Study shows exercise can have a positive effect on erectile dysfunction as a side effect of prostate cancer treatment.
- A new long-term clinical trial has revealed a therapy to combat the erectile dysfunction experienced by most men with prostate cancer.
- According to researchers, physical exercise improves patients’ sex lives.
- Experts recommend sport as an integral part of the fight against prostate cancer.
A new clinical trial could help combat one of the inconveniences of prostate cancer treatment: sexual dysfunction.
Indeed, while it is a common, distressing and persistent side effect of prostate cancer treatment, researchers have demonstrated that physical exercise can help restore sexual function while improving the general health of affected patients.
The results of their work were presented to theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology Breakthrough Meeting in Japan.
Prostate cancer disrupts men’s sex lives
Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor developed from cells of the prostate, a gland of the male reproductive system, recalls the‘Health Insurance. It is the most common cancer in men. Treatment consists of surgery,a total prostatectomy which corresponds to the surgical removal of the prostate and adjacent lymph nodes.
However, this surgery can expose you to risks and side effects:infection and bleeding but also erectile dysfunction, permanent loss of ejaculation and transient urinary leakage“, indicates the Foundation for Cancer Research (Bow)
Professor Daniel Galvao, director of the Exercise Medicine Research Institute (EMRI) at ECU and leader of the study, said that almost half of prostate cancer patients report having unmet sexual health needs.
Sport could improve their quality of life: “Our study shows that these patients can immediately benefit from supervised exercise to improve their sexual health.”
Prostate cancer: Physical exercise is recommended to improve sexual intercourse
To reach this conclusion, scientists followed more than 100 patients with prostate cancer for four years, whom they divided into three groups.
One group underwent supervised resistance and aerobic exercise, while another followed the same exercise program but also received psychosexual therapy. Psychosexual therapy consisted of a brief intervention focusing on psychological and sexual well-being, the authors detail. The third group received standard treatment without any exercise or therapy component.
According to the authors, psychosexual therapy led to no improvement in erectile function or sexual satisfaction, whereas patients who exercised reported marked improvement in both. case.
Anne Savage, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, said that the organization hoped to see the results quickly put into practice. “This research is a call to action for men and their partners affected by prostate cancer and reinforces the recommendation that exercise should be routinely prescribed to men affected by the disease” she said.
