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Welcome to the website for Jim Chialtas, L.Ac., and Laurel Acupuncture Clinic of Functional Medicine, located in San Diego.

Click on the tabs above to learn more about what Functional Medicine is, and about many of the health concerns I specialize in. Or scroll down for my blog. You might find it helpful to use the labels in the lower right column to find topics that interest you.

In addition to seeing clients privately in my clinic, I also offer many of the same services remotely to US residents. Please feel free to contact me to set up a consultation or appointment. Thank you!

7/8/08

So What Good Is An Erection Anyway?

As an acupuncturist we were trained to consider the whole person when working on a particular problem. We ask lots of questions and look at rather strange parts of the body, like the tongue for example, in determining a person’s health. In women we ask a lot of questions and can gain a lot of information about their health by inquiring about her menses. But in men, we have the penis--and thank god for that. But in having a penis we have to constantly worry about how well it is functioning. It is true that Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is on the rise, but is it really a problem with our penises themselves, or like a woman’s period, are our penises really just little, or excuse me, large and monolithic health meters that are trying to tell us something about our underlying health? More times than not it is the latter, believe me.

To drive this point home further I will share with you a story that my father told to me. My father recently underwent a liver transplant operation and was surrounded by other men in the same situation. In getting to know one man at the hospital it became known that this man hadn’t had an erection for many years since becoming ill. Sure enough the first thing that this man came to realize when waking up in the recovery room after his transplant was that he had one of the fullest erections of his life. Good for that guy! So, he didn’t have a problem with his penis, but rather a problem with his health. In this case, it was a new liver that did the trick, but most of the time it is much more subtle. This is a concept that we need to embrace. Far too often we try and override the basic necessity of good health by taking little blue pills. They can be good in a pinch, but it is sure no way to live.

Unfortunately, there is no one thing that causes ED. In fact, there are probably too many to count. However, the biggest contributing factor to ED that I see in my practice is due to the side effects of medications. Blood pressure medications can make erections nearly impossible at times. High blood sugar and Diabetes is another quick path to ED. Hormone imbalance due to hormone replacement therapy can eventually lead to ED as well because it hinders the sensitivity between the sex hormone and the receptor. This will eventually lead to "lazy sex hormone receptors," so to speak. Depression is another good example of why a man might come down with ED.

Whatever the reason for the ED, the goal should be to find out how to fix the problem. We as a society need to demand that our bodies remain functional without all the added medication complicating matters further. In doing so we can avoid many of the current health problems, fix many of the health concerns where they start and of course have better erections as a result! The answers are out there. And given the opportunity I would love to tell you about them.

1 comment:

  1. Well thank you Viagra for your post. I have never been contacted directly by a pharamaceutical product before! I normally would not publish such a direct marketing attempt, but on second thought I figured that it was a good opportunity to reiterate the point of this article.

    I will agree with you Viagra that many men (and women) have experienced the benefits of a good erection at the hands of this medication. That I will not dispute. And in quite a few cases I'll admit it is necessary. But the point of this artcle was not about how great having an erection is, but about how not having one is a good indicator of the man's health in general. What can you do, Viagra, to help the man achieve better health? How can you help his liver, or kidneys, or his congestive heart failure for example? Simply put, you can't. And in fact you only work to mask the symptoms that something major is going wrong. Would you condone cutting the wire on the warning light of your car? Of course not. Then please reconsider what you are allowing thousands of men to do to themselves every day. You are allowing them to cut their warning lights just so that they can go for a joy ride.

    Perhaps if these men could make a healthier environment for the penis to thrive in viagra would not be necessary. But what is easier... Taking a pill or changing an unhealthy lifestyle? I think we all know the answer to that. But what if more people knew what viagra actually does in the body and why it may not be as good as it sounds? Perhaps people would change their minds about such means for arousal.

    The way the viarga works is that it manipulates the way that blood vessels relax and constrict. Tightening the blood vessels leaving the penis allows for more blood to pool and to create a mighty erection. Yay for that! This process is regulated by the nitric oxide pathway which is how viagra works. Viagra plays with the nitric oxide levels which constricts those exiting blood vessls in the penis and allows for the erection.

    What they don't tell you is that nitric oxide in higher than normal amounts is a potent free radical. And no one would willingly put free radicals into their body right? Unless they are perhaps smokers, sugar addicts, work in petrolium factories, eat at fast food joints, etc. Ok, I guess you are right.. People willingly put free radicals into their bodies on an increasingly routine basis. Scary stuff!

    What it all really boils down to is having the right information to choose a proper path. Unfortunately, Viagra, you or the doctor who prescribed you probably didn't mention much about the drawbacks. Most likely there were some great little sample packs right there in the clinic drawer. Free for the taking! Just like any good drug dealer, the first ones are always free!

    And on that note, happy loving andgreat erections for all!

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