Painkillers may cause erectile dysfunction

Men who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen, more than three times a day for more than three months are 2.4 times more likely to have erectile dysfunction compared to men who do not usually take these drugs regularly. This was revealed by a study published in The Journal of Urology. For this study we used information from 80.966 men of different races. Of the total participants, 47.4% were not considered as users of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, for its acronym in English). After looking at factors such as age, race, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease and body mass index, researchers found that erectile dysfunction was consistently 1.4 times more likely among regular users of NSAIDs.

"Honestly, this finding was a surprise because we thought that NSAIDs protect against erectile dysfunction the same way or similar mechanisms and protect against heart disease, Dr. Steven J. Jacobsen, author of the study and director of research for Kaiser Permanente of Southern California. "So if our findings are not due to hidden conditions that we have not covered, this may point to a mechanism that could yield new ways of analyzing the causes of erectile dysfunction." At least, Jacobsen hopes that this study provides a stimulus to men to discuss the risk of erectile dysfunction with their doctors. Jacobsen says that NSAIDs are beneficial in preventing heart disease and other chronic conditions, so that men with erectile dysfunction should not stop taking them just for the results of this recent study. Instead, the expert suggests that those who suffer from sexual problem, talk with their doctors first.