Jane Nafula
Daily Monitor
10 April 2009
Diabetes is increasingly becoming one of the commonest causes of impotence in men, a specialist in internal medicine in Mulago National Referral Hospital has revealed. Addressing journalists during a diabetes conference for parliamentarians in Kampala on Monday, Prof. Marcel Otim said if diabetes exists in the body of a man for about three weeks without being treated, he will start experiencing difficulties in attaining or sustaining an erection adequate for intercourse (erectile dysfunction).
He said, “If the disease stays for about one year without being treatment, chronic infertility is bound to occur.”
Prof. Otim explained that when sugar level in the body is above 150,it becomes poisonous and damages various organs in the body including blood vessels that transport blood to the penis.
“When blood is not well circulated in the male organ, a man is not able attain an erection.” Prof. Otim said.
“This is why we always encourage people to go for medical checkups to establish their health status so that necessary treatment can be given before the situation gets out of hand,” he added.
Diabetes is a chronic health condition where the body is unable to produce insulin and properly breakdown sugar (glucose) in the blood, leading to increasing sugar levels in the body.