About one third of older men who are impotent (men with erectile dysfunction) will experience natural remission, with symptoms becoming less severe but not necessarily going away completely, research suggests. However, they also estimated another third will experience a worsening this condition over time.

Erectile dysfunction, which affects more than 150 million men, has received increased attention in recent years due to its high prevalence and the development of effective treatments, such as Viagra, doctors note in The Journal of Urology.

However, little is known about the natural course of erectile dysfunction after onset. To investigate, researchers analyzed data for 401 men between 40 and 70 years old with varying degrees of erectile dysfunction who were followed for about 9 years as part of the longitudinal Massachusetts Male Aging Study.

Dr. Thomas G. Travison from New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts told Reuters Health “the key and most surprising” observation was the proportion of men who exhibited natural erectile dysfunction remission. Symptoms of erectile dysfunction improved during follow-up in a total of 141 men or 35 percent.

However, of 323 subjects with minimal or moderate erectile dysfunction, 107 (33 percent) experienced a worsening of erectile dysfunction symptoms. Of 78 men with complete erectile dysfunction, 45 (58 percent) still had complete erectile dysfunction at the end of follow-up.

The chance of remission seemed to decline with age and be lower among heavier subjects…This agrees with results from other groups who have targeted obese men for intervention,” Travison told Reuters Health.

Additionally, smoking and poorer general health were associated with worsening of erectile dysfunction symptoms.

“The most important implication of this work,” Travison noted, “is that it confirms that maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle as one gets older is critical for maintaining, and in some cases improving, male sexual function.”

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SOURCE: The Journal of Urology, January 2007.