Apr 06, 2010 – Researchers have shown that strict control of blood sugar levels reduces the risk of Erectile Dysfunction (ED). The study published on March 21, 2011, in the online edition of the Journal of Urology, reports that the higher the level of sugar in the blood as measured by Hemoglobin (Hb)A1c, the higher the associated risk of ED. Other risk factors were age, peripheral neuropathy and lower urinary tract symptoms.
But no matter where a young man with type 1 diabetes falls on the spectrum of glucose control, “there is a benefit to tight control, namely a lower risk of ED,” said lead author Dr. Hunter Wessells in email to Reuters Health. “Making young men aware of this benefit may be an additional motivator.”
In the Journal of Urology paper, Dr. Wessells of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and colleagues report on nearly 600 men with type 1 diabetes who were participating in the study of intensive or conventional control of blood sugar. Overall, 23% reported erectile dysfunction.
SOURCE: March 21, 2011, online edition of the Journal of Urology