A habit you (probably) have every day increases your risk of erectile dysfunction

Spending a lot of time on the computer can bring several harms, and according to a study published in Andrology last week, one of them is erectile dysfunction.

Basically, sitting every day affects performance and functionality, and researchers advise that do physical activities may help to overcome the problem.

To arrive at this idea, a group of scientists from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (China) reviewed data from 220 thousand peoplepresented in previously published manuscripts and sought the relationship between genes, habits and erectile dysfunction.

As suggested by the article, time spent on the computer is directly equivalent to the odds of dysfunction, so a 72 minute increase increases this risk by three times.

Sperm reduction

Another conclusion of the authors is that spending more time in front of the computer reduces the levels of the hormone responsible for stimulating sperm production.

However, the study has not yet been able to come up with a concrete demonstration of why the drop in this hormone can affect erectile function. For now, the theory put forward is that lower levels could indirectly prevent the release of testosterone.

Other similar activities

However, other similar activities, such as spending a lot of time watching television, did not show these same consequences.

Therefore, researchers intend to further study the relationship between passing too much time on the computer and erectile dysfunction, precisely to understand which factors of the activity in question are responsible for this side effect.

Spending too much time sitting is harmful

Scientific literature has already helped to discover several harms of spending a lot of time sitting, mainly under the argument that muscles are important in regulating blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and cannot contract and function properly when you have a sedentary lifestyle.

There is no way to escape this situation, in a context where many people work sitting down. However, walking (even a little) can reduce the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

The Ministry of Health warns that one in every 50 men up to 40 years old has erectile dysfunction, while one in four over the age of 65 has this problem. The Ministry defines it as “the persistent inability to obtain and maintain an erection sufficient to allow satisfactory sexual activity”.