Erectile dysfunction caused by diving?

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kilo_fox

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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
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Location
Canefield, Dominica, West Indies
# of dives
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Today, I heard about a man who was diagnosed as impotent due to diving (in Singapore, where the quality of medical services is quite high after all).

That made me think of a friend of mine who told me some time back that he's been suffering from erectile dysfunction for about 6 months.
(He is diving quite a lot, has ca. 1500 dives, recreational dive profile although he exceeds once in a while the 30 m, down to 50 m.)

I know erectile dysfunction can appear due to many different medical and psychological reasons, but I would like to ask for the point of view of the medical specialists if it is possible that there might be a connection.

Thanx in advance!
 
I know erectile dysfunction can appear due to many different medical and psychological reasons, but I would like to ask for the point of view of the medical specialists if it is possible that there might be a connection.

Hi Kilo_fox,

You are quite correct that ED can have a large number of causes. Only a qualified urologist or similar specialist can sort them out.

To respond to your question, ED can be seen when DCI results in trauma to certain vasculature or nerves in the spinal cord or pelvic region. However, due to the complex nature of these systems it would be exceedingly rare for ED to be the sole sign or symptom.

Helpful?

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual and should not be construed as such.
 
KF, unless the Singapore doctor who diagnosed that was a dive doctor or pretty knowledgeable diver themselves, I would not believe it too much. You wouldn't believe the number of symptoms I have heard here that have been attributable to diving, once the "regular" doctor finds out I or someone else dives.

BTW, I hope that was a really good friend who was talking to you about their ED. I can't say I'd be bringing that up myself, if I had it, in a casual discussion over the dinner table with a newly met acquaintance.
 
Pervasive anecdotal evidence from around the world, and a 2008 animal study in the USA at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, finds that repeated hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) sessions improve erectile function. You probably haven't heard about this, because in the USA, HBOT is only officially recognized by the HHS to treat 13 maladies plus DCI. But in most industrialized nations, HBOT is relied upon to treat up to 132 maladies because it's cheap and effective. Costs for HBOT for the "covered" conditions in the USA are higher than other countries. But that's another story.

A series of HBO treatments raises your nitric oxide (NO) levels. NO is the active ingredient in Viagra et al. NO acts as a vasodilator. HBOT MDs believe that NO is one of the mechanisms that allows high / healing doses of oxygen to perfuse into tissues from blood plasma, at a far higher concentration of O2 than can be carried just by red blood cells. One study found that after a single chamber treatment, stem-cell count doubled; after 20-treatments, stem cells had increased by 8-times. HBO Increases Stem Cells by Eight Fold

Much anecdotal evidence of the efficacy of HBOT to help ED comes from US citizens who receive "off-label" HBO for "non-covered" maladies, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). A landmark study by the Department of Defense is going on right now to study HBOT's efficacy to mitigate TBI. Sadly, the RAND Corporation has forecast that 320,000 soldiers will come home with TBI. Last May 15, 2009, two of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, and General Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, testified before the House Armed Services Committee and spoke, for about 3 minutes, specifically about the promising results of HBOT for treating TBI:



BTW, if you know of a soldier with TBI, tell them about this study!http://www.hbot.com/study-of-hyperbaric-treatment-for-TBI-PTSDhttp://www.hbot.com/study-of-hyperbaric-treatment-for-TBI-PTSD

TBI-PTSD-880.jpg


But I digress. Back to your ED concern. . .

Here's a link to the animal study -- Oh, the sacrifices these rats made for humanity -- at least some died with a smile.
Happy_Rat.jpeg


Err. . .there were some aspects of this study that research technicians might want to leave off their resume / CV: "Ten days after CN injury, the animals underwent CN stimulation measuring the maximal intracavernosal pressure/mean arterial pressure (ICP/MAP) ratios."

The erectile benefits of oxygen under pressure, for humans, has not been studied as thoroughly as it's been studied in rats (go figure!), but there is broad anecdotal evidence from live-aboards with Nitrox ;-)

The "take-away" lesson from this is to have fun shallow and don't expect a benefit after just one dive. But DO NOT risk ox-tox by going too deep / too long just to raise your NO level. A totally safe "oxygen clock" on PP O2 above 1.0 DOES NOT EXIST per experts at DAN. When you're either hot or cold, dehydrated, exercising against current, taking any drugs -- all these factors, including a VERY high degree of individual day-to-day variability -- all radically reduce your "oxygen clock" vs. that of a patient who can relax inside a hyperbaric chamber, at little risk of a bad outcome if they convulse. The US Navy restricts their divers to 1.3 PP O2 (NOT 1.4), and a full-face mask is HIGHLY recommended in case of convulsions.

Richard Vann, Ph.D., VP of research for DAN, gave a lecture on oxygen toxicity for technical divers, January 2008. (Vann's presentation is on Day 1 / Morning, with Bill Hamilton - this is free to EVERYONE to watch and download). The material Vann covers in this video should be emphasized for all beginning Nitrox divers -- they would be safer. Emphasized points shown in Vann's quote, below, are his, from the video's 43-minute mark / slide #52:

"What partial pressures are safe?
OK. The first thing to remember here is that the choice of acceptable risk is arbitrary. . . There is no limit that you can set that says, ‘This is it.'

. . .For an organization such as the Navy or DAN, it's a political choice.

. . . Well the Navy has divers. They’re responsible for their safety, uh, and so the Navy has to come up with, uh, limits: 'This is how you will dive' [never go over a 1.3 PPO2 limit]. DAN, fortunately, is not responsible for the behavior of its, uh, members. So we don’t necessarily have to come up with limits."

The above statement begs lots of questions regarding how separate corporations in the recreational diving industry profit from Nitrox / tech diving, and how their respective "duty to warn" legal obligations intertwine. Vann concludes his lecture with a very important message:
". . .well, if I'm going to be, you know, somewhere around 1.3 to 1.6 atmospheres of oxygen, maybe I want to get a full-face mask, and maybe I want to look for a swim buddy to pull me out."
 
Is it possible for an excessively tight wetsuit to cause ED, like what happens to male cyclists? I know I've scrunched my boys a time or two...
 
Whew!! * wiping brow of sweat *

Hi Kilo_fox,

You are quite correct that ED can have a large number of causes. Only a qualified urologist or similar specialist can sort them out.

To respond to your question, ED can be seen when DCI results in trauma to certain vasculature or nerves in the spinal cord or pelvic region. However, due to the complex nature of these systems it would be exceedingly rare for ED to be the sole sign or symptom.

Helpful?

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual and should not be construed as such.
 
BTW, I hope that was a really good friend who was talking to you about their ED. I can't say I'd be bringing that up myself, if I had it, in a casual discussion over the dinner table with a newly met acquaintance.

Yup, he was, and still is..
 
Good info here.
Thanks to all of you who have offered something.
I will be watching this thread for new information.
I just pray that this does not become a "Heidi" thread also.
We already have one, and while it is hysterical....this is not necessarily the place to see that particularly wonderful image thirty seven hundred more times.
Chug
 
NO is the active ingredient in Viagra et al.

Okay, lets get some fact checks in. I continually get upset when I hear dis-information like this. Here is the chemical structure for viagra:

Pfizer7.gif


There is no NO in viagra, but it mechanistically facilitates the binding of NO already in tissues. So the statement of NO being an active ingredient is not correct. You are not administering NO with a dose of viagra, just changing metabolic action of how the cellular NO is transported.
 
ryssyr ,

OK - in trying to simplify the biochemistry involved, I said active "ingredient..." I should have said active "mechanism."

But I believe your explanation also stops short. You said: "...[Viagra] mechanistically facilitates the binding of NO already in tissues."

Actually, Viagra (sildenafil citrate) blocks the PDE5 enzyme in the penis from decomposing the buildup of cGMP that is initiated by NO.

That is, Viagra depends upon a preexisting level of NO vs. Nitrox diving that increases the NO.
viagra-chemicals.gif


Here's a link to page 5 of 7 pages of a good lay article (oops - unintended pun) that explains, step-by-step, the biochemistry of Viagra, as well as its side-effects.

A recognized alternate method to treat ED, arguably with fewer side effects, is to increase nitric oxide in the penis - which many claim occurs as a side effect of repetitive Nitrox dives (just be cautious of your ox-clock). And NO increases after repeated HBOT treatments likewise causes the aforesaid happy side effects.

ryssyr said
"Okay, lets get some fact checks in?"
Ahem...probably most people reading this thread, and both of us, need to get ofline and go diving, for whatever the reason!

I probably shouldn't ask - "Heidi" thread?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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