Is There a Relationship Between High Cholesterol and Erectile Dysfunction?

Signals sent by the brain must be perceived by the arteries, the arteries must relax, and the tube structures providing rigidity must fill with blood. When the veins also fulfill their function and prevent the blood inside the tube structures (corpora cavernosa) providing rigidity from leaking back, a healthy erection process can be mentioned.

In the erection process we briefly summarized, the person's psychology, hormone values, nervous system, and vascular health play an active role. When one of the cogs fails to perform its function, male sexual dysfunctions emerge.

In this article, I would like to answer one of the questions most frequently forwarded to me: "Is there a relationship between high cholesterol and erectile dysfunction?"

Causes of Erectile Dysfunction Are Various

Erectile dysfunction (ED), which is the most common sexual dysfunction worldwide after premature ejaculation and whose incidence is increasing, can arise due to many different reasons. Many factors such as medications used, low levels of male hormone (Testosterone), performance anxiety, venous leak, diabetes, Peyronie's disease, nervous system, and vascular diseases can cause a person to experience erectile dysfunction.

Erectile dysfunction should be evaluated as a symptom of different diseases rather than a health problem on its own. Scientific studies reveal that men experiencing erectile dysfunction have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, and the results of research increase the importance of receiving medical support in the face of this sexual dysfunction.

Erectile Dysfunction and High Cholesterol

Coming to the relationship between high cholesterol and erectile dysfunction, I can say that although there is no direct relationship between cholesterol and erectile dysfunction, the health problems caused by cholesterol can make the erectile problem inevitable.

High cholesterol is one of the most common causes of Atherosclerosis, also known as "hardening of the arteries," along with smoking and diabetes. Atherosclerosis, characterized by plaques formed by the combination of fat, cholesterol, and inflammatory wastes in the inner layers of the arteries narrowing the vessels and the vessels losing their flexibility, leads to a decrease in blood flow and prevents the sufficient nourishment of all body organs, including the penis.

When the heart of a healthy person pumps blood, blood begins to spread from the arteries to the entire body. For blood to reach the penis, it must first pass through the arteries in the abdominal region. During an erection, the arteries expand, and more blood fills the tube structures for the penis to become rigid. In people suffering from atherosclerosis, a healthy erection cannot be experienced because the arteries do not fully allow blood flow.

Cholesterol – Atherosclerosis – Erectile Dysfunction

Atherosclerosis, which can occur due to reasons such as diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure (hypertension), genetic factors, obesity, and high cholesterol, is among the most important organic causes of erectile dysfunction stemming from arterial insufficiency.

However, this health problem does not only affect men's sexual functions; depending on the region where atherosclerosis occurs, heart diseases, heart attack, loss of consciousness, kidney failure, and vision problems may also occur. Therefore, the problem of high cholesterol, which is one of the most important causes of atherosclerosis, must be taken seriously, and the possibility that erectile dysfunction may occur due to atherosclerosis must be considered.