Erectile Dysfunction Linked to Gout

Men with gout are at increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new study.

Researchers led by Wei-Sheng Chung, MD, of Taichung Hospital in Taichung City, Taiwan, compared 19,383 men with gout and 77,472 controls without gout randomly selected from the general population. Subjects were aged 64 years or younger. Gout sufferers had a 21% increased risk of ED in adjusted analysis, the researchers reported online ahead of print in The Journal of Rheumatology.

Compared with patients who did not have gout or comorbidities, those with both gout and any comorbidity had a 2-fold increased risk of developing ED.

The incidence of ED increased with age in both cohorts, but it was greater among men in the gout cohort.