DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM? IS SOMETHING BOTHERING YOU? WRITE TO: TELL ME PASTOR, DR AARON DUMAS, PO BOX 188, KING STREET, KINGSTON. TELEPHONE 929-1667/8 EMAIL PASTOR@JAMAICASTAR.COM

Dear Pastor,

It is good to know that impotence can be prevented. There is always a stigma attached to a man's age, like if he reaches certain age, he cant get it up.

I looked up some ways on how a man can keep himself healthy. These are as follows:

Having a healthy eating habit. Eat a low fat diet and exercise regularly. Diet and exercise influence a man's sexual desire and sexual performance.

Quit smoking. Smoking causes much of the vascular damage in the penis that could result in impotence. Long-term and heavy smokers have a greater probability of becoming impotent than do non-smokers. One recent study found that men who smoked a pack a day for 20 years had a 60 percent greater chance of becoming impotent than non smokers.

Have frequent sex. The more you make love, the more you will be able to make love. Erectile tissues become less supple with age. Without frequent erections, there is regular flow of blood into the penis. After several months or a year of not having an erection, a man may have difficulty in achieving one.

Don't make ejaculation your goal of lovemaking. Once you take the pressure to ejaculate out of lovemaking, you will probably have more frequent erections, sustain them longer, and enjoy the experience much more.

Expand your 'sex'

Expand your 'sex.' There is more to making love than having intercourse, especially during mid-life. A man is also more likely to have erection difficulties if his lovemaking style is intercourse driven. The pressure to perform will be greater for him than for a man who enjoys satisfying his partner in a variety of ways. Don't make love unless you want to.

Share information with your partner. Explain your changing sexual response pattern to your partner. If intercourse has always ended in ejaculation until recently, she may think she has failed to excite you sufficiently. Let her know that your sexual patterns now more closely resemble hers. She has been able to enjoy intercourse without needing to reach an orgasm every time.

Masturbation two or three times in a week helps in achieving erections for older male. This method is in the combination of two techniques. By having a sustained erection, you can take your mind off your penis because you will know that you are capable of a sustained erection even if you ejaculate. This will allow you to enjoy sex without worry.

Don't take medications if you don't need to. Prescription drugs may produce negative effect on erections. If you keep your weight down and exercise regularly, you're less likely to develop high blood pressure, mild depression or other conditions requiring continuing use of medications. When a doctor prescribes a drug, ask about its sexual side effects, if an alternative drug might not have the same side effects, and whether or not a lifestyle change would enable you to go off medication as soon as possible.

K.P.

Dear K.P.,

I want to make it clear that the above suggestions that you have made did not originate with you. You got them from your research on the Internet. I thank you for sharing them with my readers. I hope that they will find them very helpful.

Pastor