Using humor to discuss an uncomfortable topic.
This latest public service announcement released by the group Urologists United for Vaccination Education is anything but a joke.
“Men who have COVID are six times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction,” urologists Dr. Larry Levine says in the PSA.
Urologist Dr. Neel Parekh, with the Cleveland Clinic, says that while research is still limited, as is much related to the pandemic, he is seeing connections.
“Really within in the last year now there’s been more and more data emerging as far as research that’s happening specifically in regard to COVID and erection quality,” said Parekh.
According to Urologists United for Vaccination Education, which is made up of more than 40 urologists, “studies have shown that COVID can affect the blood vessels of the penis in a similar way that it affects the blood vessels of the lungs, preventing them from providing enough blood to the penis to cause an erection.”
“It’s kind of all over — more in the patients that are younger. There’s a psychological component of COVID,” said Dr. Parekh.
The Cleveland Clinic says that in addition to the virus affecting blood vessels, “the stress, anxiety and depression caused by the virus and pandemic can be linked to sexual dysfunction.”
However, the Cleveland Clinics adds, “it’s too early to tell if the damage is permanent, temporary or if it can affect fertility.”
While more research needs to be done, the message from this group of urologists and comedians is clear:
“What are you doing, go get the vaccine,” Saturday Night Live alum Tim Meadows says in the PSA.