Roughly half of men with diabetes have Erectile Dysfunction/Disfunction (ED). Worse, diabetic ED is less responsive to treatment than other impotence. Doctors will recommend that you avoid smoking, drinking alcohol, eating foods with a lot of cholesterol, control your blood pressure, and lose weight, but the last two especially can feel pretty much impossible for many diabetics. Fortunately, there are a few good ways to treat ED if you have diabetes. To understand these methods and why they are effective, you first have to understand diabetes.

The Disease

Diabetes is a chronic disease that causes dangerously high levels of sugar in the blood. These high levels of glucose, which causes almost universally hunger, thirst, blurry vision, and frequent urination, occur for one of two reasons: 1) The body does not produce enough insulin, which processes sugar, or 2) the cells in the body do not respond to the insulin. These are known as Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes respectively. There is no known cure for diabetes, however, both types are treatable in a number of ways.

Type 1 and 2 both have genetic components among their causes. Type 1, which is much rarer, is triggered in life by certain infections. Type 2, which represents 90-95% of cases of diabetes in the US, can be attributed to diet and lifestyle factors.

How Diabetes Causes ED

One of the major complications diabetics suffer from their disease is damage to the nerves throughout the body. This is called diabetic neuropathy, and it does affect the penis. As a result of the nerve damage, whether aroused in the brain or not, it interferes with the natural bodily reflex that leads to erections.

On top of that, diabetics also suffer from the narrowing of blood vessels. Also take into consideration this blood pressure problems, a lack of circulation, and heart disease - all of which diabetics are predisposed to - and it becomes clear that it is fairly likely that there will not be enough blood to cause the penis to become erect.

Even if the man can get an erection, it is even more unlikely that he will also be able to keep it for very long. Once this happens, anxiety and psychological factors can make it even more difficult.

What Diabetics Can Do

• Lose weight

• Maintain normal blood pressure

• Erase cholesterol from your diet

• Avoid alcohol before sex

• Quit smoking

Easier said than done.

Levitra has proven extremely effective for men with diabetes. It helps men get and hold an erection for increased sexual vigor and stamina. Clinical trials have shown that Levitra helps well over 50% of diabetic men beat ED, enjoy sex, fix their marriage, and live happily ever after! Well, obviously they still have diabetes and have to treat that disease just as they would have before, but talk to your doctor about what Levitra can do for your sex life, diabetic or not.