It’s no surprise that male sexual function is negatively affected after COVID-19, since that’s an often-ignored problem after many serious medical events. The potential mechanism with regard to COVID-19 is interesting and has some worrisome implications for other organ systems. I point out this particular bit of post-COVID bad news because the vascular effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) were discussed in 2018 by Efrati and colleagues in relation to erectile dysfunction (ED). For decades, practitioners of HBOT therapy have heard anecdotal reports of HBOT’s benefit for ED, but the vascular endothelial implications were not seriously considered until Efrati’s team did so. I am NOT implying that HBOT is a treatment for COVID-19 related ED, but ED is a sensitive model for certain types of vascular pathology and there’s little interest in HBOT at the level of funding decision makers. Maybe this problem will garner some interest for HBOT?
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
