CHICAGO,
Illinois (Reuters) -- Obese men with difficulties in getting
an erection can improve their sexual function by exercising
and losing weight, Italian researchers have said.
Of 110 men attending a weight loss clinic, half undertook
an intensive program and those who exercised more each day
and lost more weight scored better on a measure of erectile
function two years later.
"Our data demonstrate that lifestyle changes, including a
reduced calorie diet and increased exercise, improve erectile
function in obese men and resulted in about one-third of men
with erectile dysfunction regaining sexual function after
treatment," wrote study author Katherine Esposito of the Center
for Obesity Management, Second University of Naples, Italy.
Improving blood circulation, a benefit to overall cardiovascular
health, was the main reason cited for higher scores on erectile
function tests, Esposito wrote in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
The second group of men received only general advice about
healthy food choices and exercising and they scored just as
poorly as before.
About 30 million American men have erectile dysfunction, which
affects an estimated 12 percent of men younger than 59 and
30 percent older than 69.
CHICAGO,
Illinois (Reuters) -- Obese men with difficulties in getting
an erection can improve their sexual function by exercising
and losing weight, Italian researchers have said.
