Stop the pills, boys... or it may lead to erectile dysfunction, says a new study

Stop the pills, boys... or it may lead to erectile dysfunction, says a new study

    The habit of popping several pills daily, be it antidepressants or antipsycotic drugs, could hit your bedroom performance and send it plummeting to zero, a new research has found. The study which was done by a department at the California Men’s Health Study, surveyed 37,712 men who popped pills everyday, and found that this habit could result in severe erectile dysfunction (ED).
    The research investigated men who took more than three medications, and found that 29% were reported to have moderate or severe ED. The study included multi-ethnic men aged between 46 and 69 years. Besides the number of medications, ED was associated
with older age, higher body mass index, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, depression and being a current or past smoker, the report found.
    “Clinically, the findings suggest that a crucial step in the evaluation of ED would be to review the current medications the patient is taking and their potential side effects,” said Diana C Londono, lead author and uroglogist at the centre.
    The most common medications associated with ED include certain antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs and any medication which can interfere with testosterone pathways. Researchers found that 57% of men took more than three medications. In this, the use of multiple medications was the greatest among older age groups, with 53% of men aged 50 to 59 years and 66% men aged 60 to 70 years taking at least three medications.
    Erectile dysfunction is a problem that affects a significant number of men worldwide, and previous studies have shown that 35% of men over the age of 60 suffer from ED.