Men Have Low Awareness of Erectile Dysfunction and Its Effects, Study Shows

A new survey conducted on 1,000 men aged over 40 reveals that just over ten per cent of men in their early 40s are aware that erectile dysfunction strikes regularly in the fourth decade even though evidences suggests that 40% of men aged 40 or over have some form of the condition.

The study, commissioned by Eli Lilly and Company Limited (Lilly UK) as part of a new erectile awareness campaign, also showed that most men are not aware that erections problems could be a warning sign of even serious conditions such as heart diseases and cancer.

This just justified that most men don't worry too much about their health, especially their sexual health, unless they can already see symptoms of long-term medical conditions.

Further, the survey shows that less than one fifth of men have visited their GP in the last 12 months, and that men in their 40s are likely to put off visits to their GP until they consider their symptoms to be long-term or worsening. But these men can be optimistic about finding a solution; 95% of ED cases can now be treated by the health care professional once reported.

The survey was commissioned as part of the new ED disease awareness campaign 40over40, from Lilly UK, which has been designed to educate men on the causes of ED and who it affects, and encourage them to seek help.

Low Testosterone Level May Increase Risk of Death in Men

According to a new study presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Francisco, men may not live as long if they have low testosterone regardless of their age. This study conducted from Germany adds to the scientific evidence linking deficiency of the male sex hormone with increased death from all causes over time, called "all-cause mortality".

This study should serve as a warning to several men with low testosterone to start a healthier lifestyle. They should have better routine when it comes to weight control, regular exercise and a healthy diet to avoid repercussions of their medical condition.

"It is very possible that lifestyle determines levels of testosterone," Robin Haring, lead author of the study and a PhD student from Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Institute for Community Medicine said.

In the study, Haring and co-workers looked at death from any cause in nearly 2,000 men aged 20 to 79 years who were living in northeast Germany and who participated in the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Follow-up averaged 7 years. At the beginning of the study, 5 percent of these men had low blood testosterone levels, defined as the lower end of the normal range for young adult men. The men with low testosterone were older, more obese, and had a greater prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure, compared with men who had higher testosterone levels, Haring said.

Men with low testosterone levels had more than 2.5 times greater risk of dying during the next 10 years compared to men with higher testosterone, the study found. This difference was not explained by age, smoking, alcohol intake, level of physical activity, or increased waist circumference (a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease), Haring said.

In cause-specific death analyses, low testosterone predicted increased risk of death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer but not death of any other single cause.

Coffee May Extend Your Life

A recent study conducted by several Spanish and American scientists reveals that drinking two to three cups of coffee a day does not increase risk of death. In fact, drinking both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee may be linked with a slightly reduced risk of death due to heart disease.

The study which was published in the June issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine was conducted by a team led by Dr. Esther Lopez-Garcia with the help of the US National Institutes of Health.

"Coffee consumption has been linked to various beneficial and detrimental health effects, but data on its relation with death were lacking," Dr. Lopez-Garcia said. "The possibility of a modest benefit of coffee consumption on heart disease, cancer, and other causes of death needs to be further investigated."

The study involved 84,214 women and 41,736 men, all of which are asked to fill up a questionaire every two to four years that included questions about their coffee consumption, other dietary habits, smoking status and their health. Lopez-Garcia and colleagues then looked at how different kinds of coffee drinking patterns correlated with frequency of death from any cause, from death due to heart disease, and from death due to cancer.

These data were then analyzed, showing the following results:

• Women who drank 2 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 25 per cent lower risk of death from heart disease over the follow up period (84,214 women from 1980 to 2004), compared with women who did not drink coffee.
• Women who drank 2 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day also had an 18 per cent lower risk of death from causes not related to cancer or heart disease, over the follow up period compared to women who did not drink coffee.
• Men who drank 2 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee a day showed no higher or lower risk of death during the follow up period, 41,736 men from 1986 to 2004) compared with men who did not drink coffee.
• During the follow up, 2,368 of the women died from heart disease, 5,011 from cancer, and 3,716 from other causes.
• 2,049 of the men died from heart disease, 2,491 from cancer, and 2,348 from other causes.
• Overall, taking into account other risk factors such as body size, smoking, diet, and some specific diseases, people who drank more coffee were less likely to die during the follow up period.
• The main reason for this was the lower risk of heart disease among the coffee drinkers.
• There was no link between coffee drinking and death due to cancer.
• In the main, there appeared to be no difference in the link to death rates between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, they both appeared to have the same link with lower death rates compared with people who did not drink any coffee at all.
• However, drinking decaffeinated coffee was linked to a small reduction in deaths from all causes and cardiovascular (CVD) diseases.

In conclusion, the study showed that regular coffee consumption may not be associated with an increased mortality rate. They also added that the positive benefits of coffee consumption on all-cause and mortality needs to be further investigated.

Adult Stem Cell Therapy For Erectile Dysfunction

A new experiment on stem cell research shows great promise for the technology on stem cell as a cure for erectile dysfunction on older men. According to a study being conducted by several researchers from the American Urological Association, headed by Dr. Tom Lue, it is possible for a autologous adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) to be used to regenerate erectile function.

In adipose tissue there are stem cells as demonstrated by immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blotting experiments. The adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) reside near small blood vessels. CD34 staining identifies 60% of peri-vascular areas as harboring ADSCs. It occurs in new blood vessels, and is a sign of regeneration. ADSCs can be harvested by liposuction or fat excision. Adipose cells are digested and ADSCs are cultured for further induction, labeling or gene transfection. ADSCs can also be used for in vivo tissue engineering. In vitro induction can result in hepatocytes, beta cells to produce insulin or endothelial cells. In vivo, ADSCs placed in muscle can differentiate into skeletal muscle, placed near blood vessels become smooth muscle and in fat can become fat cells. The differentiate into component cell types and integrate into the tissue. Four weeks after injection of ADSCs following cavernous nerve crush injury in a rat model, there is return of function.

A study showed injection of umbilical cord blood stem cells into men having failed PDE5 inhibitors resulted in improved erectile function. This is only a pilot experiment, but shows great promise.

These results were presented by Dr. Lue at the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association held at Orlando, Florida las May 2008.

Stomach Surgery May Save Sex Life of Obese Men

According to a research recently presented at the 103rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association, losing weight may actually help resolve erectile dysfunction in obese men. This after finding out that morbid obesity can cause sexual dysfunction independent of other common confounders such as diabetes, hypertension and smoking.

In this study, several obese men who underwent gastric bypass surgery for them to lose weight found out that their sexual function was normalized after the operation.

"This study shows that weight loss and other risk factors which are alleviated by weight loss may be keys to restoring sexual function," said Anthony Y. Smith, M.D. "These results give men another reason to improve their health by losing weight."

For this study, 95 patients who are about to undergo gastric bypass surgery for weight loss were asked to complete the Brief Sexual Inventory (BSI) pre- and post-operatively. On average, BSI scores improved in all categories, including sexual drive, erectile function, ejaculatory function, problem assessment and sexual satisfaction. The amount of weight lost predicted the degree of improvement in all areas of the survey.

Gastric bypass surgery, a procedure that reduces the body's caloric intake, can be used to induce significant weight loss in the obese. Calorie reduction is accomplished by making the stomach smaller and bypassing part of the stomach and small intestines so that fewer calories are absorbed. The patient feels full faster and learns to reduce the amount of food that he/she eats.