Long-term diabetic men at higher risk of erectile dysfunction: Study

Erectile Dysfunction causes incompetence to accomplish and sustain erection which is needed to have satisfactory sexual intercourse.

The longer the duration of diabetes in men, the greater was the risk of them suffering erectile dysfunction, a new observational study conducted over a period of two years, has claimed.

Co-authored by doctors of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here, it was recently published in Current Medicine Research & Practice journal.

"The study was done on 225 diabetic males between the age of 18-65 with type 2 diabetes, and 50 non-diabetic males in the same age group," the SGRH said in a statement.

According to Atul Gogia, senior consultant, SGRH's Department of Medicine, and one of the authors, said, "One of the interesting findings of our study was that longer the duration of diabetes, more was the risk of them suffering erectile dysfunction (ED)." 

Among patients studied, those with diabetes duration of less than five years, 43.6 per cent had ED with only 3.6 per cent having severe ED, he said.

"Those having it with a duration of 6-10 years, 83 per cent had ED with 10.9 per cent having severe ED. In patients with diabetes duration of more than 10 years, 78.6 per cent had ED with 16.4 per cent having severe ED," Gogia said.

Prevalence of ED in non-diabetic control group of 50 individuals was found to be 46 per cent, the study said, which was conducted from April 2015 to June 2017.

According to Atul Kakar, co-author and vice-chairperson, Department of Medicine, SGRH, "ED in men is commonly seen complication in type 2 diabetes mellitus." 

"It is described as the condition due to which there is incompetence to accomplish and sustain erection which is needed to have satisfactory sexual intercourse. ED has high prevalence in diabetics and occurs in early ages of diabetic population as compared to non-diabetics," he said.

The severity of ED among male diabetics, was assessed based on sexual health inventory for men (SHIM) questionnaire.

The SHIM questionnaire uses five sexual function components which include erection, orgasm, desire for sex , intercourse satisfaction and overall satisfaction, according to Manu Gupta, another co-author of the study and senior consultant, department of urology at the SGRH.