Increased risk of erectile dysfunction with irritable bowel syndrome

Last Updated: 2015-10-30

By Will Boggs MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) face an increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), researchers from Taiwan report.

"We knew irritable bowel syndrome was associated with organic erectile dysfunction; however, it's surprising IBS is also associated with psychogenic erectile dysfunction," Dr. Chia-Hung Kao from College of Medicine, China Medical University, in Taichung told Reuters Health by email.

An earlier study reported that men with IBS had a three-fold increase in the risk of organic ED, and both IBS and psychogenic ED have been related to emotional or psychological diseases.

Dr. Kao and colleagues investigated the association between IBS and organic and psychogenic ED using data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program. They compared rates for 15,533 men with IBS and more than 62,000 men without IBS.

The cumulative incidence of organic ED was significantly higher in the IBS group (26.6 per 10,000 person-years) than in the non-IBS group (10.1 per 10,000 person-years), the team reports in the International Journal of Impotence Research, online October 8.

The age-specific hazard of organic ED associated with IBS was 3.12-fold higher in the youngest group (<=49 years) and 84% higher in the oldest group (>=65 years).

Psychogenic ED was also significantly more common in the IBS group (a cumulative incidence of 3.17 per 10,000 person-years) than in the non-IBS group (1.08 per 10,000 person-years) and showed a similar age-related pattern.

Other factors associated with an increased risk of organic ED included increasing age, higher income, living in urbanized areas, and the comorbidities chronic kidney disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and the use of antihypertensive drugs, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines. Higher income and living in urbanized areas increased the risk of psychogenic ED.

"Not only organic but also psychogenic ED should be considered when patients with IBS complain of ED," Dr. Kao concluded.

"To treat ED patients with IBS, lifestyle modification such as diet control is very important," Dr. Kao added. "For the psychogenic ED patients with IBS, psychological diseases such as anxiety or depression should be surveyed."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1XEs7lj

Int J Impotence Res 2015.