There comes a time when even the best is not good enough. No matter what any of the drug manufacturers may try to tell you, there are some things a pill cannot cure. Back in Medieval times, alchemists were searching for the Philosopher's Stone. The greedy wanted it because it was supposed to turn lead into gold. The aging wanted it because it was supposedly an elixir of life, curing all ills and offering practical immortality. Now that's the type of pill we want today. Just one swallow and endless summers of good health. Except magic does not work. Ignore all the ads. There are practical limits to what a pill can cure. In the case of erectile dysfunction, the most common problem comes through the hardening of the arteries. This happens naturally through the aging process and explains why the majority of men will find their sexual performance slowly declining. But it can happen early in life as a disease called artherosclerosis. It's one of the first problems you experience when you eat an unhealthy diet, high in cholesterol. There's a slow deposit of fats on to the walls of your blood vessels. Over time, this deposit hardens and prevents the muscles from dilating and contracting. It also blocks the smaller arteries and increases blood pressure.

Not surprisingly, this is a first symptom of heart disease. What shows up first in the blood vessels, will affect the muscles of the heart next. So what has this to do with erectile dysfunction? Well, the artery that's supposed to dilate and let more blood into the penis to form the erection is one of the smallest in the body. It's the first place you will see the effects of artherosclerosis. This gives you a headline: erectile dysfunction is a first symptom of heart disease. You should go consult your doctor if this happens to you as a younger man. The reaction is going to be tests for heart disease. This can save your life. There's a wide range of safe and effective preventative treatment to prevent any further hardening of your arteries and so prevent the development of heart disease.

If the damage to the muscle walls is advanced, taking any of the erectile dysfunction drugs is not going to help. When the muscles will not dilate, you cannot have an erection. New experimental surgery now shows the insertion of a stent into the penile artery can restore erections. This is a radical idea. Stents force open blood vessels. They are not designed to expand and contract. Nevertheless, the first tests of this procedure show good results with reports of hard erections returning almost immediately. The best answer to erectile dysfunction would therefore seem to be taking Levitra, which is the strongest of the drugs - you get better results with smaller dosages. With other preventative measures to reduce the cholesterol levels, you should have a long and active sex life. But if the damage to your blood vessels is already significant and the Levitra only works for a relatively short time, look for more information about this surgery. It may restore your sexual activity with harder erections.