This text is taken from our newsletter “Coronavirus Mail” of May 16, 2022. To subscribe, click here.
It would seem so. Dozens of studies now point to erection problems as one of the plethora of bizarre symptoms that COVID-19 causes.
Very early in the pandemic, this problem appeared on the radar of doctors. A 2020 Italian study then spoke of a six times higher risk of suffering from this disorder after an infection.
According to a more recent study from the University of Miami, the risk of erectile problems would increase by 20% for someone who has contracted COVID-19.
Scientists actually see this as a consequence of a larger problem. This intimate evil would be in a way the alarm signal of a problem within the whole of the blood circulation of the patients. Scientists already agree on the harmful consequences of the coronavirus on the vascular and cardiac system.
“Physicians should be aware that if men complain of erectile dysfunction after an infection [au coronavirus]there could be an underlying vascular problem”, explained one of the specialists in the matter, Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, in a speech available online.
This complication sometimes lasts up to six months after an infection and could ultimately result in heart failure, he said, inviting doctors to follow up their patients more closely.
Other causes are also singled out by international research. The loss of smell and taste – strongly associated with sexual arousal – could play a role in the reduction of desire, in particular Italian researchers have noted.
Some studies highlight a significant drop in testosterone in sick patients to explain erectile dysfunction.
Whatever the cause, some advertising agents have used this argument to encourage people to get vaccinated.