Radiation therapy and Erectile Dysfunction
Radiation therapy and Erectile Dysfunction. Whatever it is that links the two, you must recover from it to be safe
Radiation therapy and Erectile Dysfunction: What men go through?
There are many life threatening conditions we are often faced with in our daily lives some of these condition are hereditary while others affects us in the process of growth and development. The most painful thing is that often these conditions leave behind a long life scar that remain to be a constant reminder of the devastating painful condition the victims have been through. Let us take for instance the cancer as a medical condition, and its treatment procedures. Actually the process of treating prostate cancer is one such condition that is able to transforms one’s life negatively and by extension the lives of those around the individual patient. Radiation therapy is a well-known cause of erectile dysfunction (ED). The procedure (therapy) uses high levels of radiation to damage cancer cells’ DNA primarily to destroy them or reduce their growth and multiplication, in doing so the therapy helps in minimizing harm to the unaffected surrounding healthy cells. Prostate cancer is treatable by:
- Pelvic external beam radiotherapy
- Seed implants (brachytherapy)
Radiation-induced erectile dysfunction
Considering the pervasiveness of prostate cancer and the reduction in the mean age at diagnosis, it has become necessary to openly discuss the modalities of treating sexual dysfunctions emanating from radiation therapy as a method for treating prostate cancer. Great achievements have made by the experts over the last decades to minimize the negative effects associated with radiation. It is also worth noting that, the advent of 3D conformal x-ray therapy and brachytherapy (seeds) have gone some way towards reducing radiation-induced erectile dysfunction, even though some men continue to suffer from this problem. Nonetheless at this point in time, it is still not very clear what’s the true incidence of sexual dysfunction is after brachytherapy and it remains to be seen whether newer techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) will improve upon impotence rates.
Radiation therapy can cause erectile dysfunction in three ways. That is to say:
- Arterial blockage can occur due to the development of a condition called endarteritis obliterans plus other more subtle changes can occur including direct damage to the lining of the blood vessels.
- Radiation-induced nerve damage may occur. It has been established that there is a reduction in the number of erection-inducing nerves in the penis following exposure to low doses of radiation.
- Direct erection tissue damage may occur and this can lead to leakage of blood from the erectile bodies (venous leak).
In radiation therapy there are two primary determinants of erectile dysfunction and they include:
- Dose of radiation (how much)
- Field of radiation (how wide)
Finally, this article may be loaded with strong medical terms which may not make sense for many people and that is why it would be necessary that if you are suffering from erectile dysfunction and you need timely professional help, you can take another step of calling the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury today for medical assistance. And as you consider doing that, we want to encourage you to keep on the link because we are going to continue with this discussion in our subsequent postings.
Radiation therapy and Erectile Dysfunction: What men go through?
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