A new study by researchers at the University of Tampere in Finland has found that daily doses of the drugs, including the popular aspirin, increases the risk of impotence of men.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs are widely used to treat pain and inflammation. They are also prescribed to patients suffering from arthritis on high daily doses to ease swollen, painful joints.
However, the new study has found that drugs such as ibuprofen increase erectile problems in middle-aged and elderly men, with those taking the drugs regularly being nearly twice as likely experience a hitch in their sex lives than men who do not take the drugs.
The study was conducted on 1,126 men between the ages of 50 to 70 who were asked to report their use of the painkilling drugs over a five-year period, including aspirin, ibuprofen and other common medicines such as naproxen.
The study noted that of the number of cases of erectile problems, 97 per 1,000 in men were found to be using NSAIDs, while just 52 per 1,000 in men not using them suffered from impotence.
Lead researcher Dr Rahman Shiri said the use of the NSAIDs on a daily basis increased to risk of impotence in men.
"The use of these drugs increases the risk of erectile dysfunction," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.
Nick Henderson of the International Ibuprofen Foundation said that though the study suggested a link between impotence and Ibuprofen, it did so for men suffering from Alzheimer's, and added that there was no indication of raised risk for men taking normal doses.
"It demonstrates a very small link with erectile dysfunction, showing a rate of 0.5 per cent for men with arthritis taking NSAIDs compared with 0.1 per cent for those not. There is no indication of any raised risk for men taking normal doses of over the counter ibuprofen for headaches," he said.
