MedWire News: Men with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for erectile dysfunction, report researchers.

“Men with diabetes have a three-fold increased risk for erectile dysfunction compared with those without diabetes,” explain Osama Mohamed (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA) and colleagues, with the presence of microvascular complications and cardiovascular disease increasing the risk still further.

Age is also a factor, as men who have Type 2 diabetes have a 10–15-year earlier onset of erectile dysfunction compared with men with normal erectile function.

Mohamed and team investigated whether level of glycemic control, measured by percentage glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), influenced risk for erectile dysfunction in a group of 100 men with Type 2 diabetes aged 35–50 years. The men were free of kidney and liver failure and blood abnormalities.

The researchers measured the degree of erectile function using the abridged form of the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire.

Erectile function was graded as poor, fair, or good potency. The authors found that levels of HbA1c increased as potency decreased, with mean values of 11.0%, 8.2%, and 7.9% for poor, fair, or good potency, respectively.

“Our findings suggest that glycemic control is independently and inversely associated with erectile dysfunction in men with Type 2 diabetes,” conclude Mohamed et al.

However, they caution: “More studies with a larger number and longer duration of follow-up are required to confirm these results.”

The results of this research are published in the International Journal of Impotence Research.

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