Weight loss key for obese men with ED

LOS ANGELES, June 23 (UPI) -- California researchers have found that obese men with erectile dysfunction often regain sexual function after weight loss, ABC News reported Wednesday.

Christopher S. Saigal, a urologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, said his study shows that one third of obese men with ED regained sexual function after two years of treatment at a weight loss clinic.

Saigal's work, summarized in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, reports that out of a group of 55 obese men between the ages of 35 and 55 who had erectile dysfunction, 17 men regained sexual function after two years of intensive help at a weight loss clinic.

The successful men boosted their physical activity from an average of 48 minutes of exercise a week to three hours of exercise a week.

And by adopting a low-calorie diet, they also reduced their body mass index from an average of 37 to 31, far better than the control group.