Impotence and Alcoholism
Recent health studies have found that small amounts of alcohol on a daily basis can be good for you. However, these studies primarily refer to the health benefits of red wine, and not hard alcohols or beer. In addition, the red wine is thought to be good for you because of a chemical in the skin of the grape. So, there is still some controversy as to whether any alcohol is good for you on a daily basis. Alcohol consumed in moderate amounts can allow one to throw sexual inhibitions to the wind, intensify one’s “libido,” and temporarily enhance feelings of well-being, all while increasing self-esteem.
But, over-consumption gradually depresses those fleeting moments of euphoria and eventually leads to something known as alcohol impotence, making the person suffering from it incapable of having an erection. This is often frustrating as those first few side effects often increase a man’s desire for sexual intercourse.
Impotence (erectile dysfunction) is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse, as well as including the inability to get an erection as a result of sexual stimulation.
Impotence normally does not include other symptoms such as lack of “libido”, inability to ejaculate or the inability to achieve orgasm. This can be in many ways worse. An impotent man can still have the desires to have sex, but simply is unable to achieve an erection that would help him satisfy those desires.
Long-term alcohol abuse is shown to affect the nervous system as well as impairing the impulses between the brain’s pituitary gland and the genitals. The nervous system is responsible for triggering the signals that dilate and relax the blood vessels in the penis, resulting in an erection. And, should there be any problem in “communication” between the two then an erection will not happen no matter how much stimulus is present.
Clinical studies have shown that prolonged alcohol abuse causes irreversible damage to the nerves in the penis, which results in alcohol impotence. This makes it unlikely that a man will ever achieve a full long lasting natural erection without the help of drugs or treatments.
Excessive drinking also can result in behavioral changes that reduce sexual desire and inhibit sexual performance. Concentration and judgment become “cloudy” and physical activity and movement are impaired often causing one’s balance to become worse.
Alcoholism also disrupts hormone levels, in particular, testosterone and estrogen. Low levels of testosterone diminish sexual drive and function.
Depression, stress and anxiety are often cited as reasons for excessive drinking. But these same psychological factors are also the leading causes of impotence. Thus, it is quite clear that a correlation is found showing that those who are heavy drinkers are the most likely to suffer from alcohol impotence.
Case studies have shown that long-term alcohol abuse causes alcohol impotence in men even when they are sober. Apart from the damage caused to the nervous system by alcoholism, it’s believed that the associated decline in physical and psychological health can contribute to this. Alcohol has been proven to be a depressant. And, depression has been proven to be linked to a variety of other medical problems, some of which increase one’s risk of suffering from impotence.
Excessive drinking is often associated with other negative factors like smoking, over eating, lack of exercise and drug abuse.
Regardless of whether alcohol abuse is caused by physical or psychological factors, the bottom line is that, at best, excess alcohol leads to chronic sexual under-performance and at worst chronic alcohol impotence.
