*They call for vaccination to avoid the condition
Although scientists have discovered that the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus leaves peculiar after-effects in some people, such as a decrease in smell and taste, as well as fatigue or difficulty breathing normally, scientists have analyzed the relationship between COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction since there is a possibility that the disease is having effects on male reproductive organs.
Hundreds of medical articles by scientists in Europe and North America, as well as in Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Thailand, speak of a connection between COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction.
Variations in the magnitude of the problem are diverse. According to an article by Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, director of reproductive urology at the Desai Sethi Institute of Urology at the University of Miami, he and his colleagues found that the risk of erectile dysfunction increased by 20 percent after battling Covid, but other researchers have reported increases greater than that.
When patients started coming to Dr. Ramasamy's clinic complaining of erection problems, "we dismissed it, thinking it was all psychological or stress-induced," he said.
But over time, he said, he and other doctors began to see a pattern related to COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction. “Six months after the initial infection, patients were generally better, but they continued to complain of these problems,” including erectile dysfunction and low sperm count.
A study conducted by the Division of Endocrinology and Medical Sexology of the Department of Medicine at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, details that in addition to pathophysiological mechanisms such as psychological state, age, Body Mass Index and cardiovascular diseases, erectile dysfunction "may possibly occur after developing COVID-19."
When she compared men who had been sick with COVID versus those who had not, she found that those who had been infected were nearly six times more likely to report impotence than those who had avoided the coronavirus.
“Communicating that the disease can affect your sex life is a tremendously powerful message,” especially for men who remain resistant to vaccination, Dr. Jannini said in an interview according to The New York Times. “The evidence is very strong.”
In this regard, he noted that, contrary to popular belief, universal vaccination against COVID-19 and personal protective equipment "could possibly have the added benefit of preventing sexual dysfunctions."
It is noteworthy that research from imaging scans and biopsies indicates that the coronavirus can infect tissue within the male genital tract, where it can remain long after the initial infection.
The studies are not conclusive, as researchers suggest that it is still too early to confirm that there is a specific link between COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction, since psychological and physiological factors are at play that were heightened during the pandemic, which produced social isolation, increased anxiety and depression.
In view of this, specialists call for the use of the vaccine against the virus to avoid the disease.
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