A critical problem among men is the incapacity of achieve or maintain an erection, sexual performance is a matter of main importance for men and a good erection is the basis for having a satisfactory sexual intercourse. It is possible for men to not to achieve an erection at all or to lose it before sexual intercourse ends up. When erection problems are chronic and they keep happening more than once, then a medical condition is detected which is known as erectile dysfunction. Erectile problems are very common among grown up men, although a lot of men have experienced difficulties with penis erections on different stages of their lives. In many cases the affection appears for a while and then it disappears without having a treatment, but in some other cases it could turn out to be a progressive issue which can damage the self stem of the man and affect his relationship, in that kind of situation the condition will require a treatment. If you are experiencing problems with having an erection on at least twenty five percent of the time, it can be considered as a problem. In the past the most common belief was that erectile problems were “inside the mind of the man”. Usually a man used to receive advises which weren’t helpful like “do not worry” or “just relax and it will go away”. Today health professionals are aware that if the problem does not go away in short time it probably has physical causes. In order to determine if the causes for the erectile dysfunction are physical or psychological, you should check if you are able to have nocturnal erections. Normally a man can have at least three erections per night, each of them with duration of 30 minutes. A doctor can guide you in order to run a test to find out if you have the normal amount of erections every night. Most of men affected by this condition will not see their libido levels decrease. Premature ejaculation (which is sexual intercourse characterized by short duration) is a different kind of impotence. You and your partner should look for counsel for this problem, which most commonly is due to problems of psychological type. Male infertility is also another kind of sexual impotence, a man which is unable to maintain an erection can have a perfectly normal performance on other areas such as the production of enough sperm to fertilize a woman. An infertile man can still have sexual intercourse in a normal way, but he will be unable to procreate a child due to a problem of sperm count and other issues. An erection requires the intervention of brain, nervous system, blood vessels and hormones. Anything that interferes in the interaction among these elements and affects in any way the process will lead to the problem. Among common causes are diseases like a deficient blood circulation, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and thyroid affections, depression and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.