Impotence and physical activity

Impotence and physical activity:
Men can reduce their risk of developing impotence by burning at least 200 calories a day during physical activity — the equivalent of a brisk, 2-mile walk, a new study indicates.

Carol A. Derby, Ph.D., of the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Mass., and colleagues analyzed data gathered on the health and lifestyles of nearly 600 men as part of the Massachusetts Male Aging Study.

They found that men who began exercising regularly during the study, or who continued to do so throughout, reduced their risk of becoming impotent.

Men in the study ranged in age from 40 to 70. At the start of the research, none was impotent or had prostate cancer, and none was being treated for heart disease or diabetes, conditions associated with impotence.

The men were questioned again after more than 8 years. The researchers found that 31 percent of sedentary men who remained inactive developed impotence, also known as erectile dysfunction (ED), while just 9 percent of sedentary men who became active developed impotence.

The type of physical activity was important and participants who exercised most vigorously reduced their risk of impotence the most. However, the authors say more study is needed to confirm their findings.

The men who were obese at the start of the research had a higher risk of developing impotence even if they had lost weight, the researchers found. Heavy drinkers who reduced alcohol intake and men who stopped smoking did not reduce their risk.

Co-author Irwin Goldstein, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine, says the study, published in the August issue of Urology, is an important advance in the quest to maintain potency. "For the millennia, there've been chicken soup and rhinoceros horn powder as ways to maintain potency," he says. "This is the first ever longitudinal population study looking at prevention."

Physical activity has long been associated with a lower risk of heart and blood vessel disease, and increased blood flow may be a reason. Exercise may help lower the risk of impotence in a similar manner, the researchers note.

Michael L. Blute, M.D., a urologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., says the study provides a lesson for young and middle-aged men.

"The positive news is that adopting a more active lifestyle at middle age can lessen the risk of ED," he says. "However the damage caused by smoking and alcohol may be irreversible by middle age.

"These findings seem to be logical or obvious, but this study provides scientific evidence that early adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors have a long-term beneficial effect on erectile function."

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