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. 2014 Jun;46(2):69-73.
doi: 10.5152/eajm.2014.18.

Erectile Dysfunction among Yemenis: Does Chewing Khat Play a Role?

Omar H Nassar  1 , Hameed M Aklan  2
Affiliations

Erectile Dysfunction among Yemenis: Does Chewing Khat Play a Role?

Omar H Nassar et al. Eurasian J Med. 2014 Jun.

Abstract
in English, Turkish

Objective: Khat, a type of plant that grows in Yemen and some African countries like Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, is considered to be addictive and contains some stimulating substances that may affect different body organs. This study was conducted to identify the causes of erectile dysfunction (ED) and to investigate the effect of chewing Khat on this disease in Yemenis.

Materials and methods: A total of 236 patients who were treated at University of Science and Technology Hospital and complained of ED were examined with penile Doppler ultrasonography (US). Biodata and health data were collected from the patients' records and via mobile interviews.

Results: The causes of ED were psychological causes (72%), venous leakage (19%) and arterial disease (9%). Psychological ED was most common in 15-29-year-olds, while pathological ED increased with increasing age (p=0.041). Heart diseases and diabetes showed a significant association with pathological ED (p<0.05). Although 81% of the ED patients in this study chewed Khat, there was no significant association between chewing Khat and either pathological or psychological ED (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Psychological problems are the main causes of ED among Yemenis especially in the younger age group. It is too early to exclude Khat as a factor contributing to this health problem, and this topic warrants further case-control studies with a larger sample size.

Amaç: Khat, Yemen ve Somali, Etiyopya ve Kenya gibi bazı Afrika ülkelerinde yetişen, bağımlılık yapan ve farklı vücut organları etkileyen, uyarıcı maddeler içeren bitki türüdür. Bu çalışma, erektil disfonksiyon (ED) nedenlerini belirlemek ve Khat çiğnemenin Yemenlilerde bu hastalık üzerindeki etkisini araştırmak amacıyla yapılmıştır.

Gereç ve yöntem: Yemen Bilim ve Teknoloji Üniversitesi Hastanesi’nde tedavi gören ve ED şikayeti olan toplam 236 hasta penil Doppler ultra-sonografi (US)ile incelendi. Anamnez ve sağlık verileri, hasta kayıtları ve mobil görüşmeler aracılığıyla toplanmıştır.

Bulgular: ED nedenleri; psikolojik nedenler (%72), venöz kaçağı (%19) ve arter hastalığı (%9) idi. Patolojik ED artan yaş ile artarken, Psikolojik ED en yaygın 15–29 yaşındakilerdeydi (p=0,041). Kalp hastalıkları ve diyabet patolojik ED ile anlamlı ilişki (p<0,05) göstermiştir. Bu çalışmada ED hastaların %81’i Khat çiğnemiş olsa da, Khat çiğneme ve patolojik veya psikolojik ED arasında anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmamıştır (p>0,05).

Sonuç: Psikolojik ED sorunları, özellikle genç yaş grubundaki Yemen-liler arasında yaygındır. Bu sağlık sorunu katkı sağlayan bir faktör olarak Khat’ı hariç tutmak için henüz çok erken olduğunu ve daha büyük bir örneklem büyüklüğü ile bu konuyu başka vaka-kontrol çalışmaları ile desteklemek gerektiğini düşünmekteyiz.

Keywords: Erectile dysfunction; Khat; Yemen; penile Doppler US.

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