Question:
Viagra was developed as a hbp drug, and it ability to encourage
erections was discovered accidently. I assume that it does lower blood
pressure. Does that mean that men with lower blood pressure have a better
chance of regaining erectile function after RP than those with a higher
blood pressure? I had an RP on 5/1/02. One nerve was spared. I slowly
regained erectile function, first with the help of Viagra about 5 months
post and then to some extent without 9 months post. Now Viagra improves
things, but if my libido is strong enough I can do without. Those are
obviously good results, and the reason I mention them is as preliminary to
stating that I have always had low pressure. Is there a relationship? (I
am now 66)
Answer:
High blood pressure causes the vessels walls to lose their ability to
stretch because they in a constant flexed state. think of it like a
garden hose with the pressure left on it all summer. at the end of the
summer, the hose is ballooned up larger than it's original size. when
you release the pressure, the hose doesn't return to where it started.
so, goes the blood vessels. they get harden and can't flex as well,
hence hardening of the arteries.
The second thing i've learned is that diabetes damages the walls of the
arteries by allowing to much sugar into the blood stream. what sugar
does to the vessel wall is the same thing as rubbing a very fine piece
of sandpaper over a smooth paint job on a car. over time, it is wear
the slick finish, dull it, and will eat down to the metal. in humans,
the roughness of the vessel wall is what catches the plague and causes
it build up and make problems.
But answering the above concerns. let me put your mind at ease. first
prostatitis is the inflammation INSIDE the prostate. has nothing to due
with the erectile nerves on the outside of the prostate the go under the
prostate.
Second, BPH is the swelling is in the median lobe of the prostate, not
outside the prostate gland. again, it will not affect the erectile
nerves.
What does affect the erectile nerves is how much do the surgeon handle
them. if they get stretched, stripped, or nerve fibers torn off, this
will definitely affect the erection process.
that is why high blood pressure can do more damage, with diabetes right
behind it.
