Providing Your Medical History - Diagnosing Erectile Dysfunction: What To Do About Erectile Dysfunction

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Providing your medical history

At first, the doctor will probably ask you about your medical history. Do you have any chronic illnesses? What illnesses and operations have you had in the past? What medications are you taking, if any? Your doctor is also likely to ask about your psychological well-being and lifestyle: Do you suffer (or have you ever suffered) from depression? Are you under a lot of stress? Do you drink alcohol? Smoke? Use illegal drugs? Have you felt a loss of affection for your partner? Have you recently grown interested in a new partner?

As part of this health history, be prepared to tell your doctor specific details about the symptoms that brought you to the office and when they began. Your doctor might want to know how often you had sex before the problem started and if there have been weeks or months in the past when you've had erectile dysfunction. Your doctor may conduct a written or verbal screening test such as the one that appears in this report (see "A questionnaire to evaluate erectile dysfunction").

If the cause is clear — a recent operation for prostate cancer, for example — the conversation may move directly to your treatment options. Otherwise, you may need to answer more questions to help the doctor narrow down the possible causes and avoid unnecessary testing.

A key issue is whether the symptoms came on gradually or suddenly. Erectile dysfunction that comes on gradually often points to causes that involve blood flow or nerves. On the other hand, a sudden loss of sexual desire or the ability to have erections usually suggests that a medication or psychological difficulty, such as depression or stress, may be to blame. Don't be embarrassed if the doctor asks you about early morning erections or whether you can achieve an erection if you masturbate. The ability to do so is an important clue in determining whether the problem is psychologically or physically based (see Table 2).

Last updated:	September 05, 2008