Check how hard is your erection

You can now rate your penis erection hardness

EHS rates the hardness of erection on a scale of one to four, with four being the maximal score. The language used is simple and direct, so that men with ED can use the scale to assess the severity of their condition and to monitor the impact of treatment. A score of 1 indicates that the penis is larger than normal, but not hard; 2 means the penis is hard, but not hard enough for penetration, 3 means the penis is hard enough for penetration but not completely hard, and 4 indicates that the penis is completely hard and fully rigid.

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Why men can't control their erections

Things you didn't know about your penis

You've probably noticed that your penis often does its own thing. You may remember times when it was completely inappropriate to have an erection; and yet you couldn't wish it away.

It's true that you have less command over your penis than body parts like your arms and legs. That's because the penis answers to a part of the nervous system that's not always under your conscious control. This is called the autonomic nervous system, which also regulates heart rate and blood pressure.

Sexual arousal usually isn't voluntary. The conscious mind is complicit in it, but a lot of sexual arousal goes on in the sympathetic nervous system. In addition, impulses from the brain during the REM phase of sleep cause erections, whether you're dreaming about sex or about a test you forgot to study for. Heavy lifting or straining to have a bowel movement can also produce an erection.

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Depression in men linked to lower testosterone levels

BBC News: Health News: Testosterone linked to depression

Older men with lower levels of the male sex hormone testosterone in their blood may be more prone to depression, a study suggests.

A study of about 4,000 men aged over 70 found those with lowest testosterone were three times more likely to be depressed than those with the most. Researchers suspect the hormone may affect levels of key brain chemicals. The study, by the University of Western Australia, features in Archives of General Psychiatry.

A previous study of 800 men over the age of 50 found that those with low levels of testosterone had a 33% increased risk of death over an 18-year period than those with higher levels. They appeared significantly more likely to have a cluster of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

"Testosterone therapy offers a relatively simple intervention, potentially, for some groups of older depressives with hypogonadism (low production of sex hormones)." Professor Stafford Lightman, a hormone expert at the University of Bristol, said testosterone potentially had many small effects which could raise the risk of depression. For instance, low levels had been linked to poor cognitive performance.

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Testosterone may help Alzheimer's patients