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"Men who suffer symptoms from varicoceles, enlarged veins in the scrotum, are more likely to develop vascular disease and metabolic disease, such as diabetes, according to a study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.
Michael Eisenberg, MD, assistant professor of urology, and his team mined data from thousands of medical insurance records to see whether the condition, previously linked to infertility, also puts men at higher risk for other health problems.
Their findings will be published online Dec. 1 in Andrology. Eisenberg is the senior author. Urology resident Nancy Wang, MD, is the lead author.
About 15 percent of American men are estimated to have varicoceles, dilated veins in the scrotum. The enlarged veins are thought to allow more blood to flow through the scrotum and raise its temperature above normal levels. The heat can impair testicular function leading to lower sperm and testosterone production. The condition also can cause pain or shrinkage of the testicles, but often results in none of these symptoms and is left untreated.
"To millions of men that are diagnosed with this, a lot of them are told, 'Don't worry about it,'" Eisenberg said.
Varicoceles are treated for infertility and pain, but other risks may be going unchecked. "Varicoceles are associated with low testosterone, and low testosterone in turn is associated with metabolic risks and heart disease," Wang said. No one has connected the dots between varicoceles, testosterone and these conditions before now, she said.
A strong correlation
For the study, Eisenberg's lab dug through a wealth of data housed in the Truven Health Marketscan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, which contains insurance claims filed by 77 million individuals since 1996. Between 2001 and 2009, the researchers identified more than 4,400 reproductive-age men with diagnosed varicoceles. For comparison, the team also looked at men without varicoceles -- a group that included both infertile and fertile men, differentiated based on whether they had received infertility screening or a vasectomy..."
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Michael Eisenberg, MD, assistant professor of urology, and his team mined data from thousands of medical insurance records to see whether the condition, previously linked to infertility, also puts men at higher risk for other health problems.
Their findings will be published online Dec. 1 in Andrology. Eisenberg is the senior author. Urology resident Nancy Wang, MD, is the lead author.
About 15 percent of American men are estimated to have varicoceles, dilated veins in the scrotum. The enlarged veins are thought to allow more blood to flow through the scrotum and raise its temperature above normal levels. The heat can impair testicular function leading to lower sperm and testosterone production. The condition also can cause pain or shrinkage of the testicles, but often results in none of these symptoms and is left untreated.
"To millions of men that are diagnosed with this, a lot of them are told, 'Don't worry about it,'" Eisenberg said.
Varicoceles are treated for infertility and pain, but other risks may be going unchecked. "Varicoceles are associated with low testosterone, and low testosterone in turn is associated with metabolic risks and heart disease," Wang said. No one has connected the dots between varicoceles, testosterone and these conditions before now, she said.
A strong correlation
For the study, Eisenberg's lab dug through a wealth of data housed in the Truven Health Marketscan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, which contains insurance claims filed by 77 million individuals since 1996. Between 2001 and 2009, the researchers identified more than 4,400 reproductive-age men with diagnosed varicoceles. For comparison, the team also looked at men without varicoceles -- a group that included both infertile and fertile men, differentiated based on whether they had received infertility screening or a vasectomy..."
Learn more:
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