Obese men 'more prone to pathetic sex lives'

Washington, Mar 4 (ANI): The more obese a man, the worse his sex life, concludes a new study, which claims that fatness could be biologically associated with diminished sexual quality of life.

According to the study, which will be published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), hormonal changes and poor sex life among obese men are related to the degree of obesity, and both are improved after gastric bypass surgery.

"Previous studies have found that obesity is correlated to lower sperm count and can be associated with infertility, but we wanted to know if obesity was biologically associated with an unsatisfying sex life, and if so, could it be reversible," said Dr. Ahmad Hammoud, MD, of the University of Utah and lead author of the study.

"Our results show that the answer to both questions may be yes," he added.

To reach the conclusion, researchers followed 64 men over two years who participated in the Utah Obesity Study, which investigated the two-year morbidity of severely obese men undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery compared to controls.

Researchers measured weight, BMI (body mass index) and reproductive hormone levels of participants at the beginning of the study and once more two years later. Similarly subjects completed a questionnaire designed to assess the impact of weight on quality of life in obese individuals at the onset of the study and again two years later.

"In our study population, we found that lower testosterone levels and diminished ratings for sexual quality of life were correlated with increased BMI," said Dr. Hammoud. Subjects who lost weight through bariatric surgery experienced a reduction in estradiol levels, an increase in testosterone levels and an increase in ratings of sexual quality of life," the expert added. (ANI)