Save the planet but lose your sex life? I don't think so!

It is most curious how reading a simple sentence can suddenly take you back to your own childhood. There I was, somewhere around eight years old, and I got my first bicycle. Not a new one, I confess. My parents thought that second-hand was best because I would rapidly outgrow any machine. As the years went by, I acquired a sequence of slightly less than new bicycles until I was old enough to get motorised wheels. This nostalgia lay dormant until a TV advertisement some years ago in which a father reluctantly buys his son the racing bicycle he has been coveting and observes with a sad shake of his head that the saddle will, "cut him in half". Today, I was looking down a list of risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED) published by the Mayo Clinic, and the last item of their list is, "Prolonged bicycling". It seems that the television father was right to be concerned about his son's safety.

At this point, all men reading this should get off their bicycles immediately and order cialis online. Bicycles are dangerous to your sexual health. Except, of course, this would be a completely irrational response. Cycling always has been an excellent form of transport (particularly given the current need to save the planet — I say ban the internal combustion engine right now). It is also an excellent form of exercise both in its own right and for weight loss purposes (enjoying the planet is best done when we are healthy and fit — the cialis will still come in useful as well).

In 2005, The Journal of Sexual Medicine published studies yet again linking saddle design to ED. The more pressure the saddle puts on the neurovascular bundle or perineum, that is the area between the scrotum and the anus through which arteries and nerves pass on their way to "sensitive" areas, the greater the risk of ED. Apparently, seats which have a nose extension (a wonderfully inappropriate part name), restrict the flow of blood to the penis. So, when buying your next saddle, always make sure you get one that does not unduly compress the perineum — saddles with "cut-outs" or grooves intended to relieve pressure are on the market. Marketers claim that a deep split in the back and a groove down the middle of a saddle reduce the risks of ED although the research evidence is less clear that this design actually has a beneficial effect.

Right! So let us get a little more real. Millions of people around the world have been using bicycles for more than one hundred years and, although there have been medical comments linking numbness to saddles from 1890 onwards, there has never been an epidemic of ED. The fact that the birth rates have been falling recently (despite the presence of cialis on the market) has nothing to do with bicycles. This is, of course, the same argument used by tobacco companies that millions of smokers do not get lung cancer. Nevertheless, cycling a few miles to work or recreational use is unlikely to cause any long-term problems. Such risks as do exist are, as the Mayo Clinic assert, from prolonged cycling. You would have to be doing hundreds of miles a month for there to be any real risk.

However, note a study on the BMJ in 2004 in which long-distance riders were evaluated. The conclusion was that road bicycles are less "dangerous" than mountain bikes. More pain and numbness was associated with lower handlebar settings. Finally, standing on the pedals during long rides can relieve the compression and restore the flow of blood. If all else fails, there is always cialis to dilate the arteries again before enjoying sexual activity.

Find John Scott's other contributions at http://www.withcialis.com/blog/save-the-planet-but-lose-your-sex-life-i-dont-think-so.html where he gladly shares his opinion on many different subjects and helps people around the globe find a better understanding of the things they're interested in.