About 2 years ago, I had a sudden diabetes diagnosis of high blood sugar and an A1C of about 7.2 . I got that down since then. But the reason I went in to see a doctor was my erections were dysfunctional and he told me about my sugar issue. Now I am careful with my diet much more and I am concerned that I still have sugar in the 110-115 range fasting. If I take medication to lower this will this help my erections? Or is the higher blood sugar permanently damaging me? Thank you for your insight and help.
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If you take your medications, practice tight blood sugar control, eat a low-fat, low-calorie diet, and get daily exercise on the order of walking briskly for 30 to 60 minutes every day, chances are you’ll notice erection improvement. You may not return to the erections of your youth, but improvement is definitely possible.
Erection requires healthy cardiovascular and nervous systems. A healthy cardiovascular system means arteries that allow good blood flow, arteries not narrowed by the cholesterol-rich deposits that contribute to heart disease, stroke, and erectile dysfunction (ED). A healthy nervous system means good nerve function that tells the arteries in the penis to open up (dilate) so that the organ’s spongy erectile tissues fill with blood.
Diabetes damages both the cardiovascular and nervous systems. It accelerates arterial narrowing, and it impairs nerve function. That’s why diabetes is strongly associated with ED.
But if you control your blood sugar, that reduces diabetes-related damage. And if you adopt a healthy lifestyle (eat less meat and cheese, and more fruits and vegetables) and get daily exercise, that improves arterial and nerve function, and can help restore your erections, at least to some extent.
Recently Italian scientists surveyed 555 diabetic men about their diet and erection function. Those who adhered most closely to a Mediterranean diet had the lowest rate of ED. This diet involves lots of fruits and vegetables, minimal meat and cheese, and no fast foods or junk foods. (Giugliano, F. et al. “Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet and Erectile Dysfunction in Men with Type-2 Diabetes,” Journal of Sexual Medicine (2010) 7:1911.)
You didn’t mention your age. In men over 40, aging slowly erodes erection function. Most men notice this by 50, and thereafter, erections become balkier and ED becomes more common. So if you’re over 40, even if you were in perfect health, as the years pass, you’d probably notice some erection impairment. But diabetes greatly accelerates erection deterioration. If you control your diabetes, your erections should improve…just remember that aging (and other medical conditions) also take a toll.
For more on how diabetes affects sexuality, read Sex and Diabetes.