Mental Health

Sexual Dysfunction More Common in Young Men

By Staff Reporter | Update Date: Jul 10, 2012 04:25 PM EDT

Just because you're young doesn't mean you're exempt from a stressful sex life - at least that's what a new study is suggesting.

A Switzerland study has revealed that sexual dysfunction is more frequent among young men.

According to the report, about 33 percent of men between ages 18 and 25 suffer from at least one sexual dysfunction and poor mental health was linked with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction.

The study was published in the June issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Erectile dysfunction affects 30 million men in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health and about one out of five men in the U.S. between ages 18 and 59 may have the problem, according to the National Health and Social Life Survey.

Study researcher Joan-Carles Suris said doctors should now be paying attention to erectile dysfunction in young men.

"Even though [they are] often mild, sexual dysfunctions are relatively frequent among young men, and should be part of any medical screening," Suris said. "It's important that doctors look for such problems in their patients, to give a clear message to young men that they can discuss these problems, which often can be very easily solved."

Suris said it is unclear what causes the problem and more research has to be conducted.

Researchers surveyed about 2,500 sexually active young men, and found 283 men suffered from premature ejaculation, and nearly 750 men had erectile dysfunction. According to researchers, men with premature ejaculation were more likely to say they smoked cigarettes and marijuana, drank alcohol or took illegal drugs, compared with those without premature ejaculation.

Men with erectile dysfunction were more likely than men without the condition to say they had taken medication without a prescription, which could indicate that young men with ED tend to self-medicate or possibly treat their own sexual problems, the researchers said.

The findings also revealed a link between depression and both premature ejaculation and ED and depression. 

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