It is a proven fact that almost 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million obese, and 9 million severely obese. Erectile dysfunction affects more than half of American males between age 40 and 70, and nearly 80 percent of men with the problem are overweight. Several studies were conducted to identify whether there are any relationship between obesity and erectile dysfunction. Obesity is a major risk factor for erectile dysfunction. Overweight or obese men have a 30 per cent more chance of impotence, and about eight out of 10 men with erectile problems are fat.

Men who are involved in light to rigorous physical activity like cycling, swimming, gardening, working out, body building, regular brisk walking even after the age of 45 to 50 years had a 70% reduced ED rate compared with sedentary controls.

A two year trial studied 110 obese men experiencing ED. The men were randomly assigned and put on an intensive weight-loss program including personal dietary counseling, exercise advice, regular meetings with a nutritionist, and a personal trainer. These men lost significant weight and were healthier and had improved sex lives. There was marked improvement in erectile dysfunction. One in three men in the program had restored sexual ability, the more the weight lost, the better it was.

Psychologists say that when it comes to performance anxiety, low self-esteem about body image can be a real impediment to confidence, so it may be responsible for some of the problem. But health experts say that 90 percent of erectile dysfunction is physical in origin and not psychological. Nearly 80 percent of men who have erectile dysfunction are also overweight or obese.

Doing light physical exercise, walking a couple miles, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can significantly help a man to enjoy a healthy life and avoid the excess bulge and even improve his sex life.

Erectile dysfunction or impotence as some of us call it is a difficult situation to handle, both physically and emotionally. But have we ever thought that this can be a silver lining for a far graver situation? It can be an alarm for a possible cardiovascular disease which may be diagnosed later in life. The same factors that contribute to heart disease — smoking, cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and others —causes sexual problems as well.

Erectile function and our heart share several similar characteristics. Understanding these connections may help to recognize and eventually reduce the cardiovascular diseases — and improve the sexual life of a person.

A study was conducted to identify the relation between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases. 64 percent of men who had had heart attacks had erectile dysfunction before. Nowadays doctors are suggesting to consider erectile dysfunction a wake up call for future heart problems.

The arteries supplying blood to the penis are smaller than the arteries that supply blood to the heart; hence symptoms may first show up as erectile dysfunction.

Obesity, a deskbound lifestyle, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and high levels of lipids in the blood are more prone to erectile dysfunction and as well as heart diseases.

It is a common fact that people having diabetes have more problems getting an erection. The problem is due to the diabetes-related damage to blood vessels that supply blood to the penis. Overweight men are more likely to have erectile dysfunction and overweight men have the maximum risk of heart attacks as well.

A considerable high level of low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol causes atherosclerosis in blood vessels, raising the risk of erectile dysfunction. We all are aware of the fact that high cholesterol in the blood increases the risk of heart diseases to a great extent.

Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis. Not only does smoking increase the chances of heart disease, but it has been proved that continuous smoking also causes erectile dysfunction. High blood pressure damages the lining of the arteries — which can lead to cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction.

Making simple lifestyle changes can reduce these risk factors and help to improve the sexual life as well as the overall health of a person.

A study of Levitra drug for erectile dysfunction proves that it is as good as Viagra in terms of overall performance.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a medical condition where a man is consistently or recurrently unable to attain and/or maintain a penile erection sufficient for sexual performance. ED affects about half of all men over the age of 40 and an estimated 152 million men suffer from ED worldwide. In spite of the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction, a meager 15-20 percent of men with ED are willingly to undergo treatment. The most prominent drugs in treating erectile dysfunction are Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis, which came in the market in almost the same sequence.

Viagra, manufactured by Pfizer, was originally developed as a heart disease related drug, but during clinical trials it was found to have interesting side-effects. After the drug was launched in 1998, it has been prescribed to more than 23 million men suffering from ED.

Comparative studies of Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC drug Levitra (vardenafil HCI) and Viagra (sildenafil) on 1,057 patients reveal that 47 percent preferred Viagra (sildenafil) while a majority of 53 percent had an overall preference for Levitra. The Eli Lilly and ICOS Corp manufactured drug, Cialis (tadafil), on the other hand, works for 36 hours or more, is making it an ideal choice for men who are sexually very active.

Studies reveal that the biochemical differences between the drugs mark the differences. Levitra contains a more efficient enzyme inhibitor, so only a very small amount of the drug is necessary. The biochemical potency of Levitra is distinctly different from Viagra and Cialis.

The minimum time for the drug to take action and the duration of its action are important issues in impotence medicine. The following is concluded from various studies:

All three drugs work by inhibiting the same enzyme. Levitra is a more potent molecule, and it seems to work faster and on a full stomach. Levitra also works better in hard-to-treat cases, cases where men whose impotence is caused by diabetes.

Studies have proved that Levitra and Cialis are in no way inferior in comparison with Viagra. The study included patients with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, as well as for erectile dysfunction.

Talking about the preferences among the three drugs, a study of 150 patients carried out by Hamburg urologist Hartmut Porst showed that 45 percent of patients preferred Cialis, 30 percent Levitra and 13 percent Viagra while 12 percent had no preference.

Another study, led by Frank Sommer at the University Medical Centre in Cologne, showed that 43 percent of men in a high dose, three-way preference trial preferred Levitra. 40 percent of the patients preferred Cialis and 17 percent preferred Viagra.

Medicines are licensed to maintain the required efficacy, safety and quality. 'Unlicensed' medicines include chemicals used as medicines, modification of licensed medicines, imported medicines licensed in other countries and special manufacture or assembly. 'Off label' medicine is the use of licensed medicines in a dose, age group, or by a route not as per the product license specification.

There is prevalence of male erectile dysfunction in about 10% across all age ranges. Sildenafil is manufactured by Pfizer under the trade name Viagra. Tablets are available in various dosages ranging from 25 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg formats. Only 5% of men suffering from erectile dysfunction seek treatment. There is a relatively increased in acceptability of Viagra as a stimulant demand for treatment of impotence.

Viagra is suggested mainly for male erectile dysfunction. Sildenafil is well absorbed and reaches its maximum plasma levels an hour after ingestion. Food delays absorption. It has a terminal half-life of 4-5 hours. There are no reports of accumulation of the drug if used once-daily.

There is some evidence of its efficiency in patients with impotence secondary to diabetes mellitus and traumatic spinal injury.

A person recovering from recent stroke or heart attack should not use Viagra. Other cautions include hypotension, active peptic ulcer, heart disease, liver disease, anemia, and leukemia, bleeding disorders, Peyronie's disease or any other deformation of the penis. Another important factor to be kept in mind is that it should not be used along with other treatments of erectile dysfunction.

General side effects include headache, flushing, dyspepsia, diarrhea, muscle pain and altered vision.

Viagra should be taken only after consultation with a physician and should be bought only from licensed and trusted online pharmacies.

 According to research conducted at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), men with increased body mass index (BMI) are significantly more likely to be infertile than normal-weight men. 

"The data suggest that a 20-pound increase in men's weight may increase the chance of infertility by about 10 percent," says Markku Sallmen, lead author on the paper who is now at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Men who are overweight or obese also have fertility problems – said Donna Baird, Ph.D., an NIEHS epidemiologist with the study. The study is published in the September 2006 issue of Epidemiology.

Researchers found that men's BMI was an independent risk factor for infertility. Studies showed that there was a general increase in infertility with increased BMI, reaching a nearly 2-fold increase among obese men.

When researchers divided the sample into two equal groups by men's age, they found that men's BMI was a risk factor for infertility in both the older and younger men.

The researchers did not have data on frequency of sexual intercourse, so it is possible that overweight men have less sexual intercourse than their normal weight counterparts and this could influence fertility. However, there have been recent studies looking at semen characteristics that show lower semen quality for overweight and obese men, as well as hormonal differences.

"This study provides data on some additional health problems associated with obesity," said David A. Schwartz, M.D., director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "Preventing obesity can help improve men's overall health, perhaps even their reproductive health."

Lifestyle changes are associated with improvementin sexual function in about one third of obese men with erectiledysfunction (ED).

Management of ED should include alteration of modifiable risk factors (e.g. lifestyle and psychosocial factors); however, these modifications are frequently insufficient to completely reverse ED. Oral sildenafil (Viagra) 25 to 100mg is considered first-line direct therapy for ED and is effective in almost 70% of men with ED. Viagra, improves the ability to attain and maintain erections and increases the rate of successful sexual intercourse in men with ED regardless of their age, presence of other medical conditions and concomitant antihypertensive or antidepressant medications. Viagra should be taken only after proper consultation with physicians. Viagra has proven to significantly improve quality-of-life related to sexual function and general well being.

VIAGRA is prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction (ED).