Researchers from Austria and Egypt found that carrying "switched on" cell phones may lead to erectile dysfunction.
Men who carried around a "switched on" cell phone for more than 4 hours a day are more likely to become impotent and have problems performing in bed, according to a new study. A team of researchers from Egypt and Austria conducted a study on a group of 20 men who had complained of erectile dysfunction (ED) for at least six months (Group A), as well as another group of 10 healthy men with no history of ED (Group B).
Authors of the study said they then performed anamnesis, basic laboratory investigations and clinical examinations on these participants. Influencing factors like age, weight, height, and total testosterone were also accounted for. All the participants used cell phones for an equal number of hours.
At the end of the study researchers found that the men from Group A carried a "switched on" cell phone for more than 4.4 hours a day while men from group B carried such phones for only 1.8 hours daily.
"This prospective pilot study showed that there may be a relation between cell phone usage and erectile dysfunction (ED)," said lead study author Badereddin Mohamad, Al-Ali, via The Daily Mail. "Men with ED use their phones longer than men without ED [and] men who have ED carry their switched-on cell phones significantly longer than men who do not have ED. Our study showed the total time of exposure to the cell phone is much more important than the relatively short duration of intense exposure during phone calls."
A previous study on male infertility found that cell phone usage may negatively impact semen parameters in men.
Erectile dysfunction is the inability to attain or maintain a penile erection sufficient for successful sexual intercourse. It is a very common clinical condition that can affect up to 50 percent of men over 40 years old. Among the risk factors for ED are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia.
This current study was reported in the Central European Journal of Urology and recently featured in the Environmental Health Trust's newsletter.
