The men’s health has remained underdeveloped in comparison to women’s health. There is wide disparity between the health of two genders. According to CDC there are more male deaths 886.2 males/100,000 population in comparison to 634.3 female deaths. These disparities are combination of lifestyle choices, increased risky conduct and vulnerability to disease. Men generally tend to overlook their disease and under-utilize the health services (Choy, Kashanian, Sharma, Masson, Dupree, Le & Brannigan, 2015).
Major cause of erectile dysfunction (ED) is caused by vascular disease especially seen in diabetes and hypertension. Endocrine dysfunction includes diabetes mellitus, hyperprolactinemia, hyper/hypothyroidism and hypogonadism are also well-established causes of ED. Neuropsychiatric disorders associated with ED are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety (Simopoulos and Trinidad, 2013).
According to The American Urological Association the initial assessment of ED should include sexual, medical and psychosocial histories along with laboratory work to recognize disease conditions that dispose the patient to ED (Simopoulos and Trinidad, 2013).
Current treatment of ED include treatment with phosphodiesterase inhibitors, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, intraurethral suppository and intracavernosal injection treatments, CNS acting agents, hormone replacement and surgical intervention. Using of phosphodiesterase can lead to potential abuse of the drugs for recreation (Simopoulos and Trinidad, 2013).
Current pharmacologic treatment of depression, schizophrenia and anxiety would be effective in treating the psychiatric condition but might leave the person with taxing sexual side effects. This would make the person discontinue his treatment. So, augmentation and synergist effects of psychopharmacology and psychotherapy are more beneficial in these conditions. Psychiatrist along with urologist and primary care physician should work together right from the beginning to help the patient with ED and helping them connect their mind-body framework (Simopoulos and Trinidad, 2013).
Reference
Simopoulos, E., & Trinidad, A. (2013). dysfunction: Integrating psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. General Hospital Psychiatry., 35(1), 33-38.
Choy, J., Kashanian, J. A., Sharma, V., Masson, P., Dupree, J., Le, B., & Brannigan, R. E. (2015). The men's health center: Disparities in gender specific health services among the top 50 “best hospitals” in America. Asian journal of urology, 2(3), 170-174.