Men Who Are Overweight & Smoke At Greater Risk Of Erectile Dysfunction: Study
Posted July 9, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If an increased risk of heart disease and cancer weren’t enough to get men to lose weight and quit smoking, the results of a new study might spur them to take some action to improve their health.
A report published in the Journal of Urology suggests that men who maintain a healthy weight, get regular exercise and don’t smoke are less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED).
Lifestyle choices have previously been thought to cause the problem and the recent study adds extra weight to the theory.
Researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health said among the men they followed, participants who were obese at the start of the study were 90 percent more likely to develop ED than men at a healthy weight.
The numbers weren’t much better for smokers. The report suggests they’re twice as likely to have the very personal problem than non smokers.
The findings may give some men an extra reason to get on the treadmill. The most active men in the study were 30 percent less likely than inactive participants to develop ED over the next 14 years.
Erectile problems were once thought to be largely psychological, but experts now say that heart disease and ED have the same risk factors.
Smoking, obesity and inactivity can have an effect on blood flow, which has an effect on erectile function and the study’s co-author Dr. Eric B. Rimm said this may spur men to take care of themselves as heart disease may seem like a distant risk but erectile problems are much more immediate.
