To Think Men Would Never Talk About This

[Sunshineguy]

I keep seeing studies like this, which show a high rate of erectile dysfunction post-Covid but it isn't something any of my male friends ever discuss and it's not mentioned in the media. How would we ever know it was a problem and that these studies are accurate?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11845-024-03610-y

If only having Covid 19 caused erectile dysfunction on Boris Johnson, there would be one small step for the traitor receiving justice.

I doubt if it is spoken about at all.

It must say somewhere in the study how the numbers were obtained - it might be a record of how many medical appointments have been made, or it might be through an anonymous survey.

In terms of general awareness, a partner's ED might be the sort of thing some women might discuss with very close friends or family.

Yes. And it's not the sort of thing partners would discuss widely with friends, soncould remain hidden even if widespread. Maybe doctors? Or in sales of viagra and other ED drugs?

"Patients were recruited from the post-COVID follow-up outpatient clinic at Al-Azhar University Hospital, Damietta over a period of 6 months from March 2022 to August 2022. Our study followed the Helsinki Declaration principals. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board of Damietta Faculty of Medicine (Al-Azhar University). Written informed consent was obtained from every patient at the recruitment. Inclusions included males aged 18–50 years of age who are sexually active and who were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection (only those who finished the management protocol and had been discharged at least 2 weeks prior to joining the study). Subjects with confirmed erectile dysfunction (ED) due to known causes were excluded. All patients who were receiving any medications that could cause ED including anti-anxiety agents, antidepressants, antipsychotics, or mood stabilizers were not recruited. Moreover; all subjects with endocrinal diseases, neurological diseases, prostatic diseases, pelvic trauma or spinal cord injury, Peyronie’s disease or curvature, alcoholics, metabolic syndrome, and chronic illnesses (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, liver disease, renal failure, and cardiovascular disease) were also excluded from the study."

Seems ED is on the rise and affecting more young people, but Covid isn't listed as a possible cause

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-erectile-dysfunction-drugs-market-160000639.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADvEOqMFO35e5biBUIQqADD2frTD53MU_9XF5K0Y_KM-C8WxDwseHHXYdhm3tu4It7X-c7g7ggMd6O96zR0lq8Xegs1--vE5RSIWS2RWqoK7OOwOxFc-1WDOTk8KBAqDoS5I3TFOl8gqpd-aZa34aWWxEavzVTDddjjg1q9PQ-1M

Yes, we would talk about it. Both with each other and with medical professionals. Obviously NAMW but many do, at odds with the stereotype, talk about personal stuff with each other, although may not talk to their female friends about the same stuff.
Ironically a rise in ED has made it more easily spoken about, as does having a cause, e.g. COVID, rather than it being from an unknown aetiology which could more easily be seen as a "failure in masculinity"

Not all men, but the ones I know well do occasionally talk about this sort of thing.

What makes you think that men don't speak about it?

More people are on antidepressants now which cause sexual problems. They're well known for it.

DH says that he and his friends do occasionally talk about sexual health and function, and that it often arises as a topic if e.g. somebody’s taking a new medication or has recently changed something in their lifestyle and has noticed an impact. Though it may well be an age group thing: ED becomes increasingly common once men reach mid to late forties plus so perhaps just more willingness to see it as “one of those things” - like dodgy knees, and taking three days to recover from a hangover - that happens as you get older rather than something stigmatised.