What causes dysfunction?
Since an erection requires a precise sequence of events, erectile dysfunction can occur when any of the events is disrupted. The sequence includes nerve impulses in the brain, spinal column, and area around the penis, and response in muscles, fibrous tissues, veins, and arteries in and near the corpora cavernosa. Damage to nerves, arteries, smooth muscles, and fibrous tissues, often as a result of disease, is the most common cause of erectile dysfunction. Diseases–such as diabetes, kidney disease, chronic alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, vascular disease, and neurologic disease–account for about 70 percent of ED cases. Between 35 and 50 percent of men with diabetes experience erectile dysfunction. Also, surgery (especially radical prostate surgery for cancer) can injure nerves and arteries near the penis, causing erectile dysfunction. Injury to the penis, spinal cord, prostate, bladder, and pelvis can lead to erectile dysfunctionby harming nerves, smooth muscles, arte
