SEXUAL PROBLEMS: ALCOHOL
Question: Can drinking alcohol for a long time make me impotent?
Answer: Yes. Achieving and maintaining an erection for satisfying intercourse requires four major elements to work together: psychological arousal, good blood circulation to the penis, the proper male hormonal balance, and healthy nerves to conduct all the necessary reflexes. Alcohol consumption in excess can impair any of these components:
- Psychological: Alcohol is a drug that can diminish sexual desire and decrease the level of arousal.
- Blood circulation: Prolonged use of alcohol is linked to cardiomyopathy, which is a disease where the muscular contractions of the heart become weak and inefficient. Alcohol consumption is also linked to hypertension, which is abnormally high blood pressure. Hypertension over time can cause damage to blood vessels anywhere in the body, including the vessels supplying the penis.
- Hormonal: A major life-threatening consequence of prolonged heavy alcohol use is liver damage. The liver plays an important role in synthesizing the important "building block" compounds used by the sexual organs to make both male and female hormones.
- Neurological: A complicated set of reflexes controls the frequency and duration of erections. Alcohol is toxic to nerves and can interfere with the chain of nervous impulses that lead to erections.
