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A
major new study of American males suggests regular exercise and a
healthy diet may help banish impotence and the heart disease that
often accompanies it.
"Lifestyle
intervention, such as exercise and diet, may be an effective
treatment for Erectile Dysfunction," said study author Elizabeth
Selvin, a research fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health in Baltimore.
"Erectile
Dysfunction varies by age, with 5 percent of men aged 20 to 40 having
ED, to 70 percent of men 70 and older," she noted. In fact, the
study suggests that about 18 million American men are affected by
erectile difficulties.
Erectile
Dysfunction is especially prevalent among men with high
blood pressure,
diabetes
and other cardiovascular risk factors, Selvin said. Her team
collected data on ED from more than 2,200 adult men, all participants
in the U.S. federal government's 2001-2002 National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
"The
results suggest that in men with Erectile Dysfunction, screening for
cardiac risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension may be
warranted," Selvin said. "The converse [is also true], that
screening for ED in men with hypertension or diabetes should be
considered," she added. In fact, she said, "we found ED in
50 percent of men with type 2 diabetes” (Elizabeth Selvin, a
research fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in
Baltimore).
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