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Obesity / Weight Loss Story

Obesity and Impotence

There's good news and bad news for men suffering from impotence. The bad news, it appears that obesity is a significant contributing factor--a concern given the overall fattening of America. According to the authors of the new study, obesity contributes to sexual dysfunction in men in several different ways, most of them physical, not psychological. But the good news is that new research shows losing weight can reverse the problem. Experts hope the new findings will provide some extra added motivation to get America…at least, American males…to slim down.

The numbers are staggering by any account: 30 million American men suffer from some degree of impotence. More than half of all men over the age of 40 have some component of erectile dysfunction--e.d.-- And four out of every five men who report sexual dysfunction are either overweight or obese. There is no question fatness is contributing to the problem. Dr. Natan Barchama is a urologist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York who says, "Obesity often translates into hormonal abnormalities including testosterone levels which are important for fertility and libido and energy and bone mass, depression."

Certainly, impotence is a complicated physical and psychological issue. In addition to male hormone levels being a factor, normal function is dependent upon an intact cardiovascular system. Someone with problems such as diabetes, or high blood pressure, heart disease, or atherosclerosis in general will potentially have diminished blood flow and have problems with e.d. Obesity itself may affect the lining of the arteries, preventing them from opening up to allow more blood to flow to the groin area. "Obesity in its nature is also a cardiovascular abnormality. Therefore it affects not only the cardiovascular system, it affects sex." states Dr. Barchama.

The new research in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association excluded those with diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, among others, leaving obesity as the only remaining factor to study. Among those counseled on weight loss and exercise, there was a dramatic response. One out of every three men in the study who lost weight using diet and exercise regained their potency. All these men were considered obese based upon the body mass index calculation, or BMI. Normal is 25 and under, overweight is between 25 and 29, and obesity is 30 and above. The men who responded went from an average BMI of 37 to an average of 31. So it's not you have to become an intensely fit person, they were in fact still obese. But they lost enough body fat that they reversed the problem. The levels of blood proteins, including one called C-reactive protein, also fell with the weight loss. It's believed the proteins that dropped are involved in blocking the ability of the arteries to open up and provide blood flow to the groin area. "This is very positive news for obese men, if you lose weight and you become physically active will change the course of the disease. Hopefully by connecting or associating sex with losing weight will motivate some men to be more proactive." remarks Dr. Barchama.

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