A couple of drinks help to keep the pencil sharp

William Atkins
Monday, 26 January 2009 20:21

Science - Health

An Australian study found that a modest amount of alcohol helps men to perform better sexually, which runs counter with past studies on the sex habits of men. It sound like a martini or a couple of beers is just what the doctor ordered for the bedroom.


The researchers were lead by Kew-Kim Chew, a senior clinical fellow and clinical specialist in men’s health and sexual medicine at the Keogh Institute for Medical Research, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Alexandra Bremner, Bronwyn Stuckey, Carolyn Earle, and Konrad Jamrozik joined Dr. Chew in the study.

Their paper “Alcohol Consumption and Male Erectile Dysfunction: An Unfounded Reputation for Risk?” was published online in The Journal of Sexual Medicine on January 8, 2009.

The Chew-led group stated in the abstract to their paper that the use of alcohol and sexual performance has, in the past, been inversely related; that is, more alcohol causes less desirable sexual performance in men.

Thus, they stated in the abstract to their paper, “Alcohol consumption is a contentious social topic and is often assumed to have deleterious effects on sexual performance. There is a lack of consensus on whether alcohol consumption may in fact be beneficial to erectile function."

Consequently, in order to determine the relationship to alcohol consumption and erectile dysfunction (ED) they analyzed men’s health data from a cross-sectional population of 1,580 men.

Male ED, or male impotence, is a sexual problem caused by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis in order to have satisfactory sexual performance.

Page two continues with a discussion of the study.