A new study has investigated the association between the complexity of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D.
The study found that men with low vitamin D levels were more likely to suffer from ED, or sexual impotence, making it one of the potential risk factors of ED.
The study, published in a peer-reviewed medical journal called Andrologia, was conducted on 130 men who had ED from 2018 to 2019. The average age of the participants was 50 years.
The participants were divided into three groups. Group 1 had 44 patients with severe ED, group 2 had 56 patients with moderate ED, and group 3 had 30 patients with mild ED.
The study researchers investigated the cut‐off level of serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D for men with ED. They identified a significant difference between the groups and serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D levels.
The researchers analyzed the international index of erectile function‐5 (IIEF-5) scores, serum testosterone, and serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D levels of all the participants.
A cut-off level for serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D was 27.32 ng/ml.
The researchers found a positive correlation between the IIEF‐5 scores, serum testosterone, and serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D levels.
During multivariate analysis, they found that serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D levels were independent prognostic risk factors for decreased IIEF‐5 scores.
Men who have decreased serum 25‐hydroxy vitamin D levels were found to have decreased IIEF‐5 scores, suggesting that vitamin D deficiency is one of the novel risk factors of ED.
The researchers believe that vitamin D replacement therapy could improve the symptoms of ED.
ED is one of the most common sexual disorders characterized by the inability to attain or sustain an erection hard and long enough for sexual performance.
As many as 30 million in the United States have ED, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A Massachusetts study data has suggested there will be more than 617,700 ED cases in the United States annually. Physicians usually recommend drugs like sildenafil (Viagra) or tadalafil (Cialis) to treat ED, which belong to the class of drugs called PDE5 inhibitors.
