- Cosmic radiation during spaceflight could increase risk of erectile dysfunction in astronauts Space.com
- Astronauts may suffer from erectile dysfunction after trips to space, study finds Yahoo! Voices
- Cosmic-ray exposure on space missions could cause erectile dysfunction, liquid channels in ice boost frost damage – Physics World physicsworld.com
- Erectile Dysfunction a Side-Effect Future Space Travellers Must Brace For, Study Finds! | Weather.com The Weather Channel
- Scientists Have Bad News for Astronauts’ Genitals Yahoo! Voices
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: erectile
Dr Alnajjar tells FEMAIL about underlying conditions which could be causing erectile dysfunction
It can feel humiliating or shameful to suffer from erectile dysfunction – despite the fact it affects half the male population of the UK between the ages of 40 and 70.
But experts have now revealed that the condition may have darker implications, manifesting as a possible symptom of serious issues such as heart disease or high blood pressure.
Dr Hussain Alnajjar told FEMAIL about the possible underlying issues which could bring about erectile dysfunction (or ED), explaining the potential reasons behind this.
He also touched on the importance of being seen by a medical professional, despite many experiencing feeling embarrassed to seek help.
Dr Hussain Alnajjar told FEMAIL about the possible underlying issues which could bring about erectile dysfunction, explaining the potential reasons behind this (Stock image)
The Consultant UroAndrologist and erectile dysfunction expert also outlined the steps which can be taken to deal with erectile dysfunction, ranging from medication to lifestyle changes.
Rebecca Porta, CEO of the Urology Foundation, said it was critical to address any qualms men may have around getting checked out.
She said: ‘Many men are anxious to seek medical guidance when necessary, so it is important that we try and combat unhelpful stereotypes around the condition.
How common is erectile dysfunction?
Dr Alnajjar said that ‘ED is much more prevalent than you think’, explaining that 1 in 10 men experience the condition in their lifetime, with the issue more frequent in men over 40.
He added: ‘It is important to prioritise your health in these instances and while these conversations can be uncomfortable to have, it is important not to delay seeing a medical professional as they will be able to find a treatment that is right for you and identify if your condition is a sign of something more serious.
‘ED is easily treatable and there are various forms of treatments that can be offered to men with this condition.’
What are the possible causes behind erectile dysfunction?
Dr Alnajjar explained that there are a variety of conditions erectile dysfunction (ED) could be symptom of, due to the link between male arousal and the several body systems it concerns.
He says: ‘Male sexual stimulation is a complex process that involves the brain, emotions, nerves, hormones, muscles and blood vessels.
‘ED can result from a problem with one or a combination of these.’
Meanwhile he said ED could be a cause of anything from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and neurological conditions.
According to Dr Alnajjar (pictured), ED may sometimes manifest as a symptom of more serious issues because blood flow is affected
‘ED can be identified if a man is unable to achieve or maintain an erection suitable for satisfactory sexual intercourse.
‘It can be associated with low sex drive in cases where low testosterone is the cause.’
How does erectile dysfunction arise as a symptom of something more serious?
According to Dr Alnajjar, ED may sometimes manifest as a symptom of more serious issues because blood flow is affected.
‘In many cases, ED can be a sign of other underlying health issues, such as: atherosclerosis (hardening or blocked arteries), heart disease, high blood pressure or high blood sugar from diabetes, particularly if the condition is reoccurring,’ he explained.
‘Such conditions often accompany a reduction in blood flow or problem with the nerves of the penis from diabetes, which can affect a man’s ability to get an erection, hence why ED may be an early warning of a more serious illness.’
How should people go about seeking help for erectile dysfunction?
Dr Alnajjar stressed that despite many feeling the push and pull of stigmas around the condition, it is important to seek help from a medical professional.
He explained: ‘Many men find it embarrassing and difficult to talk about this matter.
‘There is still a huge stigma attached to ED, which is why many men are afraid and reluctant to seek medical help.
However he stressed that it’s vital to power through any qualms about seeking help.’
‘ED can have a significant mental toll on men and can affect their perception of manliness, especially if it impacts their fertility, or intimacy with their sexual partner,’ he explained.
‘While these conversations can be uncomfortable to have, it is important that men visit a healthcare professional if this is a persistent issue they are facing.’
When is over-the-counter medication like Viagra enough?
‘Over the counter medications are a quick fix for many men, and it means they can avoid having what they might deem as ’embarrassing’ conversations with healthcare professionals,’ Dr Alnajjar explained.
He continues: ‘Oral medications are commonly used, are generally safe and are a successful form of treatment for many men.
‘They increase a natural chemical (nitric oxide) in your penis which relaxes the muscles leading to increased blood flow and an erection in response to sexual stimulation.’
He also stressed that medication will affect people different depending on a number of factors, adding: ‘Medications do not work for everyone, and certain conditions can make them less effective, such as after pelvic surgery or in poorly controlled diabetics.’
The doctor said lifestyle changes should be ‘the first step in the treatment of erectile dysfunction’, including long-term solutions such as quitting smoking, limiting alcohol intake, weight loss, regular aerobic exercise, quitting illicit drugs and a Mediterranean diet.
Dr Alnajjar also said it is crucial for men with ED to be looked at by a professional to avoid future problems.
‘It is critical for men experiencing ED to seek medical attention so that they can get assessed and treated by a medical expert,’ he said.
‘This approach will help many men avoid future serious health issues such as a heart attack or stroke.’
Botox might help beat erectile dysfunction, study suggests
Botox to beat erectile dysfunction! Injections straight into penis ‘can help impotent men’
- Botox showed ‘clear benefit’ for men suffering with erectile dysfunction
- Belgian urologists reviewed seven studies including more than 360 men
- The drug is not currently approved for erectile dysfunction in the UK or US
It might be known for ironing out wrinkles.
But scientists say Botox might also smooth out erectile difficulties in men.
Injecting impotent men straight into their penis relaxes the organ, allowing blood to rush into it.
Belgian urologists said the treatment showed ‘clear benefit’, although further studies are needed.
The jab only appeared to work for three months.
Around half of all men suffer with some form of erectile dysfunction at some point in their lifetime.
Botox could help treat men with erectile dysfunction, a study claims. Belgian urologists say the treatment could be effective as a ‘nearly permanent’ therapy for the problem, although further studies are needed
NHS doctors aren’t currently allowed to give impotent men Botox, despite studies suggesting it helps.
Instead, they are usually given drugs to lower blood pressure or statins because difficulties tend to be brought on by circulatory problems.
Viagra can be bought from pharmacies without a prescription, while Cialis, Levitra and Spedra require a doctor’s approval.
Botox is also not approved in the US, although it is offered at some private clinics.
Fresh research, published in the journal Urology, reviewed seven studies on Botox and erectile dysfunction.
The studies, involving 362 men, dated back to the 1990s and included human and animal data.
The review did not specify whether all the men even had erectile dysfunction or how severe their cases were.
Either Botox or a placebo was injected into the base of their penises.
Effectiveness was measured using the erection hardness scale.
It quantifies erection strength on a four-point scale, ranging from zero (penis does not enlarge) to four (penis is completely hard and fully rigid).
They also measured blood flow into the penis with an ultrasound and surveyed men to determine the extent of their erectile dysfunction before and after treatment.
One study showed around half of those given Botox responded positively on all three counts up to three months later.
But the effects had worn off after six months.
Another showed 40 per cent of impotent men given an injection were able to have sex three months after the treatment.
The team, led by Dr Rawad Abou Zahr, a urologist at Université Libre de Bruxelles, said all the studies showed Botox helped improve erection problems.
Writing in the journal, they said: ‘As for the duration of benefit from the BoNT-A injections, the above studies described a clear benefit within the first three months of treatment.
‘This benefit seems to regress reaching the six months period. This sheds the light on the importance of maintenance regimens in such patients.’
But they said the small sample size meant further studies are needed and Botox should not be dished out for ED until clinical trials have finished.
Botox is thought to improve erections by temporarily relaxing the smooth muscle in the walls of blood vessels in the penis.
It blocks nerve signals that usually constrict these muscles, meaning more blood is able to enter the organ.
Hair loss, erectile dysfunction symptoms of long COVID: study
Long COVID could be even worse on the body than previously thought.
Well-known symptoms of long COVID include fatigue, fogginess and for some, the long-term loss of smell and taste.
However, a new study has found that there is a broader range of symptoms, including hair loss, loss of libido, incontinence and erectile dysfunction in men — and some people are more susceptible than others.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham analyzed the health records of around 2.4 million people in the UK, finding that those who had been infected with COVID-19 reported 63 symptoms more frequently 12 weeks after they were infected compared to those who hadn’t been infected.
Researchers of the study — published in Nature Medicine — broke the most common symptoms into three categories: respiratory symptoms, mental health and cognitive problems. Other common symptoms include loss of smell, shortness of breath, chest pain and fever, nausea and vomiting, fever, bowel incontinence, erectile dysfunction, anhedonia (lack of enjoyment) and limb swelling.
The study suggests that particular groups of people are more likely to develop long COVID, namely females, younger people and those belonging to a black, mixed or another ethnic group.
Researchers also reported people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, smokers and people who are overweight, obese or have a wide range of health conditions were associated with persistent COVID symptoms, also finding biological sex and ethnicity also appear to play a role.
Dr. Shamil Haroon, associate clinical professor in public health at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the study, said the “research validates what patients have been telling clinicians and policymakers throughout the pandemic.”
“The symptoms of long COVID are extremely broad and cannot be fully accounted for by other factors such as lifestyle, risk factors or chronic health conditions,” Haroon added.
“The symptoms we identified should help clinicians and clinical guideline developers to improve the assessment of patients with long-term effects from COVID-19, and to subsequently consider how this symptom burden can be best managed.”
Viagra, Cialis, Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Link to Eye Problems
Drugs known for helping men with erectile dysfunction may come with a higher risk of vision problems than currently thought. In new research out Thursday, scientists have documented an association between three serious eye disorders and drugs including Viagra and Cialis; the findings might prompt the need for added warning labels on these medications, the authors say, though the individual risk for experiencing these complications does appear to be very small.
Commonly used erectile dysfunction drugs such as sildenafil (sold under the brand name Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis) primarily work by inhibiting an enzyme known as PDE5 that is found in the smooth muscle cells that line certain blood vessels. As a result, the drugs dilate these blood vessels and increase blood flow to specific parts of the body, including the penis during times of sexual stimulation. These drugs also can be used to treat high blood pressure linked to lung problems (pulmonary hypertension), and tadalafil is approved to help treat the symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
But no drug comes without some unwanted effects. PDE5 drugs have been linked to vision problems for quite some time, including a few serious complications. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration required the makers of Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra to add a warning label about the association between their drugs and ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), a condition that can lead to permanent vision loss.
There have been case reports of other eye-related conditions tied to PDE5 use in the years since. And that made the researchers behind this latest study, published Thursday in JAMA Ophthalmology, curious about whether these reports were pointing to a real trend.
To find out, they analyzed insurance data from over 200,000 men who had been taking either Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, or Stendra. Importantly, none of these men had been diagnosed with vision problems prior to their use of these drugs. But when compared to similarly matched men not taking any PDE5 inhibitor, they were more likely to be diagnosed with ION as well as two other eye conditions, serous retinal detachment (SRD) and retinal vascular occlusion (RVO). The increased risk of these problems in PDE5 users was apparent even after accounting for other possible risk factors, such as high blood pressure.
G/O Media may get a commission
The findings seem to be the first from a large epidemiological study to link SRD and RVO to taking erectile dysfunction drugs. And according to lead author Mahyar Etiminan, it’s the first to quantify the added risk of these conditions. Compared to non-users, for instance, men taking these drugs were 2.58 times more likely to develop SRD, 1.44 times more likely to develop RVO, and 2.02 times more likely to develop ION. In general, they had a 85% increased risk of developing any one of these conditions.
This kind of research can’t definitively prove that these drugs are causing these conditions. But the authors suspect, Etiminan told Gizmodo in an email, that “these drugs can compromise blood flow to the optic nerve and arteries/veins of the retina.”
The authors note that the absolute odds of having any of these conditions following PDE5 use are still very small. But given that as many as 20 to 30 million men in the U.S. may have erectile dysfunction and could take these drugs, the risks are real enough that they warrant a clear warning label, they argue. They also say that people with preexisting eye problems should be more cautious about taking them.
“ION already has a warning but RVO and SRD don’t have strong warnings. We believe they should also have strong warnings,” said Etiminan, an eye disease researcher and epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia. “I would say men who have underlying ocular issues like glaucoma or retinal conditions should discuss with their ophthalmologist before starting the drugs.”
At the same time, he adds: “Men otherwise healthy should seek medical attention only if they see visual changes when taking these drugs.”
While this new study does indicate that PDE5 drugs in general can rarely cause these serious eye problems, the authors say that more research should be done to figure out whether certain drugs in this class are riskier than others.
COVID Infects Penis, Testicles and Prostate – Causes Pain, Erectile Dysfunction, Reduced Sperm Count
Testicular pain, erectile dysfunction, reduced sperm count and quality, decreased fertility are direct consequence of infection, new study shows.
Multiple tissues of the male genital tract can be infected with 
The evidence that infection with SARS-CoV-2 can negatively impact male sexual health and fertility is increasing every day. But scientists didn’t know the reason and wondered if the cause was fever and inflammation.
“We just didn’t understand why it had this negative impact until this study,” Hope said. He noted viruses such as mumps, Ebola, Zika, SARS-COV-1, and other viruses also can infect tissues of the male genital tract and negatively impact fertility. Mumps infection is well known to potentially cause male sterility.
The new study shows how the virus can cause pathology in the prostate, penis, testicles, and testicular vasculature (blood vessels), Hope said.
The study is posted as a preprint on bioRxiv, meaning it should be considered preliminary research until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“Even if this is only a small percentage of the infected, it represents millions of men who may suffer from a negative impact on their sexual health and fertility,” Hope said.
Clinical studies suggest 10% to 20% of SARS-CoV-2-infected men have symptoms related to male genital tract dysfunction. This suggests tens of millions of men who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, especially those who had severe
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Read original article here
COVID Infects Penis, Testicles and Prostate – Causes Pain, Erectile Dysfunction, Reduced Sperm Count
Testicular pain, erectile dysfunction, reduced sperm count and quality, decreased fertility are direct consequence of infection, new study shows.
Multiple tissues of the male genital tract can be infected with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVRnxBtTpAM
The evidence that infection with SARS-CoV-2 can negatively impact male sexual health and fertility is increasing every day. But scientists didn’t know the reason and wondered if the cause was fever and inflammation.
“We just didn’t understand why it had this negative impact until this study,” Hope said. He noted viruses such as mumps, Ebola, Zika, SARS-COV-1, and other viruses also can infect tissues of the male genital tract and negatively impact fertility. Mumps infection is well known to potentially cause male sterility.
The new study shows how the virus can cause pathology in the prostate, penis, testicles, and testicular vasculature (blood vessels), Hope said.
The study is posted as a preprint on bioRxiv, meaning it should be considered preliminary research until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“Even if this is only a small percentage of the infected, it represents millions of men who may suffer from a negative impact on their sexual health and fertility,” Hope said.
Clinical studies suggest 10% to 20% of SARS-CoV-2-infected men have symptoms related to male genital tract dysfunction. This suggests tens of millions of men who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, especially those who had severe
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Read original article here
Vaping doubled the risk of erectile dysfunction, or ED, in men age 20 and older, study finds
This association held true even for men without any other health concerns or habits connected to sexual dysfunction, including smoking, a known contributor to erectile dysfunction.
“Our analysis accounted for the cigarette smoking history of participants, including those who were never cigarette smokers to begin with,” said study author Dr. Omar El Shahawy, an assistant professor in the Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Use section of New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
“It is possible that daily e-cigarette vaping may be associated with higher odds of erectile dysfunction regardless of one’s smoking history,” he said.
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, analyzed data about e-cigarette use from a nationally representative study of US adults over 18 years of age.
“We excluded people with high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, which is a big reason for ED, and we excluded those with a history of smoking. We adjusted for all that and still we found a very strong and significant association between vaping and ED,” El Shahawy said.
“For men who had some history of heart issues, there was more than three times the risk for erectile dysfunction,” he said.
There are two main reasons for this effect, said Ahmad Besaratinia, a professor of research population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the study.
“One is the fact that nicotine and other chemicals in vapes can reduce the ability of arteries to get larger and dilated, and that is what causes erectile dysfunction. These chemicals can also depress testosterone levels, another main cause of ED,” said Besaratinia, who researches the impact of vaping on genetics.
Due to the presence of nicotine and thousands of other chemicals, smoking cigarettes can have the same effect on the systems of the body that control blood flow to the male reproductive organs, as well as causing cancer and many other serious health conditions.
“Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia,” the National Cancer Institute stated.
Risk of erectile dysfunction can increase as more tobacco cigarettes are smoked and nicotine levels therefore rise, which also held true in the study for e-cigarettes, El Shahawy said.
“The risk increased for daily vaping, rather than vaping in general,” he said. “More exposure is what increases the risk for ED.”
An additional factor, he said, is that “newer generations of e-cigarettes deliver a lot of nicotine — some of them have higher nicotine levels than cigarettes. So it stands to reason that if you vape a lot then you will have the sexual side effects of nicotine.”
There was one piece of good news — physical activity was associated with lower odds of ED, the study found.
Because the research was cross sectional, “which means we’re looking at how things relate to each other at a specific point in time,” the study could only show an association between vaping and ED and not a direct cause and effect, El Shahawy said.
Vaping as smoking cessation aid
Vaping can be a way to kick the tobacco cigarette habit. The US Food and Drug Administration is in the process of evaluating and approving various e-cigarette brands for just that purpose, requiring companies to show data on how their products accomplish that result.
But if vaping nicotine replaces cigarettes as a daily activity, then risk for ED and other health issues increases. This is especially concerning due to the epidemic of teen vaping in the US — more than 2 million middle- and high-school kids say they use e-cigarettes, according to a national survey released in September by the FDA and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The survey found that a quarter of the youth — 500,000 — say they vape daily.
Over three quarters of the teenagers preferred flavored e-cigarettes, especially fruit, candy, mint and menthol flavors, the survey found.
But even e-cigarettes labeled as being nicotine free may be a risk, El Shahawy said: “Basic studies have looked at nicotine free e-cigarettes, and they will find traces of nicotine in them.”
Another issue is nicotine delivery, El Shahawy explained, as the amount of nicotine actually drawn into the body can differ depending on the delivery mechanism.
“It’s not just the amount of nicotine that is advertized in the e-liquid” he said. “The device, the heating coil, how the heat is generated — all that can change the levels of nicotine actually delivered to the person using the vape.”
At this time, El Shahawy said, researchers do not know if there are any permanent changes to male performance due to vaping.
“Is erectile dysfunction something that’s going to just go away if somebody stops vaping, or this is something that could have residual effects in the future? We need better studies to be able to evaluate the short and long term impact,” he said.
Based on the research, what advice does El Shahawy give to men who are considering vaping for pleasure or using e-cigarettes to stop smoking tobacco?
“If you don’t smoke anything, don’t start. There is no point in vaping as it’s not safe on its own. But if you’re already smoking cigarettes and you want to stop, then ration your use of vapes. Keep vaping to a minimal level, just enough to get over your cravings, and then stop.”
CNN’s Maggie Fox contributed to this report.
Men who use e-cigarettes twice as likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, study finds
Men who vape or use e-cigarettes are more than twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction, a new study has suggested.
American researchers surveyed nearly 14,000 men over the age of 20 and found those who used the devices had a 2.4 times higher chance of impotence than non-smokers.
While the study did not prove the link, the experts believe a high level of nicotine in vaping liquid reduces blood flow to the penis by hampering the ability of blood vessels to dilate.
And even fluids without nicotine contain chemicals that may reduce the amount of testosterone circulating in the body, researchers say.
The team, from New York’s Grossman School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University, said men should be warned about the potential impact vaping could have on their love life — as England gets ready to become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to help smokers quit.
About one in five men in the UK and US are believed to suffer from impotence and with it becoming more common as men age, with over half of cases in the over 50s.
Men who use e-cigarettes or vapes could be twice as likely to have problems getting or maintaining an erection according to a new study (stock image)
Traditional smoking has been long established as cause of erectile dysfunction due to the chemicals contained in tobacco products, such as nicotine, damaging the blood vessels connected to the penis.
While vaping is generally considered healthier than traditional smoking scientists have recently been exploring a possible relation between the sexual health problems and e-cigarette products.
Lead author of the latest study, Dr Omar El Shahawyl, said the findings indicated that, vapers were more likely to suffer erection problems than non-vapers, even considering previous smoking history.
‘Our analyses accounted for the cigarette smoking history of participants, including those who were never cigarette smokers to begin with, so it is possible that daily e-cigarette vaping may be associated with higher odds of erectile dysfunction regardless of one’s smoking history,’ he said.
With vaping on the rise as a healthier alternative to smoking, Dr Shahawyl said more research was needed to explore any potential consequences on men’s sexual health.
‘We need to fully investigate the relationship between vaping products and erectile dysfunction, and potential implications for men’s sexual health,’ he said.
‘Our findings underscore the need to conduct further studies to contextualize the e-cigarette use pattern that is relatively safer than smoking.’
The research was based on the a survey, with the 13,711 original participants later narrowed down to 11,207 with no prior cardiovascular disease diagnosis.
In both groups men who used e-cigarette products were twice as likely to experience erectile dysfunction, 2.2 times more likely in the larger sample size and rising to 2.4 times as likely in the sample without cardiovascular disease.
Almost half of all participants were former cigarette smokers, 21 per cent were current cigarette smokers, and 14 percent used vapes and e-cigarettes.
In total, 10 per cent of all men in the sample reported experiencing erectile dysfunction.
One limitation of the study was that it based on self-reporting meaning that the results may be influenced by men lying on the questionnaire.
The authors also did not state whether the risk erectile dysfunction for people who use vapes and e-cigarettes was higher or lower than that of traditional smoking.
The researchers, who published their findings in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine said they next plan to examine if different types of electronic nicotine delivery devices have differing affects on erectile dysfunction and if it can be reversed by stopping.
Reacting to the study consultant uro-andrologist Giulio Garaffa of private health clinic International Andrology in London said the study’s findings made sense.
‘The idea of e-cigarette use negatively impacting men’s ability to get erections does have a foundation,’ he said.
However Dr Garaffa said any damage caused by e-cigarettes and vapes, is both likely to be reversible and less than that caused traditional smoking due to the absence of substances like tar and carbon monoxide.
‘Nicotine has an immediate, short term vasoconstrictor effect, and therefore it may reduce the blood flow to the penis and may impact negatively the ability of getting an erection,’ he said.
‘With time the vasoconstrictor effect of nicotine disappears with no long term damage to erections.
‘Instead, the chemicals inhaled by tobacco smokers, will also cause long term damage to the vessels of the cardiocirculatory system thus causing long term worsening of the erections on top of the short term effects of nicotine.’
But he added it was the duty of all clinicians to inform patients of the risk of erectile dysfunction in vaping products.
Dr Garaffa also urged all patients to contact a health professional if they are suffering from erectile dysfunction as it can be a warning sign of a cardiovascular disease.
Last month it was announced England is set to become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to help smokers quit.
Despite a torrent of evidence on the health risks of vaping, the medical regulator is to ‘pave the way’ for it to be offered on the NHS.
Manufacturers will be able to submit e-cigarettes to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to undergo the same ‘approvals process’ as other medicines.
This means they could then be licensed as a medical product and prescribed by doctors on a case-by-case basis to people who want to quit traditional cigarettes.
Currently, the NHS advises that vaping can help smokers – though it is not available on prescription.
E-cig devices typically cost around £20 to £30, plus more for replacement cartridges.
The controversial move comes despite the World Health Organization saying last year that the devices are ‘undoubtedly harmful’.
Some 3million Britons use vapes at present, more than triple the 700,000 nearly a decade ago.
Diabetes type 2: Symptoms of high blood sugar can cause erectile dysfunction
Most males experience at least one episode of being unable to achieve an erection when desired. In extreme cases, they may be unable ever to have or sustain an erection. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common problem amongst men who have diabetes affecting 35-75 percent of male diabetics. Up to 75 percent of men suffering from diabetes will experience some degree of erectile dysfunction (erection problems) over the course of their lifetime. What is the link between ED and diabetes type 2?
Why it occurs?
When men become sexually aroused, hormones, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels all work with one another to create an erection.
Nerve signals, sent from the brain to the penis, stimulate muscles to relax.
This, in turn, allows blood to flow to the tissue in the penis.
Once the blood fills the penis and an erection is achieved, the blood vessels to the penis close off so that the erection is maintained.
Following sexual arousal, the blood vessels to the penis open up again, allowing the blood to leave.
However, in men with type 2 diabetes, this process is not fully completed due to the abnormalities of blood sugar present.
A study from the Brady Urological Institute at John Hopkins analysed how an oversupply of blood sugar could be a major cause of erectile dysfunction in diabetic men.
Researchers have found that one particular simple sugar, present in increased levels in diabetics, interferes with the chain of events needed to achieve and maintain erection and can lead to permanent penile impairment over time.
Previous studies have also shown that diabetic erectile dysfunction was partially due to an interruption in an enzyme which starts the chain of vascular events finally leading to an erection.
Studies show that men with diabetes often have reduced testosterone levels, which can affect their sex drive.
However, the main sexual health problem affecting men with diabetes is an inability to achieve or maintain an erection, known as erectile dysfunction.
For a man to achieve an erection, there must be significant blood flow to the penis. However, diabetes damages the blood vessels, which can affect blood flow to the penis.
Diabetes can also lead to nerve damage and make it more difficult for him to maintain an erection.
Treatment
In many cases, yes, erectile dysfunction can be reversed.
In fact, one study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found a remission rate of 29 percent after five years.
It is important to note that even when ED cannot be cured, the right treatment can reduce or eliminate symptoms, said Medical News Today.
The health site added: “ED is usually treatable with medication or surgery.
“However, a person may be able to treat the underlying cause and reverse symptoms with no medication.
“The best treatment may depend on the person.”