Erectile Dysfunction Prevalent In More Than Half Of U.S. Men
Erectile Dysfunction Prevalent In More Than Half Of U.S. Men
February 2, 2007 6:05 a.m. EST
Nidhi Sharma - All Headline News Staff Writer
Washington D.C. (AHN) - More than 18 million men in the United States over age 20 are affected by erectile dysfunction and the condition is equally prevalent across white, black and Hispanic populations.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studied the effect of health and lifestyle variables on the odds of having ED and determined its prevalence by race and ethnicity.
The study, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggests that white men of age 70 years and older, as well as those suffering from diabetes are at greater risk for developing ED and hispanic men over the age of 60, as well as those suffering from moderate lower urinary tract symptoms, hypertension and/or depression were also increasingly likely to suffer from ED.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) or impotence is a sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis. There are various underlying causes, such as diabetes, many of which are medically reversible.
Erectile dysfunction is characterized by the inability to maintain an erection. Normal erections during sleep and in the early morning suggest a psychogenic cause, while loss of these erections may signify underlying disease, often cardiovascular in origin. Other factors leading to erectile dysfunction are diabetes mellitus (causing neuropathy) or hypogonadism (decreased testosterone levels due to disease affecting the testicles or the pituitary gland).
ANI quotes Ed Laumann, lead author of the study as saying, “Consistent with numerous other studies, age has again been shown to be a very important risk factor for ED. We have also learned from this study that different lifestyle and health conditions appear to play significantly different roles in different racial/ethnic groups.”
Researchers have suugested lifestyle changes, such as increased physical activity and measures to prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes as preventive measures for erectile function.
