Although there are several causes of erectile dysfunction this condition is commonly associated with chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease and others. Free radical damage and oxidative stress are pathological processes that underlie most chronic degenerative diseases. They are also largely responsible for the erectile dysfunction associated with these conditions.
Initiating and sustaining an erection depends on a number of physiological process; the most important of these being an adequate blood flow to the corpus cavernosum (the principal erectile tissue in the penis). This in turn depends on normal functioning blood vessels that supply blood to the penis and its erectile tissue.
An erection cannot be achieved without the action of nitric oxide on the blood vessels of the penis and its spongy corpus cavernosum. The erectile process is initiated by the nervous system - either through a spinal reflex (when there is direct stimulus to the penis) or by way of nerve signals from the brain. The relevant nerves, when stimulated via either pathway, release nitric oxide from their nerve endings in the penis.
However, the maintenance of an erection depends on the nitric oxide that is release from the endothelial lining of the penile blood vessels. If the blood vessels malfunction as a result of disease processes such as heart disease and diabetes the individual concerned will not be able to achieve or sustain an erection.
Endothelial function is curtailed when free radical damage and oxidative stress occurs - as it always does in these conditions.
Recent studies have found that antioxidants can reverse endothelial malfunction thereby improving blood flow to the penis. They do this by neutralizing the free radicals responsible for oxidative stress and endothelial damage in the relevant blood vessels.
Read Complete article by Keith Scott at http://www.ayurveda-increaselibido.com/Links/fitness.html
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