One of the major issues in medicine is that because time is so compressed, it has become impossible for most doctors trapped within fifteen-minute-visits to provide the real healing that requires a real doctor-patient relationship. Because of that, when I started this newsletter, my goal was to be able to correspond with the readers who reached out to me, but as this publication grew, that became increasingly less feasible (especially now that there are 359,000 readers here).The best solution I was able to come up with was to have monthly open threads where readers could publicly ask any question they had which remain from the last month (as that makes it much faster to answer the questions and everyone can see them) and then tag that to a shorter topic many readers have requested here.As context for this month’s article, a few months ago, as I was finishing up the DMSO series, I polled you to see which topics had the most reader interest and found by far that was for DMSO and neurological conditions. As such, despite that being the most challenging topic to start with (it required my compiling and presenting over 3,000 studies along with a comparable number of remarkable recoveries from readers) I did so and have now essentially finished that series which in four parts shows how DMSO heals:• Central nervous system disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, ALS, MS, Cognitive Impairment, Developmental Delay, and various psychiatric disorders).• Spinal cord injuries, paralysis, and a wide range of spinal pain (e.g., disc issues, radiculopathies, sciatica, surgery complications, ankylosing spondylitis).• Peripheral nerve disorders, neuropathies and neuropathic pain (e.g., migraines, trigeminal neuralgia, CRPS, carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, MG).• Strokes and traumatic brain injuries (which still needs to be updated with all the additional studies I’ve found but nonetheless has provided enough information to allow many readers to avoid the disastrous complications of a stroke).While this was challenging to do, I’m glad I did it, in part because I wanted to provide the information readers here felt could most immediately help them, but also because many of the studies in those four articles elucidated the core therapeutic mechanisms of DMSO such as it:• Reducing inflammation and congestion (e.g., by increasing lymphatic circulation).1,2• Increasing circulation (both for larger vessels but also for the microcirculation by preventing blood cells from clumping together).1,2• Rebalancing the nervous system by uncompressing nerves, resetting dysfunctional circuits, blocking counterproductive pain transmission and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.1,2• Protecting tissue (particularly within the brain and spinal cord) from a wide range of otherwise lethal stressors by preserving cellular architecture and effectively scavenging free radicals along with promoting cellular regrowth through cellular resets, elimination of scar tissue or adhesions, neuronal resealing, and microtubule stabilization.1,2,3,4,5However, while neurology was the most requested topic by readers, male sexual health was the second, so over the last month, in addition to working on compiling that article, I’ve also discussed the material extensively with experienced colleagues in this field.DMSO and Sexual HealthAs DMSO’s therapeutic properties address the root causes of a wide range of diseases, in addition to them alleviating challenging neurological disorders, they also address many challenging disorders of the reproductive tract faced by both men and women, that, once again, medicine consistently falls short in addressing, and since publishing this series, I’ve received an astonishing number of stories from readers whose issues resolved thanks to DMSO which match what’s reported in the literature (e.g., infertility, menstrual issues including cramps or longstanding complications from childbirth). Recently, I finished compiling all of the studies and reader reports (that can be read here), which shows DMSO heals:• Prostate issues such as BPH (which many readers reported improving), prostate stones, prostatitis (including many cases that did not respond to conventional therapies), and prostate cancer—particularly when used in conjunction with another off-patent therapy (along with mitigating complications from cancer).• Testicular injuries (e.g., protecting them from radiation or blood loss due to torsions), epididymitis improving fertility (and providing a means to create a safe reversible male birth control) and scrotal injuries.• Erectile dysfunction, genital infections (e.g., warts or herpes), Peyronie’s disease, priapisms (blood stuck in the penis producing erections over 4 hours, which, after 24 hours often permanently damage the penis), pelvic floor dysfunction, and sexual dysfunction resulting from other genitourinary issues (e.g., prostatitis).The Disease Men HideErectile dysfunction (ED) occupies a strange place in medicine, as it is simultaneously one of the most common conditions men face and one of the least honestly discussed. During my training, I was struck both by how common it was (as in my social circle I’d almost never heard about it except from their partners) and how mean medicine was to men about it. For instance, the favored terminology for ED until fairly recently was “impotence” —effectively a declaration the man is unworthy for having the condition.Studies hence show men are reluctant to bring up ED with their doctors (particularly female physicians) and my experience tracks this, as typically I only hear about it either because a regretful spouse mentions it or because the man informs me some other “unrelated” therapy I or someone I sent them to administered incidentally fixed their ED (at which point they are happy to share their results).More than anything else, what bothered me about the way ED was handled was that it was typically viewed as a psychological problem and hence put the burden and responsibility back onto the man once he opened up enough to share his issue with his doctor. In contrast, seeing men develop ED after something which logically could cause ED or their recoveries after receiving therapies which would plausibly address the (non-psychological causes) of ED made me disdain how this issue was handled by my peers and the doctors I trained under. Somewhat ironically, this issue was ultimately addressed by Pfizer, as in their push to mass market Viagra, they made significant investments in educating doctors to instead view ED as a circulatory issue (that hence could be treated with their [side-effect ridden] pill), and as such, the emphasis on the psychological causes of ED has decreased in medicine (although you still see it in older doctors whose training predates that campaign).Note: While often effective, the PDE5 inhibitors (e.g., Viagra, Cialis) only override one step of the process (sustaining the nitric oxide signal) without addressing why the erection was failing in the first place. This is part of why they so often stop working as the underlying vascular or neurological problem progresses. They also carry a consistent set of side effects from dilating blood vessels throughout the body: headaches in roughly 10–25% of users (depending on dose), facial flushing in 10–18%, nasal congestion in 5–10%, indigestion in 5–12%, and with Cialis, back or muscle aches in up to 10% (along with having rarer but more severe side effects). Sildenafil (Viagra) also temporarily tints vision a faint blue-green (cyanopsia) in around 3–6% of users (a quirk of it slightly cross-inhibiting an enzyme used in color vision). It’s harmless but a telling reminder that these drugs act well beyond their intended target. All of which goes back to a core principle of natural medicine: a pill that masks the problem is rarely as good long-term as restoring the circulation, nerves, and tissue health a part of the body actually depends upon.Given this, I’d like to briefly review the physiology of an erection and common ways it can go awry.An erection is fundamentally a hydraulic event. The shaft of the penis contains two columns of spongy tissue (the corpora cavernosa) threaded with smooth muscle, and most of the time that smooth muscle sits in a state of mild contraction (held there by the sympathetic nervous system), which keeps the spaces within it squeezed shut (preventing it from expanding) and the penis hence flaccid. Arousal reverses this, as sacral parasympathetic nerves signal the smooth muscle to relax, primarily by releasing nitric oxide, which is the same pathway Viagra works on (Viagra doesn’t create that signal, it simply keeps it from being broken down, which is why it only works when arousal is already present). As the smooth muscle relaxes, the spongy chambers open and arterial blood rushes in to engorge them, and as they swell they press the draining veins flat against the surrounding sheath, trapping the blood inside and sustaining the erection.All of this can therefore be disrupted by:Poor circulation, which is the big one (and by most estimates the single most common cause, accounting for the majority of ED), and which is why ED is so often the first warning sign of cardiovascular disease, frequently preceding a heart attack by three to five years, since the penile arteries are small and hence clog before the coronary ones do. Diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and atherosclerosis all tend to show up here first, which is part of why ED should always prompt a look at the rest of the cardiovascular system (e.g., in studies of men with advanced heart disease, ED was present before the heart attack in 64% of cases).Note: our preferred ways for dealing with heart disease and poor circulation are discussed here.Medications, an enormous and underappreciated category, since a long list of common drugs can cause ED (often without the prescribing doctor ever connecting the two). For example:•Blood pressure medications (which disrupt circulation), particularly beta-blockers are the most well known for doing this (and making patients miserable).Note: the dangers of blood pressure medications and over treating blood pressure (along with natural ways to address the condition) are discussed here.•SSRI antidepressants often cause (often permanent) sexual dysfunction for roughly half of users doctors rarely warn patients about. For example, one study found SSRIs caused sexual dysfunction in 59% of 1,022 patients who’d had a normal sex life beforehand, with 31% experiencing erectile dysfunction specifically, and worse still, a subset of patients develop what is now termed Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), in which the genital numbness, loss of libido and erectile dysfunction persist long after the drug is stopped, sometimes permanently.Note: the dangers of SSRIs and natural alternatives for depression are discussed here.•Finasteride (which neutralized testosterone and is often prescribed for hair loss or BPH), causes a host of severe issues for men including lasting ED.1Note: the ways DMSO mitigates finasteride’s toxicity is discussed here and the ways it provides a safe option for hair regrowth here.•GnRH agonists like Lupron (used for prostate cancer and a range of off-label disturbing purposes like blocking puberty) are extremely toxic because they shut down the body’s hormone production, with one of their many side effects being ED (e.g., one study found a 267% increase in ED1 while another found 80% of men on these drugs reported impotence1).Note: I suspect DMSO’s nerve healing properties would likely allow it to counteract longterm ED induced by pharmaceuticals, but I have no direct experience in this area.Nerve impairment, since the signal originates in the sacrum, which means anything that compromises those nerves (spinal stenosis, disc problems, sacral nerve impingement, pelvic surgery such as prostatectomy, or diabetic neuropathy) can produce ED even when blood flow is perfectly fine.Pelvic floor dysfunction, where an overtight, spasming pelvic floor physically compresses the arteries and nerves feeding the penis, which is both common and badly underdiagnosed.Low testosterone, which while very common in men, is less of a direct cause of ED than people assume (it affects desire more than the erection mechanics themselves) but nonetheless contributes.Chronic prostatitis, where inflammation in the prostate frequently causes or worsens ED through pain, inflammation, and the pelvic floor tension that accompanies it.Peyronie’s disease where fibrous scar tissue (plaques) forms inside the penis’s outer layer, causing curvature (which can be uncomfortable for the partner), shortening, pain, or erectile dysfunction (due to the plaques obstructing distal blood flow into the penis)—estimated to affect around 10% of men, although only 0.5–1% of cases are formally diagnosed, as many men do not seek care. In many cases, early Peyronie’s disease (which is the easiest to treat but lacks the classic symptoms and hence requires ultrasound to detect) goes undetected but nonetheless contributes to ED. For example, in a study of 386 men undergoing Doppler ultrasound for ED or penile pain (without curvature or palpable plaques), 41 (10.6%) had detectable Peyronie’s plaques. Of these, 73% had ED as their main complaint, and about half showed reduced blood flow distal to the plaques. Other studies have also found higher rates of ED in men with subclinical Peyronie’s, with roughly 10% of men presenting with ED showing varying degrees of Peyronie’s disease (especially in longer-lasting or more severe cases).1,2Note: Peyronie’s is quite difficult to treat, as all options are less than satisfactory (e.g., traction therapy requires hours each day for months and typically offers only partial improvements in early cases, ED medications like Viagra help with erections but do not fix the plaque, about half of patients benefit from injections of collagen-dissolving enzymes, and while surgery can straighten more severe cases, it often has side effects that can worsen sexual function).Lifestyle and psychological factors, which round out the picture, since obesity, heavy alcohol use, poor sleep and a sedentary life all contribute to ED through their effects on circulation and hormones, and (as discussed earlier) genuine psychological causes such as pornography and also past trauma exist—in turn making it critical to recognize ED (like many conditions medicine consigns into a small box) is often not an isolated issue but rather part of broader disruption to one’s health.Note: the primary psychological cause of ED we do see now (which was not possible in the past) is pornography addictions (an association which has clearly been shown in some studies1,2 while others found a weaker correlation1,2), and to a lesser extent past-sexual trauma (which men are even more reluctant to speak about than ED1).Read the Whole ArticleThe post The Simple Ways To Restore Sexual Health appeared first on LewRockwell.