Erectile dysfunction is the most common sexual health complaint in men.
Impotence is when you are unable to maintain an erection.
To remain erect your penis must become engorged with blood. Some conditions make this difficult however. Vascular (blood vessel) disease, e.g. Atherosclerosis (where fatty deposits narrow the arteries) may restrict blood flow to the penis, high fat/sugar diets, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking are all common causes.
This condition affects approximately 30 million men in the United States alone.
As well as Atherosclerosis, other major causative groups include:
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