Daily use of e-cigarettes could double men’s risk of suffering from erectile dysfunction.
- Compared to non-users of the electronic cigarette, men aged 20 to 65 who use it daily have a risk of between 2.2 and 2.4 times greater of suffering from erectile dysfunction.
- The practice of a sports activity can however reduce this risk.
As in smokers, erectile dysfunction is twice as common among electronic cigarette users.
This is the conclusion reached by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in a study published online in theAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine. According to this new work, men aged 20 to 65 with no history of cardiovascular disease but who use e-cigarettes daily are 2.4 times more likely than men who have never used one to report a erectile dysfunction.
“Since many people use e-cigarettes as a form of tobacco harm reduction or to help them quit smoking, we need to study in detail the relationship between vaping products and erectile dysfunction, as well as the potential implications for men’s sexual health”says Omar El Shahawy, assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone and lead author of the study. According to him, he is “possible that daily vaping of e-cigarettes is associated with a higher likelihood of erectile dysfunction, independent of smoking history.”
A risk of erectile dysfunction up to 2.4 times greater
The researchers followed 13,711 men aged 20 and older, and also looked at a small sample of 11,207 adult men aged 20 to 65 who had never been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Respondents were categorized as never using, vaping, or currently vaping (occasionally or daily). Almost half of the participants were former cigarette smokers, 21% were current cigarette smokers and 14% used other tobacco products.
Compared to those who had never used an e-cigarette, daily users were more than twice as likely to report having erectile dysfunction (2.2 times in the full sample and 2.4 times in the sample restricted).
In the restricted sample, 10.2% of respondents declared erectile dysfunction. 5.5% reported occasional e-cigarette use, while 2.5% reported daily use. Compared to those who say they never use one, daily e-cigarette users are therefore more likely to report erectile dysfunction, both in the full sample and in the restricted sample.
The researchers note, however, that the practice of physical activity reduced this risk in both samples.
They now want to better understand whether certain types of electronic nicotine delivery devices are more strongly associated with erectile dysfunction, and whether these disorders may be reversible if one stops using them.
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