“Anything that could affect the ability of the artery to effectively deliver sufficient blood supply to create an erection could lead to erectile dysfunction."
Dr. Ryan Berglund, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic has told the
LA Times that erectile dysfunction could be a symptom of Long Covid however at the moment "the scale of the problem" is unknown.
The Doctor said that while it has not been proven that Covid-19 causes erectile dysfunction, there is anecdotal evidence, adding: “We don’t know the scale of the problem at this point.”
He said that observational studies need to be conducted, however, they "haven’t gotten to yet."
“It’s also the blood vessels themselves that can become inflamed, which could cause an obstructive phenomenon and negatively impact the ability to get erections,” Dr Berglund told the publication.
He added that the "most concerning" element is a link to the symptom and other underlying vascular diseases related to Covid-19 such as coronary artery disease which can lead to a myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack.
“The most concerning thing here would be that erectile dysfunction related to the disease may be an indicator of other underlying vascular disease related to Covid," he continued.
Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata also told the LA Times on Tuesday that he would not be surprised if Covid-19 had an impact on erectile function.
He said that it could possibly be a symptom of "long Covid".
“Anything that could affect the ability of the artery to effectively deliver sufficient blood supply to create an erection could lead to erectile dysfunction,” he added.
