Statins are associated with erectile dysfunction

This study was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice 2006 Feb;60(2):141-5

 

Study title and authors:

Erectile dysfunction and statin treatment in high cardiovascular risk patients.

Solomon H, Samarasinghe YP, Feher MD, Man J, Rivas-Toro H, Lumb PJ, Wierzbicki AS, Jackson G.

Department of Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Centre, St. Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace Road, London, UK.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16451283

This study investigated the relationship between statins and erectile dysfunction.  In this study, International Index of Erectile Function (a measure of erectile functioning, where higher scores indicate better functioning) scores were measured in 93 men attending cardiovascular risk clinics.

The study found:
(a) Prior to statin therapy, the average International Index of Erectile Function score was 21.
(b) After statin therapy, International Index of Erectile Function scores were reduced to 6.5.
(c) After statin therapy 22% of the men experienced new onset erectile dysfunction.

This study reveals that statins are associated with erectile dysfunction.