Erectile dysfunction (ED) is more common in older individuals with long-term Type 2 diabetes. Nonetheless, emerging research at Saint Louis University School of Medicine has found that ED indicates undiagnosed prediabetes and kind 2 diabetes in young men under 40.

Although the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes declined in america from 1988 to 2020, 2.5% of the population has persistent undiagnosed diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 8.5 million adults have undiagnosed diabetes, and 1 / 4 of those cases are amongst young individuals 18 to 44.

In a recent study published in Preventive Medicine, Jane Tucker, M.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at SLU, and Jeffrey Scherrer, Ph.D., professor of family and community medicine at SLU and a member of the Saint Louis University AHEAD Institute, examined data to have a look at the connection between type 2 diabetes and ED.

Researchers designed the study to find out the chance for prediabetes and kind 2 diabetes amongst young men with and without recent ED diagnoses and the time between a brand new ED diagnosis and the onset of prediabetes and kind 2 diabetes. This retrospective study reviewed the electronic health data of 1,915,468 patients from 2008-22. The study found that ED patients have a 34% increased risk for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Moreover, 75% of patients developed prediabetes or type 2 diabetes inside a 12 months of ED diagnosis.

This means a remarkable ability to predict the potential onset of illness and treat it early with lifestyle or medication.”

Jane Tucker, M.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at SLU

Funds to keep up the virtual data warehouse got here from the Saint Louis University Research Institute, comprising de-identified patient data from greater than 5 million SSM Health patients. Researchers at SLU’s AHEAD Institute maintained the info resource and supported the study through analytics and data management. Saint Louis University is a Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) member. HCSRN and its health-system members provide an exponential increase in opportunities for grant funding and collaboration on various research topics corresponding to aging, heart disease, and mental health.

Other authors include Joanne Salas, MPH, of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Saint Louis University, Harry S. Truman Veterans Administration Medical Center, Columbia, Mo., and the Advanced HEAlth Data (AHEAD) Research Institute at SLU; Scott Secrest, MPH, of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Saint Louis University.