In this article, I explain the relationship between ED and oxidative stress.

Dynamite and Viagra

Suddenly, before we talk about ED, let’s talk about dynamite.

Dynamite is an explosive device created decades ago by Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize, after he succeeded in stabilizing nitroglycerin.

Nitroglycerin, the raw material of this dynamite, is often seen in dramas and movies with actors holding their chests and saying, “Ugh! Give me the medicine!”.  This is also known as a medicine for angina pectoris, a disease that causes chest pains due to the tightening of blood vessels.

It has been found that when people who suffer from angina lick this nitroglycerin, the blood vessels that send blood to the heart open up and the pain stops.

However, it took 100 years to understand why nitroglycerin, which is unstable and can be used to make dynamite, is effective against angina pectoris.

This was discovered in the 1970s.

Dr. Ferid Murad, an American physician, studied nitroglycerin and related substances and asked, “Why do blood vessels open?”. 

They found that nitroglycerin causes blood vessels to widen by releasing oxidative stress substances from the smooth muscle in the walls of the heart’s blood vessels. In other words, it expels oxidative stress agents from the blood vessels. Then Dr. Ferid Murad discovered an inhibitor of an enzyme that had a similar effect.

Viagra Linked to Oxidative Stress

The enzyme inhibitor discovered by Dr. Ferid Murad was expected to have the same effect as nitroglycerin, so naturally pharmaceutical companies started clinical trials to see if it could be used for angina.

However, during the clinical trials, it was discovered that the drug was more effective in the lower part of the male body than in the heart. This drug is now sold by pharmaceutical companies under the brand name Viagra.

Male infertility is often caused by oxidative stress, which causes the blood vessels in the lower part of the male body to narrow and blood cannot flow properly. This is why taking Viagra can improve ED. In other words, we can say that oxidative stress is the major cause of ED.

Incidentally, Dr. Ferid Murad was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998, along with Dr. Robert Furchtgott and Dr. Luis Ignarro, for the research that led to the development of Viagra.

Is ED an early symptom of arteriosclerosis?

ED is caused by blood not flowing properly to the lower part of the body. Therefore, when you start to experience symptoms of ED, you should pay attention to the possibility that you are on the verge of arteriosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis is a condition in which the walls of blood vessels become hardened and cholesterol and other substances accumulate in the walls, forming a mass called plaque, which narrows the arteries and reduces the flow of blood. Oxidative stress is also thought to be the cause of this arteriosclerosis.

LDL cholesterol, the type of cholesterol associated with atherosclerosis, was once thought to be bad in and of itself. However, it is now known that this is not true. It is true that LDL itself is not bad, but when the body is in a rusty state (high oxidative stress), it becomes oxidized LDL, or rusty LDL, which cannot escape from the walls of blood vessels and gets stuck to the walls. Then, a blood clot forms there. By repeating this process, it has become clear that arteriosclerosis progresses.

Therefore, both arteriosclerosis and ED are caused by so-called oxidative stress, so lowering the body’s rustiness will lead to the prevention of both arteriosclerosis and ED.