Which Medications Can Negatively Affect Your Sexual Health?
Sexual problems such as loss of sexual desire, difficulty in orgasm, erection problems and vaginal dryness in women may develop as a side effect of some medications. The list below includes the drug groups that may have the most impact on your sexual life;
- Anxiety drugs
- Depression drugs
- Psychosis drugs
- Epilepsy drugs
- Hypertension drugs
- Chemotherapy drugs
- Drugs containing estrogen
-A type of prostate drugs (Finasteride)
-Birth control drugs
-Parkinson's disease drugs
-Prostate cancer drugs
Also alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and heroin.
Please inform your doctor about any sexual problems that develop while using medication.
What Does Low Testosterone Mean?
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Testosterone is a very important hormone for men. It is secreted by the testicles and enables the acquisition of male gender characteristics. It is also effective in sexuality and sperm production. It is also important in terms of giving strength to bones and muscles.
Hypogonadism (Low Testosterone) is caused by problems with the hypothalamus or pituitary gland (these two points stimulate the production of testosterone in the brain) or the testicles themselves.
Testosterone begins to decrease with age in every man. There is a 1% loss every year over the age of 30.
It is estimated that 4 out of every 10 men over the age of 45 have low testosterone levels.
Low testosterone may also accompany diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or obesity.
As a result;
- Interest in sexuality may decrease
- Erectile problems may occur
- Body muscle mass may decrease
- Depression may develop
- Fatigue may occur
/> - There may be problems with bones
Low testosterone can be diagnosed with a detailed blood test. In these tests, it is not enough to look at the testosterone level alone. Because different types of testosterone and different blood tests affecting it need to be done and evaluated carefully.
The path to be followed in your treatment will be determined by your doctor.
Prostate Cancer and Sexuality
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Prostate cancer is one of the cancer types that most affects western societies. The lifetime rate of developing this cancer in men living in the European continent has been determined to be 16%. In other words, 1 in every 9 men gets prostate cancer.
Standard treatment is radical prostate surgery (open, laparoscopic or robotic), radiotherapy, brachytherapy, hormonal treatment and monitoring.
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Treatment selection is planned according to the tumor stage, the patient's age and other diseases, and the preferences of the patient and his doctor. The fact that the disease is caught at an increasingly younger age causes the patient to question its impact on their quality of life and especially their sexual function.
Peyronie's Disease
It is a special disease of the penis. It is named after the person who introduced the disease to the scientific world. (François Gigot de La Peyronie)
With sexual stimulation, the penis fills with blood into many vein-like cavities (cavernous bodies)
and carries out the erection action by keeping this blood in its structure thanks to a thick sheath called tunica albuginea. performs. Changes in this sheath in Peyronie's disease create textural stiffness in some places. This condition creates deformity in the penis by causing it to bend, shorten and decrease in width. Erectile dysfunction may occur because it may disrupt the mechanisms involved in filling the blood into the penis and keeping it there.
Pain that occurs with erection in the penis is usually the first symptom. Whether treated or not, the pain disappears after a period of 6-18 months. However, hard tissues, which we call 'plaque', settle in the penis and begin to cause penis deformity and erectile dysfunction. The disease does not progress further in this chronic process.
It is reported that it is detected at a rate of 3% to 9% in the population. It can be observed in adult men in all age groups.
Although the cause of its formation is not exactly known, plaque formation occurs during the healing process of micro-traumas occurring in the penis tissue, with the effect of a possible genetic predisposition.
In case of doubt, a specialist doctor's office may cause plaque formation. Manual examination is important in diagnosis. Ultrasound evaluation may help diagnosis.
Spontaneous regression of the disease. It is seen at a rate between 12% and 20%. Oral treatments, intra-plaque treatments and local mechanical treatments can be tried in the treatment.
If the disease has become stable, the patient cannot have sexual intercourse due to deformity or erectile dysfunction and there is widespread plaque formation, surgical intervention can be applied if no response is received from the treatment. .
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