Gunshot wound to head causing erectile dysfunction?
I've done some searching of my own, through both the archives of this community and the almighty power of Google (mostly variants of "brain damage" and "erectile dysfunction", but I'd like to get some specific answers as well.
I have this character who gets shot in the head point blank in the forehead - not just a graze or injuries to the craniofacial area, but a bullet through the brain. Said character is whisked off to the ER and survives the injury, but I'm wondering whether it's possible to have said character suffer from erectile dysfunction as a direct result. I also need the character to survive without considerable disabilities aside from what I've mentioned. I'm thinking, minor loss of motor and speech functions is fine, as is anything else that doesn't cause the character to become severely disabled.
From what I've found Googling, it can be simply caused by a psychological or emotional change after the incidence, but I'm looking for something more physiological and would prefer not to use psychological damage unless all else fails.
Going by what I know as well as what Google and Wikipedia tells me, damage to the hypothalamus or the pituitary gland can also cause disruptions in sex organ functions. I'm not sure, however, whether it would be plausible to have said character live through the injury without severe damage to the brain stem or anything that would cause effects like I've described that I want to avoid.
If not those two glands, are there any other parts of the brain that a bullet could plausibly damage enough to cause erectile dysfunction, but not death or anything like that? Could the resultant blood loss be enough to damage the specific parts of the brain enough? Or perhaps could the character fall and hit his head hard enough to cause erectile dysfunction?
And if it's of any relevance, said character is shot by a SIG Sauer P226 pistol, though that can be changed if necessary. The character is also very much drunk when he gets shot, if that helps with the hemorrhage thing.
Any help would be great. :D
I have this character who gets shot in the head point blank in the forehead - not just a graze or injuries to the craniofacial area, but a bullet through the brain. Said character is whisked off to the ER and survives the injury, but I'm wondering whether it's possible to have said character suffer from erectile dysfunction as a direct result. I also need the character to survive without considerable disabilities aside from what I've mentioned. I'm thinking, minor loss of motor and speech functions is fine, as is anything else that doesn't cause the character to become severely disabled.
From what I've found Googling, it can be simply caused by a psychological or emotional change after the incidence, but I'm looking for something more physiological and would prefer not to use psychological damage unless all else fails.
Going by what I know as well as what Google and Wikipedia tells me, damage to the hypothalamus or the pituitary gland can also cause disruptions in sex organ functions. I'm not sure, however, whether it would be plausible to have said character live through the injury without severe damage to the brain stem or anything that would cause effects like I've described that I want to avoid.
If not those two glands, are there any other parts of the brain that a bullet could plausibly damage enough to cause erectile dysfunction, but not death or anything like that? Could the resultant blood loss be enough to damage the specific parts of the brain enough? Or perhaps could the character fall and hit his head hard enough to cause erectile dysfunction?
And if it's of any relevance, said character is shot by a SIG Sauer P226 pistol, though that can be changed if necessary. The character is also very much drunk when he gets shot, if that helps with the hemorrhage thing.
Any help would be great. :D