Hello,

Thanks for your query.

I appreciate your efforts for medical consultation in so much distress.

Erectile dysfunction can be a result of psychological or physical problem.

Psychological causes are the most common causes in young patients. These include performance anxiety, emotional weakness, inferiority complex, stress, marital or relationship problems, low mood, feelings of guilt, and the effects of a past sexual and emotional trauma. Men with psychological problem usually have normal nocturnal erections and erections upon awakening, whereas men with physical problem often do not.

Physical causes include neurological disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, hypertension, blood vessel disease and chronic diseases.

What I can understand from your query is that you are not able to achieve hard erection which is required for intercourse.

You are 52 years of age and at this age any difficulty in getting or maintain an erection is due to most likely due to physical reasons. I hope you are not taking any alcohol or smoking as sometimes these can also cause erectile dysfunction.

I will describe some simple measures which you can incorporate and these should help you.

1. Quit smoking and alcohol (if you are taking any.
2. Indulge in physical exercise and eat a healthy diet. Have faith in yourself and do not take any stress. You can talk to your partner openly and indulge in plenty of foreplay before sex. Exercise, particularly aerobic exercise is very effective.
3. We need to rule out certain medical conditions. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart or thyroid conditions, poor circulation, low testosterone and neurological causes. Your physician can help you in ruling out these conditions. Also as you are already having diabetes, keeping blood sugar level in control is essential.
4. Sometimes medical drugs may be needed to treat your problem. The most commonly prescribed drug by the doctors is sildenafil, which causes erections to be stronger and long lasting. However it is not safe to take this drug without a doctor’s advise and moreover it is important to rule out medical conditions specially related to cardiovascular system. So consider reviewing with your physician for further tests, adequate sugar control and getting the prescription.

Hope I have answered your query. Please accept my answer in case you do not have further queries.

Wish you good health.

Regards

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