Treatments for ED include pills, such as Viagra (sildenafil), Cialis (tadalafil), and Levitra (vardenafil). You can’t reverse damage to nerves and blood vessels in your penis, but you can prevent further damage by lowering your A1C, says urologist Ajay Nangia, bacholor of medicine and bachelor of surgery, a professor of urology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. It also narrows the penis’s blood vessels so you don’t get enough blood to the penis for an erection. High blood glucose damages nerves, meaning the “let’s have sex” signal doesn’t make it to the penis. A study published in July 2017 in the journal Diabetic Medicine offers clues on the prevalence of this issue: Men with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to have ED than men without diabetes. Why Aren’t My Erections Like They Used to Be?įor years, it has been well known that erectile dysfunction (ED) is more common in men who have diabetes. “For a lot of people, their sexual life is important,” says Evan Sisson, PharmD, CDE, an associate professor at the school of pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, adding that checkups should leave time for an open conversation about a patient’s sexual life and concerns.
After all, high blood glucose affects your whole body, even your most private parts. You’ve probably heard that having diabetes can impact sex.
