A Taiwanese study probes into male sexual health and suggests a surprising link between the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction and that of migraines.

The study, spearheaded by Dr Chao-Yuan Huang from National Taiwan University’s College of Medicine, showed that men diagnosed with impotence have a 63% higher risk of being diagnosed with migraines compared to men of sound sexual health.

Dr Huang and colleagues studied 23,000 men of which nearly 5,700 reported having problems getting and/or maintaining an erection when sexually aroused. The erectile dysfunction patients were compared with the rest of the participants who did not have any problems in their sex lives.

On completion of the study period it was found that 4.25% men with erectile dysfunction had a prior diagnosis of migraine headaches whereas only 2.64% in the non-ED group had the headaches.

After considering all other erectile dysfunction risk factors, including age, diabetes and heart problems, the study authors found that those suffering from erectile dysfunction were found to be 1.63 times more likely to have been diagnosed with migraines in the past compared to the subjects in the other group.

"As it has been demonstrated that chronic pain can cause sexual dysfunction", the authors said, adding: "One possible explanation for the association seen in this study may be the chronic pain associated with migraine headaches."

Speaking on the study, Dr Tobias Köhler of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine said the results of study were definitely unique in that a causal link between migraines and female sexual dysfunction was found in one of the previous studies but no such association was established before in areas involving male sexual health.