Riding a bike may sound like a good way to travel. After all, you don t have to pay for parking fees, vehicle maintenance, gasoline, and insurance among others. Biking is also good for the heart, produces no pollution, is quieter than a car, and doesn t kill or maim people.

But before you jump into a bike to explore the world, read this first. Researchers say cycling can make you impotent a condition that currently affects 150 million men worldwide. This depressing news comes from sexual and reproductive health researcher Steven Schrader who studied the effects of bicycle riding in police officers.

Schrader said night time erections were of a poorer quality in biking police officers

than in non-biking officers. The quality of erections also decreased as seat pressure increased and the longer the bikers stayed on the saddle.

Schrader is not the lone voice in the wilderness when it comes to cycling and men s sexual health. Three other studies published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine support his findings. The studies said sitting on a bike saddle puts pressure in the perineum (the area between the scrotum and the anus). This temporarily blocks penile blood flow causing impotence. Over time, the lining vessels of the compressed arteries become damaged leading to permanent artery blockage.

In Brussels, researchers from University Hospital disclosed that male cyclists were twice as likely to suffer from impotence compared to

those who stay away from bikes. A thousand cyclists were tested for this study.

They found that more than 60 percent of men and women reported genital discomfort. Their ‘Bicycle Saddle Report’ suggests that male cyclists are twice as likely to suffer from virility problems, reported the BBC News.

Earlier, Austrian doctors arrived at the same conclusion after studying 45 amateur mountain bikers who cycled at least two hours a day, six days a week. In their study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, researchers at University Hospital in Innsbruck said all of the bikers had scrotal abnormalities compared to only 16 percent of non-biking medical students.

The doctors said most of the mountain bikers developed

cysts containing sperm. This suggests that the vibration of their bikes over rugged terrain had damaged their testicles and made them impotent. To prevent this, researchers advised the use of padded shorts and padded saddles.

In spite of these findings, researchers pointed out that not all bikers are doomed to suffer from impotence the same way that not all smokers will develop cancer. One study suggests that only five percent of bikers will eventually become impotent. However, while bikers can always hope for the best, they should also expect the worst. It pays to invest in comfortable biking apparel and a good soft saddle.

Whereas past research emphasized whether or not a relationship existed between bicycle riding on a

saddle and erectile dysfunction, Schrader now says that the next step of contemporary research on the subject should focus on intervention. And if that happens, it’s possible that we may see some radically redesigned bicycle seats hitting the market in the near future, said the people at AltPenis.Com.

If your doctor says you re impotent due to biking or other reasons, don t give up easily. Remember that impotence can be treated. One popular treatment is Erectasil, a powerful topical lotion that will help men rise to the occasion. Unlike sex pills that have questionable side effects, Erectasil is safe and easy to use. For more information, check out http://erectasil.com.

Jill Stewart is a health and fitness enthusiast and

published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premier online health news magazine http://www.healthnfitnesszone.com