Lower Libido Due to Statins?

Dr. Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, who is also the editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, is interested in an Italian study that has revealed that statins, which are taken to lower cholesterol, seem to be lowering the libido in men. He said “the study sends a signal worthy of observation.”

He added that men that come to his practice reported that they seem to have a lower sex drive also after taking statin.

But could we be interpreting the study incorrectly? An American epidemiologist seems to think the study shows that men taking statin reduce the accounts of ED (erectile dysfunction), as his study has shown.

The epidemiologist reported that the men taking statins in his study for almost 10 years were reported almost 65% less likely to develop erectile dysfunction as those who were not on the drug. A co-author of the study, Jennifer St. Sauver from the Mayo Clinic, was also involved with the study from Olmstead County, Minnesota. It was reported that the longer the drug was used, the lower of instances of erectile dysfunction.

The contradiction may be easily explained.
St. Sauver said it comes down to the two different study groups. The Italians only looked at men suffering and be treated for erectile dysfunction while the Minnesota group looked at the general population.

It was reported from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that just over 15% of U.S. adults are taking statins. Of the men in the Italian study group, only seven percent of the almost 3500 men were taking the cholesterol lowering drug. In the Minnesota study, 30% of the men were on statins. St. Sauver added that maybe because of the lower percentile in the Italian study show that statins could reduce the need for men to seek out erectile dysfunction treatment. And also needing mention is that the Italian study did not have a control group without erectile dysfunction, so you cannot show a cause effect relationship in their study.

Goldstein also informs men that they should not stop taking the statins if their libido seems low, but instead show have a blood work up from a doctor to see if there is a low testosterone issue. If there is, then a treatment could be added to boost the testosterone levels and continue with the statins.

Goldstein added the even though there are discrepancies between the U.S. study and the Italian study, the Italian study is still important as it shows a relationship between the statins and low libido in a large group of men.

2007 Study By New England Research Institutes
Another study in 2007 by the New England Research Institutes, reported that they saw drops in men’s testosterone as well in the general population of men taking statins. But this drop in testosterone could not be directed at the statins, other factors could have played a role in the drop such as obesity or diabetes. In that study the relationships were not examined for these effects, so even though statins were being used, they could not be blamed. This particular study was actually being performed to see if statins could effectively reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Unfortunately no preventive effect was found in that study.

Several other studies have also shown this similar effect between statins and lowered testosterone levels. But these are only indications, further pin pointed studies with carefully controlled study groups would need to be studied to know for sure.