John, a 45-year-old married man, visited his doctor complaining that his erections were no longer satisfactory He couldn’t get a “good” erection, he said—one that was sufficiently firm to allow him to have intercourse. Trying to find out what was causing John’s poor erections, his doctor gave him a penile shot. The injection produced an [...]
Think of the arteries which carry blood into the penis as expressways. Two of these arteries are the most crucial to erection—they supply the corpora cavernosa, which must fill up with blood in order for a man to become erect. A traffic jam in this finely tuned system—even a minor one—can prevent a man from [...]
Some men aren’t aware that they suffer from stress and performance anxiety. Jimmy, a 24-year-old graduate student at a large university, visited a urologist, complaining that he was unable to get an erection. Like many students, Jimmy was juggling a lot of demands. He had a part-time job, a heavy class load and still made [...]
Priapism is when a man gets an erection that won’t go away. While this may sound like everyone’s fantasy, priapism is actually dangerous and serious. Not only is it usually extremely painful, but priapism, left untreated, can cause permanent impotence. What causes an erection that won’t disappear? There are many known causes of priapism and [...]
Performance anxiety can take many different forms. For some men, it is linked to the degree of intimacy in a relationship. One man, 33 years old, could only get an erection in an impersonal setting. He would visit topless bars where, for a fee, a dancer would rub up against him. He could have a [...]
Pubic pediculosis is due to infestation with the crab louse Phthirus pubis. The adult louse is blue-grey or reddish brown depending on how much blood it contains. It measures 1 to 2 mm diameter and is just visible to the naked eye. Eggs (nits) are in chitin sacs firmly attached to the base of single [...]
Group III — Persistent generalised lymphadenopathy (PGL) Patients with PGL alone are classified as Group III. PGL is defined as palpable lymphadenopathy (>1 cm) at two or more extrainguinal sites, persisting for more than 3 months. The lymph node groups most commonly enlarged are the anterior and posterior cervical and axillary groups. Group IV — [...]
The causes of biological false positive reagin (non-treponemal) tests are: Acute (persisting less than 6 months): acute viral febrile illness (e.g. infectious mononucleosis, viral pneumonia, hepatitis); and pregnancy. Chronic (persisting six months or more): intravenous drug abuse; autoimmune disease — positive serology may predate the disease (e.g. disseminated lupus erythematosis, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis); malaria; and [...]
Antibiotics effective against gram negative or anaerobic bacilli are used when PID complicates delivery, abortion or gynaecological procedure or if these organisms complicate gonococcal or chlamydial PID. Various combinations of a penicillin, tetracycline, clindamycin, an imidazole (metronidazole, tinidazole or omidazole) or other agents will be used depending upon the circumstances of each particular case. In [...]
Where an STD exists or is suspected, it is likely that the patient will be embarrassed, fearful, or guilt-ridden. Patients may be less than frank about their sexual activities. Some patients concerned that their sexual behaviour or that of a partner has exposed them to risk may be unable to verbalise that concern. The patient [...]