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A survey by a pharmaceuticals giant suggests that 8 percent of Korean men in their 40s and 15 percent in their 50s suffer from erectile dysfunction. Their share of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure is four or five times higher than normal, it says.
The pharmaceuticals company Bayer, which is conducting a worldwide survey of the sex lives of men, announced the results of the survey at the 8th International Congress of Andrology in Seoul on Monday. Bayer had previously published results of a survey of 27,000 men in seven Western nations like the U.S., Brazil, France and Germany.
The survey, which the company says features a random sample of 9,000 men from Korea, China, Taiwan and Malaysia, shows sufferers from erectile dysfunction in Korea to make up 1 percent of men in their 20s, 4 percent of those in their 30s, 8 percent of those in their 40s, 15 percent of those in their 50s, and 24 percent for those in their 60s. That was twice the proportion found in Malaysia and Taiwan.
Koreans who suffered from impotence usually had other diseases that could help account for their affliction, with some 25 percent having diabetes, 22 percent heart disease, 21 percent high cholesterol, 21 percent high blood pressure, 14 percent enlarged prostates and 22 suffering from depression.
Prof. Lee Seong-won of Samsung Seoul Hospital, who helped with the survey, said, "There was a clear trend that in Asia, sufferers from erectile dysfunction try to hide their disease or fail to seek treatment, and this was particularly pronounced in Korea." He added, "Erectile dysfunction can be an early sign of diseases like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, so one mustn't take it lightly."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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