Beware: Covid-19 can kill your sex life

 

Covid-19 is decimating the human population. This much we know and we can see. Now comes more troubling news: it could also decimate unborn generations.

Already more than 3.3 million people have died throughout the world due to Covid-19 and many more are expected to die over the months. Research now shows that Covid-19 can also cause erectile dysfunction (ED), which could have a devastating effect on population growth.

For a while now, we have been told that those who recover from the disease could suffer health issues, even over the long term.

According to the Mayo Clinic, most people recover completely within a few weeks but some people continue to suffer health issues after their initial recovery.

Although Mayo Clinic says much remains unknown about the long-term effects of Covid-19, it lists the following as possible signs and symptoms that linger over time:

• Fatigue;
• Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing;
• Cough;
• Joint pain;
• Chest pain;
• Memory, concentration or sleep problems;
• Muscle pain or headache;
• Fast or pounding heartbeat;
• Loss of smell or taste;
• Depression or anxiety;
• Fever;
• Dizziness when you stand; and
• Worsened symptoms after physical or mental activities

All the above are bad enough, but now, to make even the most stouthearted man go limp, comes another possible long-term effect: A study published in the World Journal of Men’s Health says Covid-19 could impair one’s manhood.

According to one of the authors of the study, Dr Ranjith Ramasamy of the University of Miami, men who have been infected with Covid-19 are beginning to complain about ED.

Ramasamy and colleagues found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was still present in penile tissue seven to nine months after infection.

“The Covid virus is present in the endothelial cells, which supply blood to the penis. We think the virus is affecting blood flow to the penis, causing erectile dysfunction,” the Miami New Times quotes Ramasamy as saying.

The researchers collected penile tissue from two men aged above 65 with a history of Covid-19 infection seven to nine months prior and tissue from two men with no history of the virus. One of the men with a Covid-19 history required hospitalisation but the other had a mild infection.

“Both men had ‘normal erectile function’ without the use of medications prior to their Covid infections,” the study says. But after getting the disease, they had severe ED and so underwent penile implant surgery.

In a healthy person, blood vessels expand and contract to allow blood flow but when the inner lining or wall of the blood vessels remain stiff, it disrupts blood supply to the penis, making it go soft.

The study claims to be the first to demonstrate the presence of the Covid-19 virus in the penis long after the initial infection.

It is possible that some may brush off this study as a tiny sampling that needs better corroboration. However, urologist Ramasamy told the Miami New Times that, apart from the two men in the study, he had seen patients as young as 40 suffering from post-Covid-19 ED.

This is not the only paper that discusses the connection between Covid-19’s long-term effects and erectile dysfunction.

The Journal of Endocrinological Investigation carried a paper earlier this year by Professor Dr Emmanuele A Jannini of the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and colleagues whose study found a definite connection between ED and Covid-19.

The researchers reviewed the results of an April 7 to May 4, 2020 online survey of 100 sexually active men, 25 of whom had tested positive for Covid-19. Those who had the disease were found to be 5.6 times more likely to have ED.

The researchers say: “Based on the presented evidence and on similarities to previous coronavirus diseases, ED could therefore be both a short‐term and a long‐term complication of Covid‐19.”

They warn: “Subjects with a sudden onset or worsening of ED might also consider precautionary quarantine or nasopharyngeal swab, as Covid‐19 might act as a potential initiating trigger for the onset of erectile impairment, or an aggravating factor for its progression to more severe forms.”

But, really, it doesn’t stop there as medical evidence shows ED is an early sign of heart disease.

This news is particularly troubling because more men than women seem to infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Epidemiological findings from various parts of the world indicate higher morbidity and mortality in males than females due to this disease.

But there’s definitely more at stake than just catching Covid-19 or landing in the hospital or loosing one’s ability to have sex. The danger, as I said earlier, is that Covid-19 may reduce the future population of the world too.

The best solution to the problem is to ensure we don’t catch Covid-19 and we can only do that if we take precautions such as staying home as much as possible for the next few weeks at least, wearing a mask whenever we are out, maintaining physical distancing at all times, and washing our hands with soap as frequently as needed. Health experts say vaccination can help too.

Looking at the risk of ED for those contracting Covid-19, I’m wondering what the situation will be like in Malaysia. In 2019, the health ministry reported that 1.7 million Malaysians above 40 had some degree of ED. I’m afraid the figure is set to go up and up following the Covid-19 pandemic if these small studies prove to be correct.

For the men, news that Covid-19 can cause ED is certainly a crippling blow below the belt from which they may not get up. I suspect even women won’t take it lying down. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect those of MMKtT.