Erectile Dysfunction linked to undiagnosed type 2 diabetes

It can be a daunting prospect for people to pluck up the courage to go and speak to their doctor about problems related to sex, especially maybe if said doctor treats the whole family or is regarded as a friend.

This explains somewhat why Medical Specialists® Pharmacy have a patient base spanning tens of thousands; people that have come to them primarily to use the online consultation service for erectile dysfunction treatments, or for the treatment of premature ejaculation. The benefit with this service is the whole process can be done online, confidentially, efficiently, securely, without a face-to-face visit to your doctor, as everything is processed in-house at Medical Specialists® and no information passed to third-parties.

However, men suffering with problems in the bedroom should take these problems more serious, as they could be a predictor for other undiagnosed conditions, such as diabetes. Gum disease and erectile dysfunction has already been linked in previous studies.

In addition, studies have also demonstrated that erectile dysfunction could be an early warning of cardiovascular disease. However, researchers have now shown that a possibly link exists between erectile dysfunction and undiagnosed hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, as well as undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

This according to the results from a cross-sectional survey which is featured in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, with researchers involved in the study arguing men – especially those in middle-age – with impotence problems should be able to receive diabetes screening.

The Study’s lead researcher Dr. Sean Skeldon, from the University of Toronto in Canada, says the risks were higher in middle-aged men aged 40 to 59 years old. He commented: “The probability of having undiagnosed diabetes increased from one in 50 in men without erectile dysfunction, to one in 10 in men with erectile dysfunction.”

Results were attained by collating the data from more than 4,500 men from the United States; all over the age of 20 and participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2001 and 2004. The study was conducted with the aim of trying to find if associations existed between male impotence and blood pressure, cholesterol, in addition to blood sugar. Interestingly, the researchers couldn’t seem to find a link with problems achieving or sustaining an erection to undiagnosed high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

However, the findings showed that 11.5% of the men with undiagnosed diabetes had also stated they suffered with impotence problems, with an even bigger proportion for men between the ages of 40 to 59 years old – 19% showing unusually high blood sugar.

All men– particular those middle-aged– have some degree of risk of type 2 diabetes even without a diagnosis and the researchers suggest that doctors should get not only screenings, but also the sexual histories of middle-aged men.

Type 2 diabetes has been strongly linked with both genetics and ethnicity, but an incredibly large percentage of cases of type 2 diabetes are caused by poor diet that leads to being overweight or due to obesity. With early enough lifestyle changes such as improving your diet, regular exercise and weight loss, it may just be enough to slow down or even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.