Does metformin help or cause Erectile Dysfunction (ED). We look through a few studies to determine if metformin helps prevent ED or in some cases may contribute to ED.
Hi this is josh i’m the pharmacist with pharmacist tips.com here to discuss a common question i get on my youtube channel as well as my website ken metformin contribute to idi does metformin cause erectile dysfunction maybe i was always quick to say no it actually can prevent it and i still believe it’s more beneficial than not but in certain cases it can contribute
To erectile dysfunction so some of the main causes of erectile dysfunction of course insulin resistance high cholesterol high cholesterol can lead to narrowing of the arteries high blood pressure or hypertension diabetes level of testosterone in the male body that can contribute as well as lifestyle of course we know like smoking and sedentary lifestyle just
You know the body can’t function like it’s supposed to if we don’t take care of it and again metformin does still seem to be more beneficial than detrimental when we take when we’re talking about erectile dysfunction so we’re gonna look at three different journal articles i’ve pulled on the subject the links will be in the video description below so you can check
Those out if you want to read more about it first one is from the journal of tau andrology and urology journal they identified three main causes major mechanisms have been identified causing edie first one is can the blood vessels dilate properly of course to allow blood flow the other one can the nervous system react appropriately to allow proper function and then
The other one are the blood vessels narrowing so in addition it says insulin resistance is contributing to this which we kind of discussed already including obesity dis lipedema high cholesterol diabetes and hypertension or high blood pressure now they found metformin improves two of the three main mechanisms two of those three pathways helping the blood vessels
React properly as well as the nervous system provide an appropriate response to stimulation does not have a effect on blood pressure so there they’re finding that yes metformin has positive effects which only makes sense diabetes high continual high blood sugars really wreaks havoc on the body especially those smaller blood vessels that are important for erectile
Function okay we look at another one here from the journal of current vascular pharmacology often times hand-in-hand with diabetes we see coronary heart disease they just they’re related diabetes probably causes it does cause coronary heart disease so and of course we know smoking blood pressure diabetes high cholesterol all contribute to erectile dysfunction and
Because the blood vessels cannot react properly so what did they find in this study it was interesting certain blood pressure medications like the water pills or beta blockers like metoprolol propranolol some of those can cause some erectile dysfunction but some of the other ones like the renin-angiotensin system inhibitors those would be medications like lisinopril
Losartan and then calcium channel blockers like amlodipine they have a neutral effect on erectile function and then they the hypoglycemic drugs or diabetes medications metformin and pioglitazone pioglitazone generic for actos presented favor of favorable results again so we see that improvement in high blood sugar of course erectile function is going to improve
Statins cholesterol medications they think that may contribute a detrimental role so that’s something to consider as well for me this just points out we really i mean if you’re not willing to live with the side effects of diabetes you really need to take control of your diet and lifestyle i’ve you know i see people with diabetes every day in the pharmacy that
Is my motivator to exercise every day to really kind of watch my diet i mean medications help and you can control diabetes really well with medications but it’s even better if you can get it under control with diet and lifestyle you know that’s something you have to talk to your doctor about but really think about the poor food choices or deciding not to exercise
You have to live with the potential side effects that can occur such as erectile dysfunction so here is the one that was interesting showing metformin could contribute to erectile dysfunction this is from the journal of clinical diagnosis and research erectile dysfunction low sex drive what they found is metformin can lead to significant reduction in testosterone
Levels so that that’s something to consider whereas so faunal ureas i cover those in my diabetes medication video is check that out if you want to read more about this so finally areas they actually can help improve testosterone levels so that’s something to keep in mind they are sometimes used in conjunction with metformin so that’s something you could talk to your
Doctor about another important thing for testosterone is weight just losing excess weight that it seems the adipose tissue or the fat tissue can almost act like a sponge and reduce the amount of circulating testosterone in the body so another opportunity for us to consider lifestyle changes to improve our overall health so i hope you found this video interesting
Give you some information to go talk to your doctor about if you feel like you’re having id issues with your diabetes or diabetes medications just remember there are many factors and you talk to your doctor if you feel like your medicine is contributing to them for all to me it still looks like metformin is probably better to take than not to take especially if
You have diabetes your but again that would be a conversation you can have with your doctor and ask questions in the comments if you have any questions and subscribe to my channel if you appreciate this information thanks for watching
Transcribed from video
Can Metformin cause ED By Pharmacist Tips