Black Men And Erectile Dysfunction: The Hard Facts About The Soft Truth

By Yvonne Sam
Contributing Writer

Although sexual health is essential to overall health and well-being, nevertheless there is a tendency for sexual health needs to be overlooked in routine health care.

It has been estimated that currently over 150 million men, worldwide, suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED) and by 2025, this figure will increase beyond 322 million.

According to Gail Wyatt, a sex therapist, clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), roughly 18 million American men experience erectile dysfunction, or ED, defined as the inability to attain, or sustain, an erection for satisfactory sexual intercourse and, typically, measured over a three-month period; and African men are more likely than men of other races to experience ED.

The condition is not a natural sequelae of aging, however, it becomes increasingly prevalent with age, with approximately 40 percent of 40-year-old men reporting that they experience the condition.

“Men are coming in younger and younger,” says Dr. Gerald Hoke, Chief of Urology at New York’s Harlem Hospital. “They used to start coming in during their late 40s and 50s, now more men are coming in during their late 30s and early 40s.”

A few men even experience problems in their early to mid-20s. health.usnews.com/doctors/gerald-hoke-537546.

Cannabis, the most widely used drug, graduating recently from being illicit to a sure hit, has been linked with potentially hazardous effects on male sexual health. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21269404

Confessedly, I am no authority when it comes to the issue of addressing, discussing, and/or at best advising on matters that commonly affect individuals and couples, who have managed to hook up, especially males, but as a trained and qualified representative of the health profession for over a half of a century, I feel it somehow places me favourably ahead of others in the race for sexual advisor.

Now, please do not pull the macho stuff on me, as I know guys have a way of outdoing Harry Houdini when it comes to disappearing, especially if it involves opening a file to discuss their missile. The male sex organ is viewed, or considered, as a barometer of his overall vasculature, so in a sense, impotence simply is: a heart attack of the penis.

Males prefer not to talk about it, because it’s an outright blow to their show, and no good for their manhood. So before you start nudging and judging, shitting and spitting or simply heaving and leaving, please understand that this is my simple attempt at trying to make an uncomfortable topic, comfortable to males, who aren’t scared of “opening up” about the “reel deal”; or those who feel bad about not being dealt a “hard card”.

We can no longer drop it, or not make it a hot topic. It is no point praying without saying, if you desire an erection that is staying.

Another force that has come into play is Black men, who are overly cautious with whom they have their sexual say, or discuss their sexual play. Although 13 percent of the population is Back in the United States, just 4 percent of doctors are Black. www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/health/black-men-doctors.html?smid=tw-nythealth&smtyp=cur

Guys, remember that erectile dysfunction is a very serious issue, especially to your woman. When she is ready to play and your clang is missing the bang, what will you say? Should she continue to hang slack till you get back on track? Or will you reach for the pill to help you fulfill? Or better still, get an injection to aid the erection? You know that she’ll be no part of your show.  No play, no stay — no way!

The artist is not showing, then she’s got to be going. So she gets dressed and is soon on her way, to text, phone and Facebook all her peeps, for there is so much to say. She may even get to thinking that if it could not rise when lights were dim, then perhaps it’s designed to work with “him”. Your masculinity has been attacked, but with her mouth there is no holding back.

Male friends, sons, brothers lend me a listening ear, for with the fall the macho image is not your call. If you are having problems, keeping Mr. Right in flight, please do not be afraid to seek medical attention. While she does the talking, you can do the walking.

There are many causes behind the failure to rise, with no one particular reason winning first prize. Two discrete categories, physical and psychological, are to blame, but when it is both persistent and consistent, no matter the age, biological factors are attributable at this stage. Just can’t afford to be supple for two is considered a couple.

The answer is as plain as can be; medical experts call it “performance anxiety” or stated exactly true, evidence of a deeper psychological issue.

Some other causes for erectile dysfunction can be, no joking: if on weed you feed, long distance bike riding is also to blame; a misplaced kick would do the trick; diabetes; and one to be feared and the info shared is poor diet, eat well if you want things to swell. Some forms (sorry not all) of erectile dysfunction, with proper medical attention, can be easily corrected, once detected.

As I close, remember guys, do not take it personally when desired action you fail to see. Medical assistance you must seek if you really want to peak. Most of all, please keep your partner in the know, even when there are episodes of “no show”.

Yvonne Sam, a retired Head Nurse and Secondary School Teacher, is Vice-president of the Guyana Cultural Association of Montreal. A regular columnist for over two decades with the Montreal Community Contact, her insightful and incursive articles on topics ranging from politics, human rights and immigration, to education and parenting have also appeared in the Huffington Post, Montreal Gazette, XPressbogg and Guyanese OnLine. She is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Caring Canadian Citizen Award.