Obese men with diabetes 2 can enhance erectile function and decrease urinary tract symptoms along with increased sexual desire by losing weight, a new study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine shows.

Professor Gary Wittert MD of the University of Adelaide studied 31 overweight men with diabetes type 2 over 8 weeks and these men were to intake 600 calories less each day through a low calorie diet.

The overweight men lost 5 per cent in weight and their sexual and urinary problems improved within 8 weeks as improvements continued for months.

"Our findings are consistent with the evidence that not only erectile function, but also lower urinary tract symptoms are a marker of cardio-metabolic risk," Wittert notes. "The evidence that improvement can be achieved by modest weight loss, in particular when a diet is of high nutritional quality, is of public health significance in framing public health messages that resonate with men."

"This important paper supports earlier publications that lifestyle is relevant and can positively affect sexual function," said Irwin Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

"At a time when oral drugs are very popular, it can now be shown that weight loss is an important non-pharmacologic therapeutic intervention in restoring erectile and urinary function and cardio-vascular health. Obesity is an epidemic, and such data reinforce the positive relationship between eating right, losing weight, improved sexual function and voiding and overall cardiovascular health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8 percent) are obese. The U.S. is expected to use $344 billion on health care costs related to obesity in 2018 if rates continue to surge at their current levels.

Obesity-related direct expenditures are expected to account for more than 21 percent of the nation's direct health care spending in 2018 according to UnitedHealth Group report in 2010.