effects of obesity on erectile dysfunction

by Janet Casperson, BS, MSN, ANP-C

Obesity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction.

Human beings are meant to eat a hypocaloric or very low-calorie diet. In other words, we're not meant to eat every day; our bodies are created to get along with long periods of fasting when food is not available.

It's only recently that we've had an abundance of foods available at all times, particularly in western nations. We now eat every day and we eat until we're full. This behavior has contributed to the obesity epidemic.

Definition of obesity

Obesity is defined as weight greater than 20% above the above the recommended weight for height and age. The impressive new research on obesity has demonstrated that there are several different types of obesity. People may be identified as having "pear" or "apple"-shaped body configurations, that is, carrying fat centrally (around the middle) in the apple-shape or peripherally (in the hips) in the pear-shape.

The fat that we see in many men with large "beer bellies" is what's called visceral fat. This fat actually almost acts as a separate organ system and spews out many substances that create a very unfavorable situation in our cardiovascular systems. There was an old saying that said, "Fat around the middle is fat around the heart". Having a large amount of this visceral adiposity makes our bodies insulin resistant and therefore, our bodies release more insulin. When more insulin is released, appetite is increased, we eat more and it becomes a vicious cycle.

An Italian study documented that even modest weight loss can restore erectile dysfunction; we have seen that demonstrated in our clinical practice over and over again.

References: See Bibliography

August 2006
Posted August 2008
Updated August 2009