Type 2 Diabetes May Cause Erectile Dysfunction

Data was examined across three cohorts on more than 220,000 men, 6,000 of which experienced erectile dysfunction, using cutting edge genetic analysis to examine complex correlation between diabetes and aspects including body weight. This work supports recent findings of erectile dysfunction having a genetic cause, and goes further by opening the possibility of living a healthier lifestyle to help reduce the risk; and genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes was found to be linked with erectile dysfunction, providing evidence that diabetes can be a cause of erectile issues.

Conclusions are limited which can be drawn in regards to whether treatment of diabetes is likely to have an impact on erectile dysfunction risk due to few clinical trials of diabetes reporting erectile dysfunction as an outcome of improved glucose control.

Professor Michael Holmes explains their findings are important as diabetes is preventable, and one can now achieve remission from diabetes as illustrated in recent clinical trials via weight loss and healthier lifestyle choices. Results go beyond finding genetic links to erectile dysfunctions to a public message of widespread relevance to the general public considering the burgeoning prevalence of diabetes.

Until now there has only been observational evidence linking erectile dysfunction and type 2 diabetes without definitive evidence showing predisposition to type 2 diabetes causing erectile dysfunction; findings also echo that of previous studies identifying a specific region of the genome linked to erectile dysfunction, potentially opening new avenues for new treatments.