Study: COVID-19 infection could lead to permanent impotence

Article content

Yet another reason to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Doctors are now saying they suspect the virus can lead to permanent impotence, according to HealthDay News.

Recommended Videos

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Study: COVID-19 infection could lead to permanent impotence Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Physicians already know a COVID-19 infection can damage blood vessels, including those that supply blood to a man’s penis.

Researchers found particles of the virus in penile tissue samples from two former COVID-19 patients who became impotent following infection six and eight months earlier according to a study published May 7 in the World Journal of Men’s Health.

And more research led to finding blood vessel damage in their penises compared to two other men with erectile dysfunction who’d never been infected.

“We found that the virus affects the blood vessels that supply the penis, causing erectile dysfunction,” senior researcher Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, director of the reproductive urology program at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, told HealthDay News.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

“The blood vessels themselves malfunction and are not able to provide enough blood to enter the penis for an erection.”

Ramasamy said organ damage in the lungs, kidneys and brain that’s been found in COVID-19 patients is comparable.

“We think the penis also could be affected in a similar way,” Ramasamy said.

“We don’t think this is a temporary effect. We think this could be permanent.”

Still, Dr. Ash Tewari, chair of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, said men shouldn’t panic until more research is done.

“One or two patients don’t make a fact, but this is worth investigating from our standpoint,” Tewari said.