Vaping doubled the risk of erectile dysfunction, or ED, in men age 20 and older, study finds

“We excluded people with high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, which is a big reason for ED, and we excluded those with a history of smoking. We adjusted for all that and still we found a very strong and significant association between vaping and ED,” El Shahawy said.

“For men who had some history of heart issues, there was more than three times the risk for erectile dysfunction,” he said.

There are two main reasons for this effect, said Ahmad Besaratinia, a professor of research population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the study.

“One is the fact that nicotine and other chemicals in vapes can reduce the ability of arteries to get larger and dilated, and that is what causes erectile dysfunction. These chemicals can also depress testosterone levels, another main cause of ED,” said Besaratinia, who researches the impact of vaping on genetics.

Due to the presence of nicotine and thousands of other chemicals, smoking cigarettes can have the same effect on the systems of the body that control blood flow to the male reproductive organs, as well as causing cancer and many other serious health conditions.

Risk of erectile dysfunction can increase as more tobacco cigarettes are smoked and nicotine levels therefore rise, which also held true in the study for e-cigarettes, El Shahawy said.

“The risk increased for daily vaping, rather than vaping in general,” he said. “More exposure is what increases the risk for ED.”

An additional factor, he said, is that “newer generations of e-cigarettes deliver a lot of nicotine — some of them have higher nicotine levels than cigarettes. So it stands to reason that if you vape a lot then you will have the sexual side effects of nicotine.”

There was one piece of good news — physical activity was associated with lower odds of ED, the study found.

Because the research was cross sectional, “which means we’re looking at how things relate to each other at a specific point in time,” the study could only show an association between vaping and ED and not a direct cause and effect, El Shahawy said.

Vaping as smoking cessation aid

The survey found that a quarter of the youth — 500,000 — say they vape daily.

Over three quarters of the teenagers preferred flavored e-cigarettes, especially fruit, candy, mint and menthol flavors, the survey found.

But even e-cigarettes labeled as being nicotine free may be a risk, El Shahawy said: “Basic studies have looked at nicotine free e-cigarettes, and they will find traces of nicotine in them.”

Another issue is nicotine delivery, El Shahawy explained, as the amount of nicotine actually drawn into the body can differ depending on the delivery mechanism.

“It’s not just the amount of nicotine that is advertized in the e-liquid” he said. “The device, the heating coil, how the heat is generated — all that can change the levels of nicotine actually delivered to the person using the vape.”

At this time, El Shahawy said, researchers do not know if there are any permanent changes to male performance due to vaping.

“Is erectile dysfunction something that’s going to just go away if somebody stops vaping, or this is something that could have residual effects in the future? We need better studies to be able to evaluate the short and long term impact,” he said.

Based on the research, what advice does El Shahawy give to men who are considering vaping for pleasure or using e-cigarettes to stop smoking tobacco?

“If you don’t smoke anything, don’t start. There is no point in vaping as it’s not safe on its own. But if you’re already smoking cigarettes and you want to stop, then ration your use of vapes. Keep vaping to a minimal level, just enough to get over your cravings, and then stop.”