Video games may cause erectile dysfunction – study

An hour of computer use is enough to make a man soft, Chinese scientists have claimed

A new study has found that extended computer use more than triples a man’s risk of developing erectile dysfunction. Long-term screen time, the researchers explained, may lower men’s sperm production and eventually cause impotence.

After analyzing data from more than 220,000 men aged between 40 and 69, Chinese scientists discovered that for every additional 1.2 hours spent using a computer, a man’s chances of experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED) increased by 3.57 times.

The study, published in the ‘Andrology’ journal on Wednesday, set out to see whether different kinds of “sedentary activity” affected men’s erectile function. However, they found “no evidence” to suggest that watching television or driving a car for the same time had the same effect.

The scientists did not examine the effect of computer use on men younger than 40, who are far more likely to spend long periods playing video games or using social media.

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While the researchers did not discover exactly how computers affect erectile function, they found that men who spend longer in front of the screen showed higher levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which is manufactured by the brain’s pituitary gland. Lower levels of FSH cause a drop in sperm production, and could also cause ED, they theorized.

For those suffering from computer-induced ED, the scientists noted that “moderate physical activity may help to correct the dysfunction.”

Aside from their apparent libido-lowering effects, video games have been blamed for all kinds of social ills in China. Beijing recently introduced new rules aimed at reducing “irrational” spending on games, two years after Chinese regulators forbade under-18s from playing online games for more than three hours per week in a bid to prevent the spread of gaming addiction.

Chinese state media described games as “spiritual opium” and “electronic drugs” at the time.