system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it when some men drink alcohol they can't maintain an erection?
gpt
Not sure exactly; but Alcohol is a vasodilator (it makes the muscle in the walls of your blood vessels relax). The effect is system wide, which is why when you have a drink your cheeks flush, and you feel warmer peripherally, as proportionately more blood is directed away from your core central organs to these places. However, eventually the effect is for someone to lose heat, as your peripheries might not need all the blood its now been supplied by, but your organs do. The difference isn't so much as to reduce the oxygen supply to the organs, but if you're wasting heat (blood being 37 degrees) on your peripheries, then the bits that need it will eventually get cooler.  The net effect is that there is less blood available for your dick to work as it's been diverted to all sorts of other places that don't need it, potentially causing whiskey dick.