Impotence is medically referred to as erectile dysfunction. It is the term given to the condition in which a person does not get a proper erection, that is, the erection is not hard enough to carry out proper penetrative sex. Impotence is an issue with a terrifyingly large number of men in the world today. A major responsible factor is the frantic lifestyle that we lead today. There are two different cases of erectile dysfunction. One is the case in which the person has never had an erection whereas the other is in which the person does sometimes have erections, but not all the time. The former case is due to a biological problem that can be treated by medication or surgery. But the latter case is due to psychological or lifestyle factors.

Erectile dysfunction is categorized by the inability to maintain an erection. Normal erections during sleep and in the early morning suggest a psychogenic cause, while loss of these erections may mean underlying disease, often cardiovascular in origin. Other factors leading to erectile dysfunction are diabetes mellitus or hypogonadism (decreased testosterone levels due to the disease affecting the testicles or the pituitary gland).

The penis can be aroused by any kind of sexual stimulation, which could be physical visual or even psychological (thinking about sex). The penis is generally made erect by the filling of its spongy tissues with blood. This engorgement is very vital to increase the size and the hardness of the penis, which is an important necessity for penetrative sex. Surely without a hard penis, it would become relatively impossible to ejaculate and thus impregnate a woman.

Weak erections occur due to a number of factors. This is because stresses and tensions can reduce the male libido, and the capacity to achieve an erection. When a person is under stress, blood circulates more in the head region, and hence it is inadequate to engorge the penis. Added to this, the cases of diabetes and prostate gland diseases are rising to a great extent and such diseases are directly linked to erectile dysfunction. The busy lifestyle of present days is making people cope up with a host of drugs such as antidepressants, painkillers, antihistamines, etc; all of which can cause the man to lose his ability to achieve a sustained erection.

Erectile dysfunction is very much rampant in people who smoke and consume drugs. In the early stages these kinds of addictions may cause a high in the sexual act, but as time wears on and the addiction increases, there is severe damage to the reproductive system, which plays havoc with the ability to achieve an erection.

There are several men who can get erections when they masturbate or watch porn, but they do not get erections when they are in the actual sexual work. This problems needs to be looked into seriously, because it can be treated with proper counseling. Men such as - heterosexual – are perhaps so much overwhelmed of the female sex that they cannot carry out the sexual act. Their brain does not respond to the stimuli of their body, because it is too busy with the mental and physical channels of the man’s mind.