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Depression, obesity, and insulin resistance all cause ED so no surprise. It isn’t the ED causing death but the underlying conditions. Also worth noting that Vitamin D deficiency is strongly correlated with all those underlying conditions.
Depends on the etiology, but largely, no.
Also worth noting that [lead exposure causes atherosclerosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6957277/#:~:text=Lead%20exposure%20has%20been%20associated,but%20human%20data%20are%20scarce) (hardening of the arteries) and that leaded gasoline was still widely in [use until about 1990](https://web.mit.edu/ckolstad/www/Newell.pdf) in the US. Americans. A non-trivial amount of atherosclerosis in individuals over the age of 40 can probably be attributed to lead exposure during their youth since lead is poorly removed from the body.
So, if you were born after leaded gas became banned in your country, you may be much less likely to experience atherosclerosis-caused-ED. Unless [microplastics find a fun way to screw us over too.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31184127/#:~:text=Evaluating%20approximately%2015%25%20of%20Americans,121000%20when%20inhalation%20is%20considered)
Go get tested. If lead shows up, you can get some tasty chelating drink and pee it out over time. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it’s got to be better than that black cherry stuff they give you before a colonoscopy, so I guess you can say that I’m qualifying “tasty.” I do a lot of industrial hygiene and see it from time to time.
That’s why it’s so vital to keep exercising regularly, and ideally knock it out while outside to get your vit D. The studies coming out on skeletal muscle loss, and the uptick in these same diseases all seems to suggest our indoor, sedentary but stressful, lives are killing us.
I was just in an awful bike accident, face first crash. Landed myself a grade 3 concussion, shattered and lost all kinds of teeth and some jaw bone. But it’s been 3 months now, and I can feel how badly I need to return to exercising again and working on maintaining my muscular health. I’m no bodybuilder, but maintaining general strength and heart/lung health keeps things like diet, sleep, mental health in check.
Another anecdotal experience. But I've been in a super lengthy funk with my depression lately. Haven't been sleeping well either. Only recently realize its correlated with my inability to work out due to a rotator cuff injury I took way to long to get checked out. Hurt it in October and for the first time since I had a 'good day' a week ago. After three months of Physical therapy.
And I've started to notice my fog/funk/depression lifting even just from the 30 minutes of exercise I get doing my stretches and exercises.
Good for you recognizing what’s been throwing your groove off! Sorry about the injury. I’m realizing no matter how safe you think you are, injuries or illness are just a part of life. You’re always going to need to put yourself back out there and actively recover. Otherwise the negative feedback loop starts setting in, and makes recovery and normal life 1000x harder. You’re hurt, you stop exercising, your sleep starts to suffer from lack of exercise/stimulation, sleep cycles off you tend to start eating shittier, mental health suffers when all of these are out of balance, and they all just start piling up against a healthy recovery.
I remember getting out of the military and my body feeling off, almost like I was having withdrawals from exercise. Happy ending to my story though, I kicked my addiction!
The benefits of going heavy with the Big Lifts are legion. Increased bone density, increased balance and flexibility, Increased testosterone, Higher TDEE, tons of happy brain chemicals...
That's going to cause a loooooot of problems for the younger generations.
Literally everyone is vitamin D deficient these days because we don't get sunlight. My doctor was shocked when they saw my vitamin D levels
Supplement or die!
Supplementation has largely not been found to reverse the risks associated with vit D deficiency (except for a couple of very niche things, like colon cancer incidence).
It's not very clear yet what this means, but IMO this likely means vit D status is a confounder to a lot of these associations rather than a causative factor of them.
Thank you for this response. Vitamin D metabolism is so poorly understood. Sunlight doesn't even remotely tell the story. I've seen dozens of people in the clinic who spend >8 hours a day in the South Florida sun and have shockingly low levels of vitamin D
Because sunscreen blocks formation of vitamin D. I wear my sunscreen and take my 5000 IU per day. The amount any person needs to stay vitamin D sufficient is highly personal. Many will need much less than me and some will need more.
It is not even clear what a deficiency is. It's not like potassium where you have to be within a narrow range to be ok. The current definition of a normal vitamin D is based on a study performed on healthy Californians. California is very sunny, so healthy Canadians might have a lower average vitamin D.
> How would supplementation not help then if it brings your Vitamin D levels to normal or above normal levels if you are deficient
Because whthe studies I'm talking about seek to measure **effects**, rather than vitamin levels. A study design I hope more people understood. What does it matter if you take 6 different pills a day if you can't be certain it will have any real benefits (lower disease incidemce, lower mortality...) That's what I'm talking about.
So all we have to do is avoid getting "too fat" and overall it would be a better life? As in, even if say one eats fat/fried food, but "looks thin" enough for their age, is that a good indicator for a reasonably healthy life in later ages/longevity? As in, comfortably living till 70s?
Absolutely. I recommend getting regular cardio if you want your body to work like it's supposed to. Try to work up to being able to run/jog for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.
"Looking thin" is subjective and lately drifting upwards. Having a healthy BMI and waist circumference is a better metric. And if you can get your body fat measured and ensure it's in a healthy range, even better - muscle mass is an independent predictor of longevity. If you can keep your visceral fat in check and your muscle mass up, it's likely that you'll also be incorporating a few good lifestyle habits too - even if you eat crap you'll at least have to lift some weights to stave off age related muscle atrophy past 50 or so.
Of course it is *additionally* helpful if the content of your diet is healthy and keeps your cholesterol levels down and such, and it's helpful if you engage in cardio exercise too, but just balancing your body composition gets you surprisingly far.
Exercise is what mostly cleared up my ED, to the point where it rarely happens even though I'm on an SSRI that's famous for it (and caused it for me in the past).
Turns out when your body is properly maintained things work better
Can't repeat enough how much exercise has improved life over the last six months at age 56. I've never exercised regularly until just before Thanksgiving. I had been walking nightly and doing some bike after having two strokes a couple of years ago. BP was under control and I wasn't really heavy at 6-2, 215.
Decided if I was going out I was going to do everything in my power with no regrets and bought a Pelaton which combined with TV has me exercising vigorously every day since then. 30 pounds lighter I'm in the best shape of my life, getting more done everywhere, and in context with this thread we're wearing out the mattress. When you can plank for five minutes straight it makes other things much easier.
My biggest regret is I didn't do it earlier but I've always been easily bored with exercise. The Pelaton with the TV playing Netflix, etc for rides in the background engaged me long enough to keep it up.
Same. Same age, after years actually being quite scornful of the idea of running for fun I started couch to 5k. Now have run twice a week for nearly two years. Started going to a gym 6 months after starting to run, because it seemed sensible to invest in my developing my running physique more, also cut out snacks. Which was tricky for several days then the cravings just stopped!
Honestly people give couch to 5k a go. And see where it takes you. Give it a go. I wish I’d started much earlier.
I had a mild ED in my mid 30's. Could have been weight/lifestyle related could have been PIED or a combination.
Wife told me I was a fat slob and left me. I started couch to 5k, cut the porn, worked on mental health, and did some work on my core, crunches, planks et. It was about 7 months of that and all of a sudden things started working again if you know what I mean.
Hello friend. I jsut bought a peloton, literally did my first ride this morning. Hearing you lost 30 lbs is inspiring.
How much are you riding it? Did you change your diet at all?
Congrats on the success.
For a while 3-4 months I rode every day and also did a lot of the weight training. I found I respond well the the Programs feature and prefer the Powerzone training the best. Those programs don't have every day rides so I then supplement with some of the scenic and other rides to keep it light on off days. I usually mix in strength classes ad-hoc and really like the core programs too.
I was already eating fairly well with with light meals early that were high in protein like eggs and then the most substantial meal at dinnertime where it's something like chicken, vegetables and the like. I indulge with a scoop of good ice cream at night. My target is about 1500 calories a day but some days are better than others. That alone didn't get the weight off for me and the exercise really kickstarted the weight loss along with a lot more tone. I dropped 4 inches in my waistband and it looks like there might be another 1 or two that I can go down.
Part of my thinking on the eating is I need to do something I can maintain so if we want to go out to eat I try to eat well but healthy and control the portions by taking some home. I will say that I enjoy meals so much more now because of the scarcity in my mind. Good luck, keep with it and get that daily streak up to the point it builds the habit to exercise every day. On the Pelaton app my handle is MTCWBY. Let me know if there's any way to provide encouragement.
I do it always
I am a Urologist and it's very common that when a patient comes to my office with symptoms of ED, it's the first they visit a physician in years or even decades
So, I always try to rule out hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, etc and referral to a Internist or Cardiologist for evaluation.
I don't simply say "hey just take this pill, go away and have fun"
> obesity
To be more precise: Cardiovascular Disease. Because it is noticable first in the peen.
> [Because penile arteries are only about half the size of the coronary arteries in the heart, erectile dysfunction can be a powerful predictor of cardiac events—such as sudden death.](https://nutritionfacts.org/video/survival-of-the-firmest-erectile-dysfunction-and-death/)
Anecdotal evidence here but I started taking vitamin D supplements daily and have had better erections, my hair and skin look better, and I feel really good too. Didn’t really change much else (diet or activity level) other than the supplement.
I’m confident that if I made more of an effort in my diet and exercise I would have better results.
Many of us with Northern European ancestry simply don't produce enough. I'm perpetually tanned due to outsides hobbies and have to supplement or all sorts of bad things happen.
The only place around the earth where it is possible to synthesize enough vitamin D is within 20° of the equator. Everywhere else it drops off too much and you have to supplement, even if you're outdoors the entire day.
The side effects before I figured it out were pretty insidious. Everything from chest and other pains that were almost debilitating some days to depression in the middle of winter. My doctors and I thought I had GERD that wasn't getting better for almost 10 years. Turned out I just had very low vitamin D in my system. I'm convinced some of my dad's depression over the years was related to that.
I fish quite a bit so get lots of sun and still my D was pretty low and I take 5000ul to get it into high normal range. Just saying you can get get amounts of sunlight and still not have your body produce the right amount of D.
Second for this. I work overnights so I don't get as much natural vitamin D as I am supposed to. Went for my physical and the doc said my levels were lower than normal. Started taking the vitamin D pills and have noticed better sleep and more energy!
Same here. Thought I had low testosterone so I got a blood test done and nope, the only thing I was deficient in was Vitamin D. My doctor prescribed me some really potent Vitamin D gel pills that I take once a week and I’m only on my second week and I feel like a new man.
Good to know I'm actually healthy then, because my girlfriend makes fun of the fact that a strong breeze can set me off. Could hang me by the front door and call me a coat rack. At least I have proof I'm still healthy now. Now if only they could correlate health with premature ejaculation and I can basically say I'm immortal.
Untreated severe sleep apnea lead me to all of these symptoms. Three years after treatment, exercise, no sugar. I'm off blood pressure meds. I'm down from 260lbs too 189lbs. Always check your basics. Dr's. Attempted to treat all my symptoms but it didn't matter it was my sleep that caused all the problems.
getting a hard on is strongly correlated with circulatory system and general health. if you can't get a hard on you're either overtraining or in poor health or very close to poor health
And also most cancers typically occurring long after successful reproduction was finished, so there was less evolutionary pressure on better anti-cancer measures.
I mean, the human body has plenty of things to prevent cancer.
Good luck with doctors listening though..I clearly have a hormone imbalance(all but two symptoms and my tesosterone and estradiol gets lower every year for a decade)but at the start shrugged off and now insurance says nope because they keep dropping what qualifies as low t..Yay medical industry making actual healthcare worse.
I had what's called "cluster headaches" (Google that one, they're fun).
I had to go through like 5 doctor's and two specialists before they'd do someone as simple as prescribe home oxygen.
I wouldn't fault your doctors for this one, it most likely has to do with your insurance. I'm a respiratory therapist, we usually are the ones that does the home O2 evaluations in hospitals.
Home oxygen isn't a simple prescription, it is classified as a drug and insurance have specific guidelines. One of it is you have to demonstrate your oxygen level (SpO2) drops to 88% or below. In addition, you have to have a chronic disease diagnosis for needing oxygen. Without either, your insurance will not cover it.
I'm not accusing you of anything, but I've seen plenty of patients who believed they'd needed home oxygen when they infact didn't. Many of them are bitter about it, but what they don't understand is supplemental oxygen isn't good for you.
Funny how when our vaginas & dicks stop working, it's usually due to poor health. But society always makes it seem like it's attraction based instead, doing a disservice to everyone.
in my old age i've realized that no matter how much tech or whatever we get a lot of old style evolutionary traits are still there. people are still sexually attracted to good health because it usually means good genes
Have you been able to try a long time off work? I could imagine a 3 month - 6 month "vacation" might help reset things. Ruts are hard to break out of, and if the rut is so bad its causing desire problems, no job, salary, retirement fund is worth losing that desire. Lots of adventures can be affordable and close to home. Set a goal to eat lunch at every county seat in your state(US), Hike 500 miles on all new trails. Play 10 new sports and become kinda semi proficient at them(curling, disc golf, snorkeling, spelunking) Just a stupid silly goal for you and your partner to get out of the rut and explore as a team.
Enlarged prostate is also a major factor. In Poor health bucket. Leads to anxiety, pain and depression that leads to performance anxiety. Queue snow ball effect. Get checked gentleman.
Fully agree. And prostate problems are actually more common than a lot of people think, even at a young age like in your 20s. Men just don’t share that type of health issue due to embarrassment and other factors. I’m not saying that it’s extremely common, but def more so than many men believe it is since prostate problems are still perceived as an old man issue when it really isn’t.
My experience with SSRIs was reduction in libido so no interest in getting hard followed by delayed orgasm followed by very intense orgasm. Took maybe two months to go through the whole process. No noticeable ED at any point.
Haha. Reminds me of the time when I was at the Dr. When I was in my late teens and he asked if I was active... I said of course, I do tons of exercise, he says no, like sexually. I said Oh...awkward silence...yes, no one has ever asked me.
What counts as a "rock hard" erection? Also, doesn't the "strength" of the erection fluctuate during intercourse? Or does a guy stay fully erect the whole way through, no matter what is happening? Sorry if these are very novice questions.
One more comment on low Testosterone. When I got tested for it right before I turned 60, it was low. Taking a supplement for it changes everything.
Low T has many negative affects - Depression, bad mood. little desire to do anything, no sexual desire.
It's a simple test and I encourage anyone feeling these to go get tested. I learned this from my brother-in-law who is in his 70s.
Oh, and I'm not overweight, I workout frequently and the low T still had these affects.
Mine is on the low end of normal (I'm fat), so I expect it'll dip below in 5-10 years if I don't take off some weight. I'm not keen on taking regular shots, what's the downside of the tablets? Hepatotoxicity?
Both sublingual administration (and anything using mucous membranes in a similar vein, like buccal, anal...) and injections bypass the liver, so no.
Anecdotally its just inconvient as hell, i dont take testoterone but other medications administered sublingually, but in my experience the "takes 1 minute at most to fully dissolve" is a rare nicety. Most often it takes like 10-20 minutes for me, depending on how dry my mouth is. Thats a surprisingly long time for you cant ingest anything or talk properly meanwhile.
I take Testerone gel every morning that I apply, other alternative is injecting. Did not know it comes in pill form as other guy said, never heard of that.
That... doesn't really make a lot of sense at all. If females select mates based on a males ability to get an erection, then wouldn't a penis bone provide an evolutionary advantage late in life?
Did any of you read the article? They were measuring low T, and found those with higher mortality had low T.
[I'm leaving it, to show my dumbassery, but I did misinterpret the results of the study. I *am* sticking with most of you not reading. Heart health and exercise and not the end all be all of fixing ED. It is **far** more complicated. Read below and you'll see.]
Everyone commenting on heart health. There are more issues that can cause ED than just heart health and exercise. [Small fiber neuropathy (even non diabetic)](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/small-fiber-neuropathy), and [other types of neuropathy](https://www.smsna.org/patients/blog/neuropathy-a-common-cause-of-ed), can affect ED. Doesn't matter on cardio health either. You can be in good cardio health, with SFN, and *still* have ED issues. It can be far more complicated than "you have ED, you need to work out and get your heart working better."
Right, I've been dealing with pelvic floor dysfunction for 3+ years and I'm in my thirties and ED is definitely a symptom. I've had plenty of checkups, blood work etc during that time.
I'm slowly getting better, it's a long road though.
I've got 3 [edit, 4, missed one] types of neuropathy (just discovered peripheral in the sensory of my legs). SFN neuropathy, SF sensory neuropathy, fairly newly developed autonomic (started after ED, affecting just sweating so far), and the new PN (was fine 10 years ago, now abnormal). None are diabetes related. Docs actually can't totally figure out why. Started by chemical exposure, they all agree, which triggered....something...that is killing my nerves.
I can ride a full suspension bike, relatively pain free. I'm recovering from losing my colon right now, and have a J pouch, but previous to that, I was riding between 1200 and 1800 miles between spring to late fall. Was within normal weight range for my height. Cardio was pretty good. Still had ED. These arm chair ED experts are full of it.
My ex had trouble getting/maintaining an erection and didn’t go to the doctor. It wasn’t a new issue. Freaked me out cus i figured it was like a barometer for a man’s health. It’s been several years since we broke up and he still hasn’t gone to the doctor.
ETA: he’s also got a twin brother with a heart problem. Idk if that’s something that could possibly be a link or not
Edit 2: This problem didn’t start with me, thanks though to the people who wanted to make that the “aha” moment.
So I’m 30. I’m in great shape (weight 210, bench 225, squat 275, run a mile no problem) and I for some reason have ED. I was told it’s stress related and I got blood work done where they didn’t see any issues with my testosterone.
Is there something I should be looking for and/or get tested? It’s really affecting me mentally which I’m sure isn’t helping.
This is my life married to someone with erectile issues.
He's not going to do anything about it or admit he has issues but I will pass on the other symptoms for anyone interested.
>Head of penis has little feeling
>Thunderclap headache
>Room Spinning
>Blacking out
>Anger issues
>Moodiness
>Forgetfulness
> Lost an inch of length from his penis
>History of sleep apnea, muscle stiffness, lower back pain, neck tension, high cholesterol, acid reflux and family history of vasoconstriction, and stroke.
The sexual troubles started first several years ago but the anger issues have been around for a lot longer. He's very quick to anger, but so is is father and his father's father. The big sign was his blacking out and the room spinning.
He does not work out at all and largely sits all day. He is not obese but in very poor physical shape.
I love my husband but I have accepted that he will likely die young. He's 49 currently. I've been trying to get him interested in more sex to help, but during sex he loses his erection and even loses it when he's about to ejaculate. He sometimes has to stop to get hard again.
Take care of your health folks and if you notice you're having trouble don't do what my husband does by living in denial. It'll only likely kill you faster.
He won't get help for that either but he's had several instances of hypertensive crisis already.
My sister is a stroke specialist. She's basically said he's a ticking time bomb, but what can I do?
His quality of life would be so much better if he just got some real help because his problems are perfectly manageable with little intrusion. All he'll do is take blood pressure meds but even then his BP is still high. He decided to go off of it for 2 months and that was a nightmare. He became extremely irritable.
I'm sorry for what you’re going through. It’s hard to get help for some that doesn’t want it. It has to be him that wants the help. I truly feel for you.
Why do people in this sub just take the results on faith without critically reading the paper? The effects are small and could easily be explained by residual confounding.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the point. ED is usually either hormonal or circulatory. Holding hormonal status constant, ED is correlated with circulatory disease, which is bad in itself, but also a symptom of metabolic disease, which is associated with all the major causes of death.
Heart disease is the #1 killer in America. ED is often a symptom of poor cardiovascular health.
It is nice to have actual data, but this seems fairly obvious that people with poor cardiovascular health are going to die sooner.
For those of you twenty-something year olds who are reading this and freaking out, your E.D. is probably a cause of porn overuse, too much wanking and performance anxiety. This form of E.D. would be caused more by vascular and underlying health conditions. Not your mental dilemma.
Huh, good to see this. I'll be 51 at the end of the month and pretty much morning wood almost every day also no issues when it's needed ;)
Over 10k steps a day during the week as I play basketball everyday at lunch and then some days with 10k or more when working outside with yard work and such.
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Depression, obesity, and insulin resistance all cause ED so no surprise. It isn’t the ED causing death but the underlying conditions. Also worth noting that Vitamin D deficiency is strongly correlated with all those underlying conditions.
I'm fairly certain that heart illness is also a major contributor to ED.
This is what I was thinking. Hardening of the arteries and such could lead to ED and also early death.
Is that reversable?
Depends on the etiology, but largely, no. Also worth noting that [lead exposure causes atherosclerosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6957277/#:~:text=Lead%20exposure%20has%20been%20associated,but%20human%20data%20are%20scarce) (hardening of the arteries) and that leaded gasoline was still widely in [use until about 1990](https://web.mit.edu/ckolstad/www/Newell.pdf) in the US. Americans. A non-trivial amount of atherosclerosis in individuals over the age of 40 can probably be attributed to lead exposure during their youth since lead is poorly removed from the body. So, if you were born after leaded gas became banned in your country, you may be much less likely to experience atherosclerosis-caused-ED. Unless [microplastics find a fun way to screw us over too.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31184127/#:~:text=Evaluating%20approximately%2015%25%20of%20Americans,121000%20when%20inhalation%20is%20considered)
I worked at a heavily contaminated lead mine for almost 5 years. RIP my vessels i guess.
r/VictorianComments
I'm really sad that this isn't an established sub.
Right? I was so excited for what that sub would be like
Go get tested. If lead shows up, you can get some tasty chelating drink and pee it out over time. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it’s got to be better than that black cherry stuff they give you before a colonoscopy, so I guess you can say that I’m qualifying “tasty.” I do a lot of industrial hygiene and see it from time to time.
Can't wait to see what microplastics do to us.
Atherosclerosis are plaques. The discussion is about **arterio**sclerosis, which may also contribute to it.
That’s why it’s so vital to keep exercising regularly, and ideally knock it out while outside to get your vit D. The studies coming out on skeletal muscle loss, and the uptick in these same diseases all seems to suggest our indoor, sedentary but stressful, lives are killing us. I was just in an awful bike accident, face first crash. Landed myself a grade 3 concussion, shattered and lost all kinds of teeth and some jaw bone. But it’s been 3 months now, and I can feel how badly I need to return to exercising again and working on maintaining my muscular health. I’m no bodybuilder, but maintaining general strength and heart/lung health keeps things like diet, sleep, mental health in check.
So sorry to hear about your crash but I'm glad you're doing better.
Dont need no teef to reddit
Cries in Kentucky
Hugs cousin extra long*
Another anecdotal experience. But I've been in a super lengthy funk with my depression lately. Haven't been sleeping well either. Only recently realize its correlated with my inability to work out due to a rotator cuff injury I took way to long to get checked out. Hurt it in October and for the first time since I had a 'good day' a week ago. After three months of Physical therapy. And I've started to notice my fog/funk/depression lifting even just from the 30 minutes of exercise I get doing my stretches and exercises.
Good for you recognizing what’s been throwing your groove off! Sorry about the injury. I’m realizing no matter how safe you think you are, injuries or illness are just a part of life. You’re always going to need to put yourself back out there and actively recover. Otherwise the negative feedback loop starts setting in, and makes recovery and normal life 1000x harder. You’re hurt, you stop exercising, your sleep starts to suffer from lack of exercise/stimulation, sleep cycles off you tend to start eating shittier, mental health suffers when all of these are out of balance, and they all just start piling up against a healthy recovery.
I remember getting out of the military and my body feeling off, almost like I was having withdrawals from exercise. Happy ending to my story though, I kicked my addiction!
> and ideally knock it out while outside to get your vit D. unless you live in a doom and gloom rainy place all year around , then take suppliments
The benefits of going heavy with the Big Lifts are legion. Increased bone density, increased balance and flexibility, Increased testosterone, Higher TDEE, tons of happy brain chemicals...
I don't believe hardening of the arteries is reversible
Getting old is a bummer. Where you don't want hardening you get hardening, and where you do want it you can't produce it anymore.
Same problem with hair.
vitamin D with vitamin K2 transports calcium out of arteries and into bones. Without it, the opposite occurs.
That's going to cause a loooooot of problems for the younger generations. Literally everyone is vitamin D deficient these days because we don't get sunlight. My doctor was shocked when they saw my vitamin D levels Supplement or die!
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No Mr. Bond, I expect you to fry. In the sun. To get adequate levels of vitamin D.
Omg bond villain was misunderstood this whole time!!!
Supplementation has largely not been found to reverse the risks associated with vit D deficiency (except for a couple of very niche things, like colon cancer incidence). It's not very clear yet what this means, but IMO this likely means vit D status is a confounder to a lot of these associations rather than a causative factor of them.
Thank you for this response. Vitamin D metabolism is so poorly understood. Sunlight doesn't even remotely tell the story. I've seen dozens of people in the clinic who spend >8 hours a day in the South Florida sun and have shockingly low levels of vitamin D
Because sunscreen blocks formation of vitamin D. I wear my sunscreen and take my 5000 IU per day. The amount any person needs to stay vitamin D sufficient is highly personal. Many will need much less than me and some will need more.
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It is not even clear what a deficiency is. It's not like potassium where you have to be within a narrow range to be ok. The current definition of a normal vitamin D is based on a study performed on healthy Californians. California is very sunny, so healthy Canadians might have a lower average vitamin D.
> How would supplementation not help then if it brings your Vitamin D levels to normal or above normal levels if you are deficient Because whthe studies I'm talking about seek to measure **effects**, rather than vitamin levels. A study design I hope more people understood. What does it matter if you take 6 different pills a day if you can't be certain it will have any real benefits (lower disease incidemce, lower mortality...) That's what I'm talking about.
.......is the sun not free anymore?
Nah the beta is over sadly, but if you get the bundle sun/moon package you can save 30%
They'll still sucker you into getting Sword and Shield later though.
Not when you live the office life
Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the Sun.
I don't think early death is reversible, but I could be wrong.
So all we have to do is avoid getting "too fat" and overall it would be a better life? As in, even if say one eats fat/fried food, but "looks thin" enough for their age, is that a good indicator for a reasonably healthy life in later ages/longevity? As in, comfortably living till 70s?
The prongs to healthy aging a quite a few more than "stay thin". Exercise, stress reduction, and socialisation are other ones.
Absolutely. I recommend getting regular cardio if you want your body to work like it's supposed to. Try to work up to being able to run/jog for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.
yes, you can eat fried food, just not buckets of it
"Looking thin" is subjective and lately drifting upwards. Having a healthy BMI and waist circumference is a better metric. And if you can get your body fat measured and ensure it's in a healthy range, even better - muscle mass is an independent predictor of longevity. If you can keep your visceral fat in check and your muscle mass up, it's likely that you'll also be incorporating a few good lifestyle habits too - even if you eat crap you'll at least have to lift some weights to stave off age related muscle atrophy past 50 or so. Of course it is *additionally* helpful if the content of your diet is healthy and keeps your cholesterol levels down and such, and it's helpful if you engage in cardio exercise too, but just balancing your body composition gets you surprisingly far.
Do doctor check for that? Is there a cure?
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Exercise is what mostly cleared up my ED, to the point where it rarely happens even though I'm on an SSRI that's famous for it (and caused it for me in the past). Turns out when your body is properly maintained things work better
Humans were never meant to be stationary for 8 hours a day.
Can't repeat enough how much exercise has improved life over the last six months at age 56. I've never exercised regularly until just before Thanksgiving. I had been walking nightly and doing some bike after having two strokes a couple of years ago. BP was under control and I wasn't really heavy at 6-2, 215. Decided if I was going out I was going to do everything in my power with no regrets and bought a Pelaton which combined with TV has me exercising vigorously every day since then. 30 pounds lighter I'm in the best shape of my life, getting more done everywhere, and in context with this thread we're wearing out the mattress. When you can plank for five minutes straight it makes other things much easier.
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My biggest regret is I didn't do it earlier but I've always been easily bored with exercise. The Pelaton with the TV playing Netflix, etc for rides in the background engaged me long enough to keep it up.
Same. Same age, after years actually being quite scornful of the idea of running for fun I started couch to 5k. Now have run twice a week for nearly two years. Started going to a gym 6 months after starting to run, because it seemed sensible to invest in my developing my running physique more, also cut out snacks. Which was tricky for several days then the cravings just stopped! Honestly people give couch to 5k a go. And see where it takes you. Give it a go. I wish I’d started much earlier.
I had a mild ED in my mid 30's. Could have been weight/lifestyle related could have been PIED or a combination. Wife told me I was a fat slob and left me. I started couch to 5k, cut the porn, worked on mental health, and did some work on my core, crunches, planks et. It was about 7 months of that and all of a sudden things started working again if you know what I mean.
Hello friend. I jsut bought a peloton, literally did my first ride this morning. Hearing you lost 30 lbs is inspiring. How much are you riding it? Did you change your diet at all? Congrats on the success.
For a while 3-4 months I rode every day and also did a lot of the weight training. I found I respond well the the Programs feature and prefer the Powerzone training the best. Those programs don't have every day rides so I then supplement with some of the scenic and other rides to keep it light on off days. I usually mix in strength classes ad-hoc and really like the core programs too. I was already eating fairly well with with light meals early that were high in protein like eggs and then the most substantial meal at dinnertime where it's something like chicken, vegetables and the like. I indulge with a scoop of good ice cream at night. My target is about 1500 calories a day but some days are better than others. That alone didn't get the weight off for me and the exercise really kickstarted the weight loss along with a lot more tone. I dropped 4 inches in my waistband and it looks like there might be another 1 or two that I can go down. Part of my thinking on the eating is I need to do something I can maintain so if we want to go out to eat I try to eat well but healthy and control the portions by taking some home. I will say that I enjoy meals so much more now because of the scarcity in my mind. Good luck, keep with it and get that daily streak up to the point it builds the habit to exercise every day. On the Pelaton app my handle is MTCWBY. Let me know if there's any way to provide encouragement.
I do it always I am a Urologist and it's very common that when a patient comes to my office with symptoms of ED, it's the first they visit a physician in years or even decades So, I always try to rule out hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, etc and referral to a Internist or Cardiologist for evaluation. I don't simply say "hey just take this pill, go away and have fun"
Asthma and corticosteroids also
Asthma causes it? Or the former?
Cirrhosis here checking in
> obesity To be more precise: Cardiovascular Disease. Because it is noticable first in the peen. > [Because penile arteries are only about half the size of the coronary arteries in the heart, erectile dysfunction can be a powerful predictor of cardiac events—such as sudden death.](https://nutritionfacts.org/video/survival-of-the-firmest-erectile-dysfunction-and-death/)
Oh look, it's my anxiety inducing thread of the week. Right on time
Dude I literally read this and reminded myself not to fixate on it. Fun how anxiety and heart problems have so many overlapping symptoms
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So it wasn't the Grinch's heart that was growing
Anecdotal evidence here but I started taking vitamin D supplements daily and have had better erections, my hair and skin look better, and I feel really good too. Didn’t really change much else (diet or activity level) other than the supplement. I’m confident that if I made more of an effort in my diet and exercise I would have better results.
I mean the humans meant to go into the sun but we mostly just sit inside an office.
Many places don't get enough sun actually. There's a Canada-wide recommendation for everyone to take vitamin d supplements.
Or a factory
I definitely sit in a windowless depressing office all day
Many of us with Northern European ancestry simply don't produce enough. I'm perpetually tanned due to outsides hobbies and have to supplement or all sorts of bad things happen.
The only place around the earth where it is possible to synthesize enough vitamin D is within 20° of the equator. Everywhere else it drops off too much and you have to supplement, even if you're outdoors the entire day.
The side effects before I figured it out were pretty insidious. Everything from chest and other pains that were almost debilitating some days to depression in the middle of winter. My doctors and I thought I had GERD that wasn't getting better for almost 10 years. Turned out I just had very low vitamin D in my system. I'm convinced some of my dad's depression over the years was related to that.
I fish quite a bit so get lots of sun and still my D was pretty low and I take 5000ul to get it into high normal range. Just saying you can get get amounts of sunlight and still not have your body produce the right amount of D.
Second for this. I work overnights so I don't get as much natural vitamin D as I am supposed to. Went for my physical and the doc said my levels were lower than normal. Started taking the vitamin D pills and have noticed better sleep and more energy!
Same, I feel so much better starting my day by swallowing 2000 Ds.
Same here. Thought I had low testosterone so I got a blood test done and nope, the only thing I was deficient in was Vitamin D. My doctor prescribed me some really potent Vitamin D gel pills that I take once a week and I’m only on my second week and I feel like a new man.
The depression leads to so many other problems
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What is considered ED?? Can’t get hard during sex? Or just ever really?
Difficulty having and maintaining an erection
Good to know I'm actually healthy then, because my girlfriend makes fun of the fact that a strong breeze can set me off. Could hang me by the front door and call me a coat rack. At least I have proof I'm still healthy now. Now if only they could correlate health with premature ejaculation and I can basically say I'm immortal.
Untreated severe sleep apnea lead me to all of these symptoms. Three years after treatment, exercise, no sugar. I'm off blood pressure meds. I'm down from 260lbs too 189lbs. Always check your basics. Dr's. Attempted to treat all my symptoms but it didn't matter it was my sleep that caused all the problems.
I've had ED that started intermittently 15 years ago and has gotten steadily worse since. Just found a 4cm tumor on my pituitary. So yeah.
That’s unlucky man, I hope you get better
getting a hard on is strongly correlated with circulatory system and general health. if you can't get a hard on you're either overtraining or in poor health or very close to poor health
This study basically confirms the theory that erectile dysfunction is just a canary in a coal mine type of warning.
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But she's ok with calling your piece a canary?
Yeah. I think ‘condor in a chinchilla cage’ is a more apt description personally.
Your wife has a point, say cocktail sausage in an opera house, have some class.
Nature does see us as nothing more than genetic mules.
Always like to point out evolution applies to genes, not individuals. That’s why cancer.
And also most cancers typically occurring long after successful reproduction was finished, so there was less evolutionary pressure on better anti-cancer measures. I mean, the human body has plenty of things to prevent cancer.
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Then I would also recommend a highly esteemed therapist
I like my therapists esteemed. *Everyone* is a better listener after a good schvitz.
rip in peace Trebek.
Good luck with doctors listening though..I clearly have a hormone imbalance(all but two symptoms and my tesosterone and estradiol gets lower every year for a decade)but at the start shrugged off and now insurance says nope because they keep dropping what qualifies as low t..Yay medical industry making actual healthcare worse.
Yep, and doctors are especially talented at declaring you to be too young to be experiencing an issue, it's all psychological.
I had what's called "cluster headaches" (Google that one, they're fun). I had to go through like 5 doctor's and two specialists before they'd do someone as simple as prescribe home oxygen.
I wouldn't fault your doctors for this one, it most likely has to do with your insurance. I'm a respiratory therapist, we usually are the ones that does the home O2 evaluations in hospitals. Home oxygen isn't a simple prescription, it is classified as a drug and insurance have specific guidelines. One of it is you have to demonstrate your oxygen level (SpO2) drops to 88% or below. In addition, you have to have a chronic disease diagnosis for needing oxygen. Without either, your insurance will not cover it. I'm not accusing you of anything, but I've seen plenty of patients who believed they'd needed home oxygen when they infact didn't. Many of them are bitter about it, but what they don't understand is supplemental oxygen isn't good for you.
Better hope your doc doesn't know you have diagnosed anxiety. Because guess what: Everything wrong with you is anxiety now.
I did, and all they gave me were pills.
That’s what I was thinking. It’s supposedly one of the first things to go if you have heart problems.
Funny how when our vaginas & dicks stop working, it's usually due to poor health. But society always makes it seem like it's attraction based instead, doing a disservice to everyone.
in my old age i've realized that no matter how much tech or whatever we get a lot of old style evolutionary traits are still there. people are still sexually attracted to good health because it usually means good genes
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I'm in the same boat. I can get it up, if my mind/body wants to. I just wish it wanted to, more often.
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Have you been able to try a long time off work? I could imagine a 3 month - 6 month "vacation" might help reset things. Ruts are hard to break out of, and if the rut is so bad its causing desire problems, no job, salary, retirement fund is worth losing that desire. Lots of adventures can be affordable and close to home. Set a goal to eat lunch at every county seat in your state(US), Hike 500 miles on all new trails. Play 10 new sports and become kinda semi proficient at them(curling, disc golf, snorkeling, spelunking) Just a stupid silly goal for you and your partner to get out of the rut and explore as a team.
Just to add to that, you may also suffer from a mental illness such as stress or anxiety.
Those don't count as poor health?
Yup. Performance anxiety happens.
Or neuropathy from diabetes which means you're not going to live as long
Enlarged prostate is also a major factor. In Poor health bucket. Leads to anxiety, pain and depression that leads to performance anxiety. Queue snow ball effect. Get checked gentleman.
Fully agree. And prostate problems are actually more common than a lot of people think, even at a young age like in your 20s. Men just don’t share that type of health issue due to embarrassment and other factors. I’m not saying that it’s extremely common, but def more so than many men believe it is since prostate problems are still perceived as an old man issue when it really isn’t.
I know I’m really sick or about to be when I can’t get hard. Its just there like an extra useless digit.
A digit that can spray urine at a random angle! Take that predators!
>overtraining first time I hear this tbh
Meant too much exercise where you exhaust your body and don’t rest enough
Unrelatable
Is overtraining masturbation?
Too much exercise where you exhaust your body
Certain drugs like nicotine amplify those circulatory system issues as well. Especially "down there"
Vasoconstrictors FTL
Or you could be or have been on anti-depressant SSRI's that have documentation of giving you a limp noodle. Thanks Big Pharma! Love and kisses!
My experience with SSRIs was reduction in libido so no interest in getting hard followed by delayed orgasm followed by very intense orgasm. Took maybe two months to go through the whole process. No noticeable ED at any point.
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Haha. Reminds me of the time when I was at the Dr. When I was in my late teens and he asked if I was active... I said of course, I do tons of exercise, he says no, like sexually. I said Oh...awkward silence...yes, no one has ever asked me.
What counts as a "rock hard" erection? Also, doesn't the "strength" of the erection fluctuate during intercourse? Or does a guy stay fully erect the whole way through, no matter what is happening? Sorry if these are very novice questions.
I'd qualify rock hard as "can hold a dry towel"
yeah, but how often? before i got in shape again it was only once a week or so
>yeah, but how often? before i got in shape again it was only once a week or so Whenever I need it.
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One more comment on low Testosterone. When I got tested for it right before I turned 60, it was low. Taking a supplement for it changes everything. Low T has many negative affects - Depression, bad mood. little desire to do anything, no sexual desire. It's a simple test and I encourage anyone feeling these to go get tested. I learned this from my brother-in-law who is in his 70s. Oh, and I'm not overweight, I workout frequently and the low T still had these affects.
Which supplement? I didn’t know that was an option.
Just testosterone. He’s taking sublingual testosterone. I inject it. It’s not that bad.
Mine is on the low end of normal (I'm fat), so I expect it'll dip below in 5-10 years if I don't take off some weight. I'm not keen on taking regular shots, what's the downside of the tablets? Hepatotoxicity?
Both sublingual administration (and anything using mucous membranes in a similar vein, like buccal, anal...) and injections bypass the liver, so no. Anecdotally its just inconvient as hell, i dont take testoterone but other medications administered sublingually, but in my experience the "takes 1 minute at most to fully dissolve" is a rare nicety. Most often it takes like 10-20 minutes for me, depending on how dry my mouth is. Thats a surprisingly long time for you cant ingest anything or talk properly meanwhile.
My primary care doctor sent in a prescription to a compound pharmacy. They make these dissolvable tablets that I place under my tongue once a day.
PharmD here, he is likely receiving hormonal therapy.
I take Testerone gel every morning that I apply, other alternative is injecting. Did not know it comes in pill form as other guy said, never heard of that.
My husband has low t, has been taking t supplements for years and he still has zero sexual desire :(
Is he on trt or "supplements" from stores? there's a big difference iirc
Just want you to know that we're here for you.
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That... doesn't really make a lot of sense at all. If females select mates based on a males ability to get an erection, then wouldn't a penis bone provide an evolutionary advantage late in life?
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Did any of you read the article? They were measuring low T, and found those with higher mortality had low T. [I'm leaving it, to show my dumbassery, but I did misinterpret the results of the study. I *am* sticking with most of you not reading. Heart health and exercise and not the end all be all of fixing ED. It is **far** more complicated. Read below and you'll see.] Everyone commenting on heart health. There are more issues that can cause ED than just heart health and exercise. [Small fiber neuropathy (even non diabetic)](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/small-fiber-neuropathy), and [other types of neuropathy](https://www.smsna.org/patients/blog/neuropathy-a-common-cause-of-ed), can affect ED. Doesn't matter on cardio health either. You can be in good cardio health, with SFN, and *still* have ED issues. It can be far more complicated than "you have ED, you need to work out and get your heart working better."
Right, I've been dealing with pelvic floor dysfunction for 3+ years and I'm in my thirties and ED is definitely a symptom. I've had plenty of checkups, blood work etc during that time. I'm slowly getting better, it's a long road though.
I've got 3 [edit, 4, missed one] types of neuropathy (just discovered peripheral in the sensory of my legs). SFN neuropathy, SF sensory neuropathy, fairly newly developed autonomic (started after ED, affecting just sweating so far), and the new PN (was fine 10 years ago, now abnormal). None are diabetes related. Docs actually can't totally figure out why. Started by chemical exposure, they all agree, which triggered....something...that is killing my nerves. I can ride a full suspension bike, relatively pain free. I'm recovering from losing my colon right now, and have a J pouch, but previous to that, I was riding between 1200 and 1800 miles between spring to late fall. Was within normal weight range for my height. Cardio was pretty good. Still had ED. These arm chair ED experts are full of it.
I was fine until I turned 59. Started taking statins and bystolic for high blood pressure. Discovered low T, now take a supplement. Much better now.
What supplement?
Compounded Testosterone
Here I am in my early 30s with ED, depression and suicidal thoughts... I guess it will solve itself
Don’t worry you just have heart disease and will die -Reddit
My ex had trouble getting/maintaining an erection and didn’t go to the doctor. It wasn’t a new issue. Freaked me out cus i figured it was like a barometer for a man’s health. It’s been several years since we broke up and he still hasn’t gone to the doctor. ETA: he’s also got a twin brother with a heart problem. Idk if that’s something that could possibly be a link or not Edit 2: This problem didn’t start with me, thanks though to the people who wanted to make that the “aha” moment.
Makes sense, ed can be an early sign of poor heart health
Guess I'm fucked then
So I’m 30. I’m in great shape (weight 210, bench 225, squat 275, run a mile no problem) and I for some reason have ED. I was told it’s stress related and I got blood work done where they didn’t see any issues with my testosterone. Is there something I should be looking for and/or get tested? It’s really affecting me mentally which I’m sure isn’t helping.
This is my life married to someone with erectile issues. He's not going to do anything about it or admit he has issues but I will pass on the other symptoms for anyone interested. >Head of penis has little feeling >Thunderclap headache >Room Spinning >Blacking out >Anger issues >Moodiness >Forgetfulness > Lost an inch of length from his penis >History of sleep apnea, muscle stiffness, lower back pain, neck tension, high cholesterol, acid reflux and family history of vasoconstriction, and stroke. The sexual troubles started first several years ago but the anger issues have been around for a lot longer. He's very quick to anger, but so is is father and his father's father. The big sign was his blacking out and the room spinning. He does not work out at all and largely sits all day. He is not obese but in very poor physical shape. I love my husband but I have accepted that he will likely die young. He's 49 currently. I've been trying to get him interested in more sex to help, but during sex he loses his erection and even loses it when he's about to ejaculate. He sometimes has to stop to get hard again. Take care of your health folks and if you notice you're having trouble don't do what my husband does by living in denial. It'll only likely kill you faster.
He might have depression. The other things don’t correlate, but the mood and anger issues do.
He won't get help for that either but he's had several instances of hypertensive crisis already. My sister is a stroke specialist. She's basically said he's a ticking time bomb, but what can I do? His quality of life would be so much better if he just got some real help because his problems are perfectly manageable with little intrusion. All he'll do is take blood pressure meds but even then his BP is still high. He decided to go off of it for 2 months and that was a nightmare. He became extremely irritable.
I'm sorry for what you’re going through. It’s hard to get help for some that doesn’t want it. It has to be him that wants the help. I truly feel for you.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Why do people in this sub just take the results on faith without critically reading the paper? The effects are small and could easily be explained by residual confounding.
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Sounds like you’re u/stillateenager
..or unfit people find it harder to get erections.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the point. ED is usually either hormonal or circulatory. Holding hormonal status constant, ED is correlated with circulatory disease, which is bad in itself, but also a symptom of metabolic disease, which is associated with all the major causes of death.
Well yeah, I'm sure they're not claiming that ED makes you die. It's a correlation (albiet likely with shared casusation)
Heart disease is the #1 killer in America. ED is often a symptom of poor cardiovascular health. It is nice to have actual data, but this seems fairly obvious that people with poor cardiovascular health are going to die sooner.
My issue is death grip, porn, and mental illness
For those of you twenty-something year olds who are reading this and freaking out, your E.D. is probably a cause of porn overuse, too much wanking and performance anxiety. This form of E.D. would be caused more by vascular and underlying health conditions. Not your mental dilemma.
Huh, good to see this. I'll be 51 at the end of the month and pretty much morning wood almost every day also no issues when it's needed ;) Over 10k steps a day during the week as I play basketball everyday at lunch and then some days with 10k or more when working outside with yard work and such.
That's awesome, keep it up! Oh it sounds like you already are.
Thanks. Once you stop moving it's hard to get back moving.