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How To Diagnose And Treat Erectile Dysfunction
Up to 5% of men across the globe have complete erectile dysfunction. If you think you might have ED, it’s simple to get tested and there are a number of ways of tackling. Below we run through how to diagnose ED (from a physical to a blood test) and medications for treating it (from viagra to tadalafil).
How to diagnose erectile dysfunction
While some may be reluctant to speak to somebody in person about erectile dysfunction, the first step in diagnosing ED is to be assessed by a medical professional You can either visit a sexual health clinic or see a doctor for your physical examination, as both are able to carry out the tests required to establish if you have erectile dysfunction.
Whether you speak to a GP or a sexual health representative, there are a number of steps the medical professional can take to diagnose erectile dysfunction.
Physical examination to test for erectile dysfunction
This will involve an examination of your testicles and penis. The GP or sexual health professional will check the nerves in your sexual organs for sensation – they will also look at your urinary, and vascular systems.
Psychological examination to test for ED
Physiological factors, such as depression, stress, and anxiety, have been shown to cause erectile dysfunction. Your examiner may carry out an examination to establish if any of these psychological factors are leading you to experience ED – they will do so by asking you a series of questions, concerning your own mental health and that of your family members.
Blood test to see if you have erectile dysfunction
Your blood pressure will be taken, as many studies have noted a link between high blood pressure and ED. However, you may also be required to have a blood test. The reason for this is that it allows doctors and health specialists to check for signs of low testosterone levels, diabetes, heart disease, and any other health problems that may be causing your ED.
Urine test to establish if you have ED
Urine tests are carried for the same reason as blood tests – to establish if you have any underlying medical conditions that are causing you to experience erectile dysfunction.
Ultrasound testing for erectile dysfunction
An ultrasound test uses sound waves to review the blood vessels in your penis. This is done so that doctors can see if you are unable to sustain an erection due to issues with the flow of blood to your penis.
Blood flow stimulation testing for ED
Alongside having an ultrasound, you may be given a blood flow stimulation test to diagnose if you have ED. This carried out by injecting medication into your penis to create an erection.
How to treat erectile dysfunction
Once you have been assessed by a GP or sexual health professional, there are a number of different ways that your erectile dysfunction. The treatments for ED range from oral medications (such as tadalafil) through to surgery, and the best course of action will depend on the severity of your condition. As medication is the most popular way of treating erectile dysfunction, below we have looked at the most common medications for ED.
Oral medications to treat ED
There are four main medications you can take for ED, with each working by enhancing the effects of nitric oxide in your body. This tackles ED by relaxing the muscles in your penis, increasing the flow of blood to it and making it easier for you to achieve and maintain an erection.
The four primary medications for treating erectile dysfunction are
- Avanafil (Stendra)
- Sildenafil (Viagra)
- Tadalafil (Adcirca, Cialis)
- Vardenafil (Levitra, Staxyn)
Viagra is the most well-known medication taken for ED and lasts for up to 5 hours. If you want a longer lasting treatment for erectile dysfunction, tadalafil is a popular choice.
Tadalafil is a generic version of Cialis (one of the most common ED medications) and is effective for up to 36 hours. UK reviews for tadalafil are extremely positive – tadalafil UK currently has a score of 4.9/5 on world-renowned reviews site Trustpilot.
Once you have had a consultation from a GP or registered sexual health professional, you can buy tadalafil tablets (available in 10mg and 20mg tablets) in the UK from registered online pharmacists.
Erectile dysfunction is a problem millions of men in the world suffer from it. If you think you might be experiencing ED, the first step is to get in touch with your GP or a sexual health professional and get tested. And if you do have ED, there are many ways of treating it (in addition to the medications mentioned in this article, the NHS lists some of the other ED treatments), so you won’t have to suffer anymore.
Can Pelvic Floor Exercises Help With Bladder Weakness?
Bladder weakness can be an embarrassing condition to live with. Suffering from the condition requires you to prepare in advance, and can make day-to-day life difficult. However, it is possible to reduce the symptoms of bladder weakness by doing regular pelvic floor exercises. Here we look at what causes bladder weakness is, what pelvic floor exercises are, and how they can help with bladder weakness.
What is bladder weakness?
Bladder weakness, also known as urinary incontinence, is when the sufferer is unable to control their bladder. Sufferers can accidentally urinate at any time, although the reasons for doing so can depend on extraneous factors.
There are several different types of bladder weakness. The most common include:
- Total incontinence: this is when your bladder is unable to hold any urine at all. As a result, the sufferer will either urinate frequently or continuously.
- Stress incontinence: this occurs when the bladder is under stress from the body, for example during heavy fits of laughter or coughing.
- Overflow incontinence: also known as chronic urinary retention, this occurs when the sufferer is unable to completely empty their bladder. This results in regular leaks.
- Urge incontinence: when the sufferer feels the need to urinate, they involuntarily leak, either immediately or shortly afterwards.
Some people may experience both urge incontinence and stress incontinence at the same time.
What causes bladder weakness?
The causes of bladder weakness vary depending on the type of incontinence. For example:
Total incontinence
Total incontinence can be caused by a number of things, such as:
- A trauma to the spinal cord, which affects the signals between the bladder and the brain.
- An existing issue with the bladder from birth.
- A small hole appearing between the bladder and an area close by, for example the vagina. This is known as a bladder fistula.
Stress incontinence
Stress incontinence can be caused by a number of things, including:
- Injury or damage occurring during birth, especially during vaginal birth as opposed to C-section.
- Existing brain conditions that impact the spinal cord and brain, for example multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease.
- Higher pressure on the stomach, particularly as a result of obesity or pregnancy.
- Some connective tissue disorders or medications
Overflow incontinence
The causes of overflow incontinence vary, but can largely be categorized into two groups: an obstructed bladder or detrusor muscles that do not fully contract, which affects how you urinate.
An obstructed bladder can be caused by:
- Constipation.
- Stones in the bladder.
- A prostate gland that is enlarged (in men only).
The detrusor muscles can be affected by:
- Certain medicines
- Nerve damage
Urge incontinence
Urge incontinence is caused by damaged or weakened detrusor muscles, or detrusor muscles that contract too often. While the causes of this are not clear, possible theories include:
- Insufficient consumption of fluids. This makes the stored urine stronger, which in turn affects the bladder.
- Excessive consumption of caffeine or alcohol.
- Constipation.
- Brain conditions
- Issues with the lower urinary tract, for examples bladder tumors or urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Medications that can cause bladder weakness
Some medications can cause bladder weakness by affecting the usual process of holding urine and passing it, or by upping the amount of pee you create. These medicines include:
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- A select few antidepressants
- Medicines that make you urinate more, known as diuretics
- ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors
- Some sedatives
What are pelvic floor exercises?
Pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegel exercises, involve clenching the muscles around the pelvic floor. These are the muscles that support the bladder, bowel, and womb.
Whenever you are urinating and you hold it in, you are using your pelvic floor muscles. It is not advised that you do this regularly while urinating however, as this can damage your bladder.
By regularly doing Kegel exercises, you can strengthen your bladder and better control your bladder. This will also prevent or reduce accidental urination.
How do I do pelvic floor exercises?
It can be difficult to locate your pelvic floor muscles. But with a little practice, you can find them and start benefiting from pelvic floor exercises.
- Start by sitting on a chair with your knees at right angles and slightly apart.
- Now, try to squeeze your muscles in the same way you would if you were trying to stop yourself urinating mid-stream.
- Once you have found your pelvic floor muscles, squeeze them 10-15 times for a few seconds at a time.
- Do not hold your breath or clench your stomach, thigh, or butt muscles while doing so.
- As you progress, increase the number of times you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles, although do not do so excessively.
- You will start to feel the benefits in a few months or so. However, carry on doing these exercises to ensure your pelvic floor muscles stay strong.
Urinary incontinence can be an unpleasant and embarrassing condition to live with. However, there are things you can do to treat it. By doing regular pelvic floor exercises, you can strengthen your bladder and reduce accidental leakage, helping you lead a normal, happy life without worrying about urinary incontinence.
Your Family Medical History: How Their Health Can Affect Your Health
While it would be lovely to think that our health is solely in our control and we are only affected by our own decisions, this is not the case. Our family medical history has quite an effect on our health as a whole. If you’ve ever been to a doctor, you will know that one of the things that they ask is your immediate and extended family history.
If you’re not quite sure why, let these answer you:
It Raises Your Risk for Certain Illnesses
When your father or mother has a certain illness like hypertension, diabetes, or even cancer, it raises your risk for them as well. This is because of the genetic similarities between yourself and your parents. The same is true for siblings and even your extended family members.
If you’ve got high blood, diabetes, and other regularly occurring issues in various members of the family, you can consider yourself at high risk for the same things.
It Determines What Tests You Will Need
When your doctor has an idea of your family’s medical history, they will have a better idea of the sort of tests and screenings that you will need in your lifetime. If your parents have congenital diseases, you and your offspring will have to be tested for them as well.
Your family’s medical history can help serve as a roadmap for your doctor to determine how to best help you avoid certain illnesses.
It Will Affect the Sort of Lifestyle You’ll Need
When you’ve got a lot of illnesses on either side of the family, you must be conscious of the lifestyle that you lead. If your bloodline is prone to heart disease, it would be smart to be proactive and avoid foods and hobbies which may exacerbate your heart’s condition.
So you see, knowing your family’s medical history can help shape your own health—for better or worse. Are you aware of your family’s medical history? What illnesses have run rampant in your bloodline?
Spotting the Good Ones: 3 Signs You’ve Got a Good Doctor
When it comes to the topic of your health, your doctor should be your partner. The thing is, there are a lot of doctors out there that value money over actual service. This is why you should be discerning of your doctors.
How do you determine if you’ve got yourself a good doctor? Well, for us, they should have these qualities:
Listens
Who here has experienced explaining your symptoms to a bored looking doctor who is quick to judge or dismiss your words? We’ve experienced this several times and it just ended up with wasted money and frustration. A good doctor will take time to really listen to their patient. They will hold off questions until you are finished with your description.
A doctor who listens is one that you can trust.
Easy to Reach
There are some doctors that are harder to reach than most. The thing is even if they are not as busy there are those that are quite difficult to really get a hold of. This is why it is ever important to find a doctor that is easy to reach whether by phone or text or even email.
A good doctor is one that won’t make it hard for you to get a hold of them for your health concerns.
Respects Your Time
Time is crucial. Not everyone has the free time to go and sit at a doctor’s office for hours at a time. Many of us have experienced being made to wait for hours at a time for a doctor that should have been in ages ago.
A good doctor is one that values and respects the time of their patients.
There are a lot of other qualities that you should definitely look for in a doctor. These three are the ones that we listed off the top of our heads. What qualities do you think a good doctor has?
The Importance of Double Checking: What to Ask Before You Believe
Information has always been important for everyone—especially when one’s health is concerned. With information so easily obtained from the net, it is all the more important to double check it. There have been too many instances where a piece of wrong and harmful information has gone viral thanks to scaremongering and social media.
When you read a piece of health-related post or article on the net, there are a few things you should check out before you believe it. Those things are:
Who Wrote It
First things first, you need to find out who wrote the article or post. Often, they simply claim a “source” from the health industry but they done list names. Even if they do, people tend to just take it at face value and do not check if there is an actual person behind the name.
Checking who wrote the medical article can help you determine if the source is credible.
When Was It Written
Sometimes, one thing that we have believed to be true for years can be overturned with the latest study and research. This is particularly true when it comes to the field of medicine and healthcare. This is why it is important to determine the age of the article or post. If it is something that is quite old, how can you be sure that the information is still valid?
Checking the date of the article can help you determine its relevance to today’s world and technology or findings.
What Is the Source of the Article
The source of the article or post is quite important. Did you find it off an odd blog? Was it a credible health publication? Was it simply an anonymous post that’s been shared around social media? When you determine the source of the article, you’ll be able to see if the information is good or something that is peddled by a known fraud site.
With homegrown medicines being so big, it is ever more important to be vigilant of the information that we consume off the net. What things do you check out before you believe a health-related article off the internet?
Annual Checkup Smarts: Questions You Should Ask Your GP
When you are interested in keeping yourself in the best possible health, it would be important to have an annual checkup with your general practitioner. When you do, you had best ask certain questions. If you’re not quite sure what questions you should ask, we’ve got you covered!
Here are a few questions you should ask your GP:
Can You Obtain a Copy of Your Health Records?
Your health records can help you remember important things like which medicines you might be allergic to. It can also have a list of tests that you have taken but not quite remember. When you go and visit your GP, it would be good to ask if you could get a copy of your health records.
They should be able to provide you with a soft copy of your extensive records. You can use this information to keep you safe if you’re traveling in the future.
When Should Regular Screenings Start?
While it would be ideal to think that we would never need certain health tests, it is always good to approach this with both eyes wide open. If you are past a certain age, there are certain tests and screenings that should be done regularly.
You should ask your GP when the regularly scheduled screenings for mammograms and pap smears (for women) and prostate exams (for men) should start.
When Should You Come Back?
General practitioners are usually only visited when we need a checkup or a doctor’s note. This is a habit that you should break. An annual checkup can help you keep track of your progress. If you’re not quite sure when you should be returning to your GP’s office, asking them will be the fastest way to get an answer.
They should realistically be able to give you a time table of how often they should see you and what for.
These are some questions that we make sure we ask our doctors during the annual checkup. What questions do you ask your doctor?
The Big Ones: 3 Health Issues That Claim Most Lives Today
Through the ages, the biggest causes of mortality tend to change. It is reliant on the trends of the time and the availability of proper healthcare. In the age that we live in now, there are certain health issues that seem to claim most lives to date.
This is what we shall be focusing on for today. Those three health issues are:
Obesity
With the technology that we’ve got today, processes are a lot faster and it limits the need for actual physical endeavors on our part. There has also been a massive increase of the intake of sugar and fats in our diet. All these have given birth to obesity. This is something that has affected people of various ages, ethnicities, and genders.
Obesity is the gateway to a wide array of other diseases like diabetes.
Cardiovascular Disease
With all the oil rich foods that we have been consuming and other vices which end up clogging up arteries, cardiovascular disease is now a leading cause for mortality in today’s world. There are people as young as 25 years old that suddenly drop dead from a heart attack simply because of wrong lifestyle choices.
Cardiovascular disease, once it is in your system, will require maintenance medication and even the intervention of surgery in order to keep you safe.
Sexually Transmitted Disease
With the moral laxity and bad decisions that have been going around, people have been less careful about their sexual activities. There has been a massive spike in the number of people that have been infected by STDs. While a majority of them may not fatal, there are some—like HIV—which have been proven to be.
While there have been massive attempts t empower and educate people and communities, the number continues to rise.
These three health issues are some of the most common causes for mortality in today’s age. What other issues would you say contribute toward mortality?
The Importance of Sleep: Why You Need Good Sleep
In the world that we all live in today, things can often get pretty hectic. Work, school, social commitments, and so many other things demand a lot of our energy. This only proves why good sleep is truly needed.
Sleep can be pretty hard to come by for so many and because of that their health suffers as a result. For today, we wanted to take a look at some very real benefits to getting a good night’s sleep. Benefits like:
Better Productivity
When you get a good night’s sleep, you get to have a fresh mind to tackle any tasks that you may have lined up for the day. Work is an ever present fact of life and productivity is a must. Even if you’re on a day off, productivity is needed to get chores done and what not.
Proper sleep can help make sure that you’ll have the drive and energy to get things done.
Improves Your Immunity
There have been studies that have been developed to establish the correlation between sleep and one’s immune system. They have found that the less sleep you have, the worse off your immunity will be. Haven’t you ever noticed how you get a runny nose or a headache when you lack sleep? That’s your body’s immune system reeling at the lack of rest.
Proper sleep can actually boost your immunity.
Better Mood Overall
People who lack sleep tend to be pretty cranky. This is because their body’s natural rest function hasn’t done its job. When one gets proper sleep, beyond your body getting a boost, your mood gets a lift as well.
Proper sleep makes happier people overall.
The benefits that we obtain from sleep must not be taken for granted. If you continue to go by without it or the lack of it, you can get physically and mentally ill from it. We’d love to know your ideas on this. Why do you think you need good sleep?
From Visually.