For some men if anything were to happen to it; where they would
lose the use of it, they’d feel better seeking the latter option which might be
death. Yes, for most men that human body part called the penis is what holds
everything together.
• Use it or Lose It You need to
have erections regularly to keep your penis in shape. "It has to be
essentially exercised," says Tobias Kohler, MD, assistant professor of
urology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. To maintain a healthy
tone, the smooth muscle of the penis must be periodically enriched with oxygen
by the rush of blood that engorges the penis and makes it erect, Kohler says.
If a guy is physically able to get erect, but never has
erections during the day -- maybe he finds himself in very un-erotic
circumstances for a long time -- he needn't worry. The brain has automatic
penis maintenance function built in.
Preventing Erectile Dysfunction Impulses from the brain cause erections
during the dreaming phase of sleep, called the REM phase. It doesn't matter if
you're having a hot sex dream or a zombie apocalypse nightmare -- your penis
gets hard during that period of the sleep cycle.
But some men are physically unable to get erections, such as
those who've suffered trauma to the nerves involved or who have nerve or blood
vessel damage caused by diabetes. "If they don't do anything to maintain
normal erections, they will get shortening of the penis.” Without regular
erections, penile tissue can become less elastic and shrink, making the penis
1-2 centimeters shorter. A device like a vacuum pump, which forces the penis to
swell with blood, can help men with physical erection problems maintain a
healthy penis.
• The Pleasure Zone; Many men
consider the underside of the glans (head) of the penis and the underside of
the shaft to be most sensitive to sexual pleasure. Researchers asked 81 healthy
men to rate the erotic sensitivity of different areas of their bodies,
including not only the penis but also zones such as the scrotum, anus, nipples,
and neck. The underside of the glans and underside of the shaft had the highest
sensitivity rating for a significant majority of men, followed by the upper
side of the glans, left and right sides of the glans, sides of the penis, upper
side of the shaft, and foreskin (for the minority of men who were
uncircumcised). The study findings were reported in the British Journal of Urology
International in 2009.
• Sensitivity Declines with Age.
Studies show that the penis steadily loses sensitivity as men age though it's
hard to say exactly by how much. That's because different researchers have used
different ways to stimulate the penis and measure sensitivity. In general, the
sensitivity of the penis is gauged by the least amount of stimulation a man is able
to feel. That is called the "sensory threshold." Despite differences
between studies, the data show a clear trend when taken together. From age 25
on, sensitivity starts to decline. The sharpest decline in sensitivity is seen
between age 65 and 75.
• There's more to the Penis than
Meets the Eye "Most guys would be proud to know that their penis is twice
as long as they think it is." That's because half the length of the penis
is inside your body. Just like you don't see all of a big oak tree above ground,
you don't see the root of your penis tucked up inside your pelvis and attached
to your pubic bone. As seen in an MRI picture, an erect penis is shaped like a
boomerang.
• Your Penis Is a Habitat the
skin of your penis is home to a diverse community of bacteria. Lance Price,
PhD, and Cindy Liu, PhD, researchers at the Translational Genomics Research
Institute, in Flagstaff, Ariz., used genetic tests to identify the bacteria
found on men's penises. Their study showed there were a total of 42 unique kinds
of bacteria inhabiting the skin of the penis. "We see that the human body
is essentially an ecosystem," Price says. But uncircumcised and
circumcised penises don't have the same variety and abundance of bacteria, the
study showed. The researchers first analyzed samples from the penises of 12 men
who were planning to get circumcised. Samples were taken and analyzed again
after the men were circumcised. After circumcision, there were fewer kinds of
bacteria on the men's penises. Many of the kinds of bacteria found to be less
common or absent after circumcision were anaerobic -- meaning that they don't
need oxygen to grow. The inner fold of the foreskin is a mucous membrane, like
the inside of a person's eyelids. Price says that certain anaerobic bacteria
thrive in that environment but not on dry skin. "I liken it to
clear-cutting a forest," Price says. "You're going to get a lot more
sunlight, and you're going to drastically change the environment." The
study was done in Uganda, and all of the men studied were Ugandan. Liu says
that she would expect to see some variation in the kinds of bacteria found on
men in other parts of the world. "I think there is certainly variety even
among the Ugandan men themselves," she says. But the researchers are less interested
in surveying the penile bacteria of the world than in understanding changes
brought about by circumcision. Their research could help explain why
circumcision has been linked to a lower risk of getting HIV. One theory is the
anaerobic bacteria may prompt the immune system to respond in a way that makes
cells more vulnerable to HIV infection.
• Most Men Aren't Circumcised
Worldwide, approximately 30% of males aged 15 and older are circumcised,
according to a 2007 report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS.
Rates vary greatly depending upon religion and nationality, the report states.
Almost all Jewish and Muslim males in the world have circumcised penises, and
together they account for almost 70% of all circumcised males globally. Some
research shows that there may be health benefits from circumcision. For
instance, circumcised men may be less likely to pass sexually transmitted
diseases to their female partners or to develop penile cancer. The American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) stated in 1999 that while medical data was “not
sufficient to recommend routine male circumcision, it is legitimate for parents
to take into account cultural, religious, and ethnic traditions in addition to
medical factors” when deciding whether or not to circumcise newborn boys.
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