Causes of Erectile Dysfunction Glossary of Terms

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Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Alcohol abuse: Use of alcoholic beverages to excess, either on individual occasions (binge...

Alzheimer disease: See: Alzheimer's disease.

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Anus: The opening of the rectum to the outside of the body.

Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear, characterized by physical symptoms such as pa...

Atherosclerosis: A process of progressive thickening and hardening of the walls of medium-...

Benign: Not malignant. A benign tumor is one that does not invade surrounding tissue or sp...

Bladder: A hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine. The kidneys filter waste f...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Brachytherapy: Radiation treatment given by placing radioactive material directly in or ne...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Bypass: An operation in which a new pathway is created for the transport of substances in ...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

Cholesterol: The most common type of steroid in the body. Cholesterol has a reputation for...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: COPD. Any disorder that persistently obstructs bron...

Circulation: In medicine, the movement of fluid through the body in a regular or circuitou...

Cirrhosis: Liver disease characterized by irreversible scarring. Alcohol and viral hepatit...

Cocaine: A substance derived from the leaves of the coca plant that is a bitter, addictive...

Colon: The long, coiled, tubelike organ that removes water from digested food. The remaini...

Colon cancer: A malignant tumor arising from the inner wall of the large intestine (the co...

Cryosurgery: Treatment performed with an instrument that freezes and destroys abnormal tis...

Cystectomy: Surgery to remove the bladder.

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.

Endocrine: Pertaining to hormones and the glands that make and secrete them into the blood...

Epilepsy (seizure disorder): When nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses...

Erectile dysfunction: A consistent inability to sustain an erection sufficient for sexual ...

Gland: A group of cells that secrete a substance for use in the body. For example, the thy...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

High blood pressure: A repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceeding 140 over 90 mmHg. Chro...

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activit...

Hypogonadism: A condition in which decreased production of gonadal hormones leads to below...

Hypothyroid: Deficiency of thyroid hormone which is normally made by the thyroid gland wh...

Impotence: A common problem among men characterized by the consistent inability to sustai...

Injure: To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emotional sense. Fr...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Iron: An essential mineral. Iron is necessary for the transport of oxygen (via hemoglobin ...

Kidney: One of a pair of organs located in the right and left side of the abdomen. The kid...

Kidney stone: A stone in the kidney or a stone that originates in the kidney but has passe...

Laparoscopy: A type of surgery in which small incisions are made in the abdominal wall thr...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Malnutrition: A term used to refer to any condition in which the body does not receive eno...

Marijuana: A common street and recreational drug that comes from the marijuana plant: the ...

Multiple sclerosis: A disease that is characterized by loss of myelin (demyelinization). A...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Oncology: The field of medicine that is devoted to cancer. Clinical oncology consists of t...

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special func...

Organic: 1. A chemical compound that contains carbon.
2. Related to a...

Parkinson disease: A slowly progressive neurologic disease characterized by a fixed inexpr...

Pelvic: Having to do with the pelvis, the lower part of the abdomen, located between the h...

Penile: Of or pertaining to the penis.

Penis: The external male sex organ. The penis contains two chambers, the corpora cavernosa...

Perineal: Pertaining to the perineum.

Perineum: The area between the anus and the scrotum in the male and between the anus and t...

Peripheral: Situated away from the center, as opposed to centrally located.

Peripheral nervous system: The portion of the nervous system that is outside the brain and...

Peripheral vascular disease: A disease of blood vessels outside the heart. Peripheral vasc...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Poor circulation: An inadequacy of blood flow. Inadequate blood flow to a particular area ...

Prolactin: A hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates lactation (milk produ...

Prostate: A gland within the male reproductive system that is located just below the blad...

Prostate cancer: A malignant tumor of the prostate, the gland that produces some of the co...

Prostatectomy: Surgical removal of the prostate gland. Prostatectomy can be done through a...

Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs.

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy ...

Radiation therapy: The use of high-energy rays to damage cancer cells, stopping them from ...

Radical prostatectomy: A surgery procedure that removes the entire prostate gland plus som...

Resection: Surgical removal of part of an organ.

Respiratory: Having to do with respiration.

Risk factor: Something that increases a person's chances of developing a disease. For exam...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Scleroderma: A disease of connective tissue that causes scar tissue (fibrosis) to form in ...

Sclerosis: Localized hardening of skin. Sclerosis is generally caused by underlying diseas...

Scrotum: The pouch of skin that contains the testes, epididymides, and lower portions of t...

Sickle cell anemia: A genetic blood disease due to the presence of an abnormal form of hem...

Smooth muscle: Along with skeletal and cardiac muscle, one of the types of muscle tissue i...

Spinal cord: The major column of nerve tissue that is connected to the brain and lies with...

Spine: 1) The column of bone known as the vertebral column, which surrounds and protects ...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Stroke: The sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, caused by blockage of blood...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Systemic: Affecting the entire body. A systemic disease such as diabetes can affect the wh...

Testosterone: A "male hormone" -- a sex hormone produced by the testes that encourages th...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A p...

Thyroid gland: A gland that makes and stores hormones that help regulate the heart rate, b...

Tobacco: A South American herb (Nicotiana tabacum) whose leaves contain 2 to 8 percent nic...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Trigger: Something that either sets off a disease in people who are genetically predispose...

Urinary: Having to do with the function or anatomy of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or ur...

Vascular: Relating to blood vessels. For example, the vascular system in the body includes...

Zinc: A mineral that is essential to the body and is a constituent of many enzymes that pe...

Zinc deficiency: Lack of zinc in the body.