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The analysis was conducted on behalf of a U.K.-based telemedicine provider known as Superdrug Online Doctor, which is an affiliate of Health Bridge Limited, headquartered in London. The operations of Health Bridge and Superdrug Online Doctor are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in the United Kingdom.
Thousands of Posts Analyzed
Superdrug’s project looked at postings and comments on MedHelp.org’s Erectile Dysfunction Community forum that were made from July 2007 to October 2015. The analyzed postings were made by 3,962 unique posters and encompassed 3,311 primary posts that were followed up by 4,524 comments.
Among the more startling findings of Superdrug’s analysis of forum postings was the breakdown of ages among those who visited the forum and posted questions or comments relative to concerns about erectile dysfunction. Men 24 and younger accounted for 58.2 percent of the postings made during the eight-year period. While erectile dysfunction is more widespread among older men, only about 20 percent of the postings were made by men 31 and older.
Element of Anonymity Attracts Some
In its overview of the Superdrug project, the U.K. website of Huffpost Lifestyle suggests that many men posting on the forum do so because they prefer seeking information under the cloak of anonymity. For many, this is likely more comfortable than raising these questions in consultations with their primary physicians.
In looking at the end-results of its analysis, Superdrug acknowledges that the high number of postings from young men may in part be explained by the fact that roughly 53 percent of Internet users worldwide are 34 or younger. However, it might also be that the postings by young men reflect an increase in the number of them who are being diagnosed with ED.
Italian Study Cited
Superdrug points to a relatively recent study conducted by urology researchers at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan that found that roughly one of every four patients being diagnosed with ED is 40 years of age or younger. That study, published in the July 2013 issue of the “Journal of Sexual Medicine,” looked at both clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of 439 men who sought care for ED symptoms at an academic outpatient clinic over a 30-month period.
Of all the men diagnosed with ED, 114 were 40 or younger. And of those, roughly half reported severe symptoms of impotence. When compared with older ED patients, those under 40 had a lower average body mass index (BMI), higher blood levels of the primary male sex hormone testosterone, and a significantly lower incidence of other medical conditions known to be associated with ED. While only 9.6 percent of the younger ED patients had comorbid conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, that percentage jumped to 41.7 percent among older ED patients. In another area of comparison, younger ED patients smoked and used illegal drugs more frequently than older patients.
Premature Ejaculation
In yet another comparison between younger and older ED patients, the Italian research team found that premature ejaculation was more widely reported among young patients. As to the degree of their ED symptoms, 48.8 percent of the younger patients reported severe symptoms, compared with only 40 percent among older patients. Little statistical difference was found in the rates of mild, mild-to-moderate, and moderate ED between younger and older patients.
Lead author Paolo Capogrosso, M.D., said that the study’s findings, along with those of other studies showing ED’s link to major diseases, underline “the importance of taking a comprehensive medical and sexual history and to perform a thorough physical examination in all men” with ED, regardless of age.
In comments reported by ScienceDaily.com, Irwin Goldstein, M.D., editor-in-chief of the “Journal of Sexual Medicine,” points out that the Italian study is the first research to show evidence of severe ED in men 40 and younger. “Clinically, when younger patients have presented with erectile dysfunction, we have in the past had a bias that their ED was primarily psychologic-based and vascular testing was not needed. We now need to consider regularly assessing the integrity of arterial inflow in young patients — identifying arterial pathology in such patients may be very relevant to their overall long-term health.”
In its painstaking analysis of the topics, words, and phrases seen most often in postings on the ED forum, Superdrug found that forum participants delve into deep-seated concerns of a personal nature. Among the topics most widely discussed by young posters are pornography and its adverse effects, if any; traumatic injury to the male genitalia; and requests for guidance about the significance of a wide variety of mysterious and frustrating symptoms.
Doctors Take Trend More Seriously
In a recent Inverse.com overview of the apparent increase in ED diagnoses among men under 40, writer Yasmin Tayag notes that doctors are beginning to look more seriously at young men who come to them complaining of ED symptoms. All too often in the past, such young men “were dismissed as suffering from a psychogenic problem or being drug seekers.”
Increasingly, writes Tayag, doctors are taking such complaints more seriously, not solely because of their impact on younger men’s sex lives but also because of the implications they have for their overall health. She points to a review published in a 2015 issue of the “Asian Journal of Andrology” showing that a significant number of young men reporting ED symptoms are suffering from some form of physical or organic disorder that is causing their impotence. Such disorders include problems linked to vascular, neurologic, or hormonal health.
Vitamin D Deficiency a Factor?
In a related article posted at the website of Huffpost Lifestyle United Kingdom, writer Rachel Moss reports on a Johns Hopkins study that showed men with a vitamin D deficiency are more likely to suffer from ED than those who get the recommended amount of the vitamin on a daily basis. Researchers concluded that men suffering from a vitamin D deficiency are 32 percent more likely to develop ED than men with adequate vitamin D levels.
Risk factors for a deficiency of the so-called sunshine vitamin include limited outside activity, darker skin, being obese or overweight, and suffering from certain inflammatory disorders, such as diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.
If you’re interested in reading more about erectile dysfunction and other topics of consumer health interest, check out our blog.
Photo credits: Miguel Angel, Cassy Kopp, Prayitno
Don Amerman is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics.
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