Dealing with diabetes is a problem itself, but a common side effect of the disease in men is erectile dysfunction or ED. A new study shows many diabetic men turn to Viagra, Cilais, or Levitra, which are all common ED medications. While the drugs work for some men, for others an oral medication isn’t the solution.
A new study done by the Urologic Diseases of America Project and supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, shows diabetic men are 50% more likely to turn to more invasive measures to treat ED like surgery or injections.
“Our data show that men with diabetes have a more refractory treatment course for ED than nondiabetics,” Thomas J. Walsh, MD, assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
“This is a very robust dataset and a snapshot of the American population. We have an enormous pool of men treated over a 5-year period with very meticulous record-keeping,” he said. “We know if they are diabetic, we know if they are nondiabetic, we know if they develop ED, and we know what they receive for ED treatment.”
Researchers went through more than 130,000 medical records to reach the results.
“Erectile dysfunction worsens with poor diabetes control because of diabetes-related peripheral nerve damage and decreased blood flow to the penis,” he said. “It’s well known that when men improve their overall health with lifestyle changes, such as exercising more, eating a healthy diet, and stopping smoking — all the things we know we should do — their erections will get better. However, in diabetics, the odds are just a little more stacked against them for [lifestyle changes] to be effective. The same is true for pills, which are standard first-line therapy. Practitioners who treat diabetics need to know that there is less chance of success with first-line agents in diabetics, and that they probably need to progress to aggressive treatments earlier.”
Walsh says every diabetic should consult a doctor about individual treatment.
