HMN 2025: How High blood sugar could have a damaging influence on males’s sexual well being

Metabolic well being components, together with small will increase in blood sugar, are the primary drivers of change within the reproductive programs and sexual functioning of ageing males, in keeping with a research being introduced Saturday at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual assembly in San Francisco, Calif.

“Although age and testosterone ranges have lengthy been thought of an impetus for males’s declining sexual well being, our analysis signifies that these modifications extra carefully correlate with modest will increase in blood sugar and different metabolic modifications,” stated Michael Zitzmann, M.D., Ph.D., professor and physician of drugs at University Hospital in Muenster, Germany. “This implies that males can take steps to protect or revive their reproductive well being with life-style decisions and acceptable medical interventions.”

These conclusions comply with a long-term study of wholesome males (with out diabetes mellitus, coronary heart illness and/or cancer) aged 18–85 that started in 2014 with 200 individuals and concluded in 2020 with 117 individuals. Researchers studied progressive modifications in individuals’ semen and hormonal profiles, erectile functioning and metabolic well being (BMI and blood sugar ranges marked by the HbA1c check).

Findings indicated that over time hormone ranges and semen parameters stayed largely inside regular ranges. However, sperm motion and erectile perform declined in males with minimally elevated blood sugar ranges that had been beneath the 6.5% HbA1c diabetes threshold. The study additionally discovered that whereas testosterone ranges didn’t have a direct influence on erectile perform, they did correlate with individuals’ libido evaluation.

“We’re hopeful that the knowledge gleaned from this study will assist medical doctors and their sufferers formulate efficient male sexual well being upkeep plans,” Zitzmann added. “We now know that it is in our energy to retain sexual and reproductive well-being in males, at the same time as they age.”

This analysis was carried out as a part of the FAME 2.0 study.