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Erectile dysfunction rates have increased from 5% in 1999 to 34% in 2018. The most intense part of this data is this is all for men under 40. I repeat, men under 40 are suffering from increased erectile dysfunction at rates we have never seen before. A recent study found that by 2025, this year, 322 million men are expected to have erectile dysfunction, up from 152 million men in 1995. Another study found young men are buying boner medication like Seialis and Viagra at the highest rates we've ever seen. So, what is the reason that in general penises are softening? It's hard to wrap your head around, or should I say soft to wrap your head around. Okay, let's get into the science of why erectile dysfunction
is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain a sufficient erection to engage in sexual intercourse. To be honest, getting an erection is hard. I'm not going to make any more hard jokes. It requires complex coordination between your endocrine system, your nervous system, the vascule of your body and your penis. Therefore, many things can go wrong along the way. In general, there are two specific types of erectile dysfunction. Physiological ED. This can be due to damaged or aged vascule in the penis, hormonal issues, drug induced, etc. Or you can have psychological ED.
This is the most common type for young people right now. More on that later. Let's start with some fascinating reasons for physiological ED. One shocking reason is due to decreased smooth muscle growth and arterial insufficiency in the penis and guch due to biking. A survey of 160 cyclists on a Norwegian bicycle tour found 21% had penile numbness with 13% experiencing temporary impetence. A more recent cross-sectional study found that men who ride bikes more than 3 hours per week have an increased risk of developing physiological erectile dysfunction. As someone who bikes about an hour a day, that's seven hours a week, that's more than three hours a week. Um, I'm a little bit worried about this information. These were small studies.
I'm going to choose to live in ignorance, continue to pedal, and slam my gu against that bike seat. Physiological ED can also be caused by smoking or vaping. I found five large studies on how smoking is a risk factor for developing physiological ED. And when it comes to vaping, one reason why young men are having more erectile dysfunction, some scientists think, is due to the trend in young men vaping. This is because vaping can mess up the vascule of your dick. Nicotine is a strong vaso constrictor. Therefore, it can significantly reduce blood flow to the male and female genitals during sexual activity. This may also be why
young women are suffering from lower libido rates as well. For example, a survey found 32% of women aged 18 to 29 had a lack of sexual desire, 26% were unable to achieve orgasm, and 19% had trouble lubricating. Some scientists think this could be linked to the increased consumption of nicotine in younger people. And then there's the weed smoking. Scared. One study found a 70% prevalence of ED in those using cannabis. That's an extremely high number. Also a very small study. Going to choose to live in ignorance. Again, I'm not going to live in ignorance. This is serious information. It does show that high doses of cannabis can cause vascular erectile dysfunction because there are canabonoid receptors in the
hypothalamus of your brain which THC binds to. But this is also a part of the brain involved in regulating erectile dysfunction. These receptors being affected during the consumption of weed may lead to a change in regulation of erections. There is a lot of research happening into cannabis and erectile dysfunction right now because again we see young men are having ED and young men are also consuming more cannabis than ever before. Diet is also a contributor to ED. One study found that lower consumption of fruits and vegetables increased the risk of ED with some studies showing the rise in young men partaking in keto or all meat diets causing increased erectile dysfunction.
In order to lower your risk of ED, one study found that consuming at least 150 gram of vegetables, 300 g of fruits, and 30 g of nuts per day can lead to a decrease in erectile dysfunction. The reason for this is that these foods are more likely to contain nutrients that reduce endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Another study found that men who partake in the Mediterranean diet are more sexually active. Although there aren't really any ways to understand if this diet is exactly the reason for the sexual activity, there's a lot of other variables involved. Drugs such as ecstasy and ketamine can lead to physiological ED as well. And opioid users are eight times more likely to get erectile dysfunction compared to
non-users. This is because opioids can block gonadotropen releasing hormone decreasing testosterone in men. In general, lower testosterone levels can be linked to erectile dysfunction. And this could be part of the reason why as you age, you're more likely to get ED. One study found there was a four-fold increase in ED in men in their 70s compared to their 20s with 52% of men between the ages of 40 to 70 having erectile dysfunction. As you age, testosterone levels can decrease, sometimes to the point that you need androgen replacement therapy. It's important as you age to get your hormone levels checked, especially if you're feeling lethargic, depressed, you have low libido. These are reasons you could
talk to your doctor and get your hormone levels tested. To deal with erectile dysfunction as you age, androgen therapy and seialis and Viagra, erectile dysfunction meds like that can work together to get your boner back. Alcohol is also a significant contributor to ED, but there's a curve of linear effect to moderate drinking. One drink per day or less than seven drinks a week had a lower prevalence of erectile dysfunction compared to non-drinkers. This may be linked to alcohol's positive impact on the psychological aspects of erectile dysfunction. So now let's talk about the elephant in the room. The other reason why people are getting erectile dysfunction at younger age is due to
psychological issues. Psychological ED is more common in younger men. Usually these men are able to get erections in the morning. They can get self-stimulated erections throughout the day and even get erections at the beginning of sexual intercourse with a partner. But the issues come when having to maintain that erection throughout the duration of sex. Essentially, psychological ED is more likely to occur when you can get an erection at the start of sex with a partner, but it goes away and you can't get it back. Most psychological ED cases are attributed to anxiety or depression and the psychological ideology that comes with both. It is likely that the stress from anxiety and depression raises cortisol
levels, increasing vascular resistance and leading to erectile dysfunction in this younger population. There also could be other reasons as well. Some researchers trace the pattern of increased erectile dysfunction since the 1990s to the increased use and access to pornography online since the 1990s as well. One paper from 2015 found erectile problems may occur when real life sexual stimulation does not match the broad visual sexual stimuli of online pornography. Essentially, when porn becomes your main source of sexual stimulation, when you end up having sex with someone in real life, you're not able to maintain an erection because it doesn't match your normal sexual stimuli. A study in China also found
that early porn use was associated with changes in reproductive hormone levels and semen quality. There's a lot of other psychological studies, less like hard science studies, about the impacts of culture, the internet, social media on young people's ability to feel validated and sexually fulfilled. That's a much more complicated psychological concept. You can go to our podcast Side Note by ASAP Science to see our episodes more on that. But it turns out that cohabiting with a partner is actually a good way to help with psychological ED. The exact reasons are unsure, but one metaanalysis and large survey found that men who do not cohabitate with a romantic partner are more likely to have
psychological ED. This information is fascinating to me. It's hard to read like Nature magazine right now without reading about this increase in erectile dysfunction. I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Also, as a millennial biker who slams my Gucci, I really needed to understand that information. But this is important that we talk about this as sexual health. Share this with your friends, your family. It could be an awkward share, but also it doesn't have to be. There's a lot more science happening right now in the realm of this area, so we'll make more videos as it comes in. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure you're subscribed, smash that like button, and we'll see you soon for a new science video.
Awesome. Peace.
