A new study has found that a modest weight loss could improve erectile function and sexual desire, and lower urinary tract symptoms in obese men with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers led by Professor Gary Wittert, MBBch, MD, FRACP, FRCP, of the University of Adelaide studied 31 obese men with type 2 diabetes over 8 weeks.
The men received either a meal replacement-based low-calorie diet or a low-fat, high-protein, reduced-carbohydrate diet prescribed to decrease intake by 600 calories a day.
The results found that a modest weight loss of 5 percent resulted in a rapid reversal of sexual and urinary problem, within 8 weeks, and the improvement continued out to 12 months in obese men with type 2 diabetes.
“Our findings are consistent with the evidence that not only erectile function, but also lower urinary tract symptoms are a marker of cardio-metabolic risk,” Wittert said.
“The evidence that improvement can be achieved by modest weight loss, in particular when a diet is of high nutritional quality, is of public health significance in framing public health messages that resonate with men,” he added.
The study was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Reference:
Khoo, J., Piantadosi, C., Duncan, R., Worthley, S. G., Jenkins, A., Noakes, M., Worthley, M. I., Lange, K. and Wittert, G. A. (2011), Comparing Effects of a Low-energy Diet and a High-protein Low-fat Diet on Sexual and Endothelial Function, Urinary Tract Symptoms, and Inflammation in Obese Diabetic Men. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02417.x
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