Ben speaks privately with the pharmacist. She takes him to a private consulting room and they begin talking. Ben tells her he had a PCI and stent last year and apart from this problem he says he has been feeling well but admits he has stopped some medicines he was prescribed then.
Ben: I wanted to ask if I could buy Viagra. (red faced)
Ben thinks: I bet she thinks I am too old to want to have sex.
Pulse point
Although a psychological component, often called “performance anxiety”, is common in men with impotence, a purely psychological problem is seen in only 10%. Of the 90% of men who have an underlying physical cause, the main abnormalities found are:
- Vascular disease in 40%
- Diabetes in 33%
- Hormone problems (e.g. high prolactin or low testosterone levels) & drugs (e.g. antihypertensives, antipsychotics, antidepressants, antihistamines, heroin, cocaine, methadone) in 11%
- Neurological disorders in 10%
- Pelvic surgery or trauma in 3-5%%
- Anatomical abnormalities in 1-3% (e.g. tight foreskin, short penile frenulum, Peyronie’s disease, inflammation, penile
Page last reviewed: 04 Jun 2020
