Evidence Hub

Erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease: a narrative review and insights from a global real-world cohort analysis

Santiago Martínez Mores, Josep Franch‐Nadal, Didac Mauricio, Bogdan Vlacho

Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare, 2026

200,000 participants · 4 citations

Abstract

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is highly prevalent among men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and reflects systemic vascular and metabolic dysfunction. Shared mechanisms include endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation, autonomic neuropathy, and hypogonadism. Therefore, ED may function not only as a complication of T2DM but also as an early clinical marker of cardiometabolic disease. Objective: This narrative review summarizes current evidence on the epidemiology, mechanisms, and cardiometabolic implications of ED in men with T2DM, and evaluates the impact of major cardiometabolic therapies on erectile function. A real-world cohort study was conducted using the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network, a large federated electronic health record database comprising healthcare organizations across multiple countries. Content: ED is closely linked with hypertension, obesity, dyslipidaemia, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and stroke in men with T2DM, reflecting shared microvascular and macrovascular diseases. Cohort and real-world studies indicate a strong bidirectional relationship: poor cardiometabolic control worsens erectile function, whereas improvements in glycaemia, weight, blood pressure, and lipids are associated with higher International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) scores. Using data from the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network, large-scale real-world analyses further demonstrate that the coexistence of ED and T2DM substantially…

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free