Sexual Dysfunction In Men: Kusungwa explained

BY MELODY GWENYAMBIRA

BOTH men and women are affected by sexual problems.

Today I have decided to talk about the sexual dysfunctions in men.

I embark on a journey to talk about an issue that rarely finds itself in discussions.

Many a time talks are centered on additional pressure on men to perform at their zenith.

These talks shut the door on some candid talk that some will be in need of.

Sad but true, many men face problems of sexual dysfunction and cannot present the problems to doctors let alone their friends.

Men’s sexual health has some stigma attached to it.

In our society men feel they can’t present to a doctor with these problems or feel ashamed to present with these problems because there is a certain stigma attached to it zvinenge zvakunzi murume arikuda kuiita musikanzwa or akasungwa so men are fearful to present with these problems.

It’s time that men’s issues be addressed because men are humans just like us and they have real problems.

To remove the stigma attached to it, I spoke to two medical professionals, Doctors Hosea Mapondera and Advance Kavai who imparted their knowledge of men’s sexual health.

“Men have been neglected in society everything out there from Non Governmental Organisations to donors they cater for women’s issues, from breast and cervical cancer awareness and screenings. Men actually have real problems.

Problems that face men are several; things like prostate cancers men don’t have to die from it. There’s not much of it in terms of awareness and screening,” Dr Mapondera clarified.

Men’s sexual health deals mainly with three main issues. The first issue is that of impotence.

Impotence can be split into three can be split into three categories being erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and low libido.

“Erectile dysfunction is failure to get an erection or sustain an erection while you have it for satisfactory sexual intercourse while premature ejaculation is when you ejaculate within two to three minutes of penetration,” Dr Mapondera said.

Doctors Advance Kavai and Dr Hosea Mapondera

To understand erectile dysfunction it is important to understand the normal mechanism of an erection.

“Men are stimulated by their senses either visually or through the auditory sense when a woman whispers sweet nothings in to their ear,

or through the olfactory sense or the sense of smell nostrils just what a woman cooks has an impact on the libido , the way the food is arranged in the plate also plays a part in the man’s libido,” Dr Kavai added.

Men’s sexual problems have repercussions because if a man is not performing well in the house he might go out believing that he will perform better outside the house.

That guy will go out and have a small house and pick up sexually transmitted diseases or HIV and bring back them in the home.

His wife because she is not satisfied will begin to nag and cause problems which cause stress and worsen the situation.

She might go out to look for sexual satisfaction outside the home and this leads to broken homes, kids being raised without both parents, the impact to society is quite big.

“When a man is aroused the signals meet in the brain where they are integrated and they are transmitted down through the nerves to the male organ. Once at the male organ there is release of neurotransmitters . The neurotransmitters cause the blood vessels in the penis to release a chemical called nitric oxide which is a powerful vasodilator that when released in the body opens blood vessels. This chemical then results in blood vessels in the penis opening up wide, blood rushes into the penis and just like someone blowing air into a balloon it then stands,” Dr Kavai added.

Anything that affects a man’s brain, a man’s nerves or man’s blood vessels will affect sexual function.

If a man is stressed or depressed it means the integration of signals in the mind is not as efficient and if a man has spinal trauma for example a man is involved in an accident and they become quadriplegic or paraplegic the injury disrupts those neuronetworks that go to the penis or is a man has cancer which may spread to the spinal cord and it cause damage to the spinal cord thus affecting their sexual health.

“There are chronic illnesses which are becoming more and more common nowadays and the non communicable diseases like hypertension diabetes mellitus, obesity and cancers they all impact on sexual function for example diabetes destroys the nerves, your nerves don’t work efficiently. Hypertension hardens the blood vessels they don’t open wide enough even the drugs for like HCTs for such men switching them to a different medication will solve it,” Dr Mapondera enlightened.

Dr Mapondera further highlighted that premature ejaculation causes are mainly psychological.

“It can be situational or global. Situational occurs with certain partners for example a man will ejaculate prematurely with his wife. Global means the man will ejaculate prematurely with other sexual partners or with all sexual partners so it’s almost the same causative factors as with erectile dysfunction and the basic is usually have to do with diet, weight and any other chronic illnesses they may have but the major component is psychological so with low libido they are more or less causative mechanism.”

All these problems can be treated.

Counseling is a major part of managing these conditions,

Usually when you know the causes of a problem you rectify, that’s a standard way in which medicine is practiced

They are medical things that can also be done.

Certain medicines can be prescribed and the most common drugs that are given are the phosphodiesterase inhibitors like the Viagra’s, an enzyme involved in the pathway of burning up the blood vessels

“The problem is that these Viagra’s are taken by mouth what they then do is that when they circulate throughout the body they start opening blood vessels everywhere, in the brain nostrils in the circulatory system and cause problems like nasal congestion and headaches. In someone who has had a chronic heart disease if they just open up blood vessels throughout the body it may cause a certain drop in blood pressure which may lead to a heart attack so these are dangerous,” Dr Mapondera added.

Unfortunately this is what you are finding at street corners in the forms of teas and coffees.

These “sex enhancing” teas and coffees contain an analog called sildenafil (the chemical name for Viagra) and can cause serious health problems. It’s a potential medical crisis waiting to happen

“Before you prescribe Viagra you need to do a full physical assessment on a person. They need an ECG. You need to know how their heart is performing. Do they have any problems with their heart?’ Dr Kavai said.

However a safer treatment has been developed.

The Men’s Clinic uses this.

It is called the intracavernous injections.

Intracavernous injections are injections which contain powerful vasodilators which are injected directly into the penis.

A standard diabetic needle is used.

Medicine is filled into the injection depending on the dose and put into the injector device.

It is then injected into the penis.

The medicine flows throughout the penis and opens blood vessels and the man can get an erection in ten minutes

The erection goes down within an hour or two.

Once they are at home if they are sexually stimulated their blood vessels are now hypersensitive they respond much better to their internal hormones.

“Research has shown that men who are injected every third day for six months 90 percent of men are cured of erectile dysfunction,” said Dr Kavai.

These medications are not an overnight thing.

For years some men believed that sexual problems were a normal part of growing older or an evil spell cast on them

Fortunately changing attitudes and medicine have debunked this myth.

As a man you should be comfortable in talking about sexual problems to your partner or health care provider.

There is no reason for you not to remain sexually active well into your 70s and beyond.