There are many interesting things to consider about these numbers. Let’s start with the 77% figure for men over 75.
It’s reasonable to consider what it means when 77% of a population lives with something that is neither life threatening (nor does it completely exclude the possibility of sexual behaviors).
Simply put, if 77% of men over 75 don’t get erections like they used to, is that to be considered a medical condition? Or is it just “normal”.
This should get researchers asking questions about the utility of setting sexual functioning norms that not bound by age? Should a 20 year olds erection be like an 80 year olds erection?
One way of looking at these data is to see the very common, one might say natural, progression of aging and its impact on one aspect of sexual functioning. Of course another way to see it is that men shouldn’t let their erections go gently into that good night, and more of us should start taking Viagra.
Another interesting element of this data is that fact that ED seems to be more prevalent in men in their 20’s than it is for men in their 30’s. This may be in part a function of younger men needing to learn ejaculatory control, and getting the hang of it in their 30’s. Either way, it points to the fact that erectile functioning actually fluctuates across the lifespan, and again raises the issue of how we are defining erectile dysfunction versus how we are describing erectile functioning.
Published January 23, 2006.
