By Will Boggs, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Thyroid disorders are
associated with a variety of sexual symptoms in men, according
to a new report.
Dr. Emmanuele A. Jannini from University of L’Aquila,
Italy, and associates looked into the prevalence of sexual
difficulties in 48 adult male patients with either underactive
or overactive thyroid conditions, before and after they
recovered.
Based on interviews with the 34 men with hyperthyroidism
(overactive thyroid), 18 percent had below-normal sexual
desire, 3 percent had delayed ejaculation, 50 percent had
premature ejaculation, and 15 percent had erectile dysfunction.
Among the 14 men with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid),
64 percent had low sexual desire, delayed ejaculation, or
erectile dysfunction, while 7 percent suffered from premature
ejaculation, the researchers report in the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism.
When patients with hyperthyroidism were treated for the
condition, the rate of premature ejaculation fell from 50
percent to 15 percent — a figure similar to that found in the
general population, the report indicates. Low sexual desire and
delayed ejaculation resolved with treatment in most of these
patients.
Delayed ejaculation resolved in half of the hypothyroid men
after treatment, the researchers note. Erectile dysfunction
almost disappeared in these patients, and low sexual desire
improved significantly.
All men with overactive or underactive thyroid “must be
evaluated for their sexual function,” Jannini told Reuters
Health. He suggested that doctors ask men three questions: (1)
During the thyroid disease did your desire change? (2) Did your
ability to have and to maintain the erection change? (3) Did
your ability to control ejaculation or to ejaculate change?
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,
December 2005.
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