Impotence is often a sign of a more important health risk, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Obesity and tobacco use can also cause cardiovascular problems that lead to erectile dysfunction.

Pharmaceutical companies promise to “fix” erectile function with a little blue pill, or a number of other pills that are out there. Even if a popular ED drug brings a little excitement back into the bedroom, erectile dysfunction is often a sign of a much more important health problem and should be addressed.

Causes of Male Impotence

In the article, “Erectile dysfunction,” the Mayo Clinic lists many male impotence causes such as multiple sclerosis, low testosterone, and prescription and recreational drug use among others. Erectile dysfunction may result from surgery, injury, or psychological causes.


The Mayo Clinic also lists heart disease, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, tobacco use, and obesity as causes of erectile dysfunction. What is significant about this second list is that these conditions are often closely related. Many people suffer from several of these conditions, if not all.

Erectile Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Disease

Men with erectile dysfunction are likely to develop heart disease. This is because erectile dysfunction may be a sign that plaque is already building up in the arteries. An erection develops when blood flow increases into the penis, but if the arteries are filled with plaque, then blood flow is significantly decreased, and enough blood may not be able to build up in the penis to lead to an erection.

Plaque buildup within the artery wall is called atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. If plaque is building up in the penile arteries, it is most likely also building up in the arteries of the legs, arms, heart, and brain – essentially, throughout the body.

An artery that becomes completely blocked in the brain stops blood flow to brain tissue. This results in a transischemic attack (TIA) or stroke. If the clogged artery is in the heart and stops blood flow to heart tissue, it is called a myocardial infarction, or heart attack. This demonstrates how atherosclerosis leads to heart disease and stroke. Hypertension results when blood cannot freely flow through the blocked arteries, or the artery walls become so hardened that they cannot expand and contract with each heartbeat.

Obesity, Diabetes, and Tobacco Use Cause Male Impotence

Obesity leads to cardiovascular disease because hormone levels within the body become abnormal, and diet usually consists of consistent consumption of high amounts of food that contribute to high cholesterol and high blood sugar. When the pancreas can no longer properly respond to increased blood sugar levels, diabetes develops.

Diabetes is very strongly linked to the development of cardiovascular disease. This is evident when diabetics develop red, shiny skin on their feet along with open sores – all of which are the result of significantly decreased blood flow from clogged arteries in the legs.

Tobacco use is also strongly linked to cardiovascular disease. This includes not only cigarettes, but chewing tobacco. When combined with diabetes, patients are much more likely to develop severe cases of cardiovascular disease.

While the little blue pill may fix the short-term problem – one’s sex life – it is important to consider the reason why the little blue pill is needed. Erectile dysfunction drugs should be used with the goal of changing important lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, and improving one’s health so that erectile dysfunction becomes a thing of the past.

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