Universal blood donors may have one more thing to brag about: they perform more reliably sexually. New research indicates that men with blood type O suffer fewer problems with erectile dysfunction (ED) than any other blood group. Put another way, men with blood types A, B and AB are the most at risk for impotence.

The researchers, based in Ordu University in Turkey, looked at 350 people around 60 years of age across a period of three years - from 2012 and 2015. The test subjects were divided into two groups, according to whether or not they suffered from ED. Of these, 111 participants in the study were afflicted, while the remaining 239 were not affected.

Each participant underwent a blood test and their blood type was noted. The data showed that that compared with O blood, the risk of erectile dysfunction was 3.9 times greater for the A group, 3.5 times greater for the B group and 4.7 times greater for the AB group. The final maths indicated that only 16 percent of the type O group suffered from ED, while 42 percent of those with type A blood were affected. For comparison purposes, note that 45 percent of Caucasian men have type O blood, compared to 40 percent with type A.

It is well-documented how ED may be be caused by factors ranging from stress, high blood pressure, smoking and poor diet, among others. It is a common ailment, effecting half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 to one degree or another, and the sale of remedies, such as Viagra, has become an enormous business.

What's the science? Your blood type having an effect on your sexual performance is not as crazy a notion as you might have first thought. Scientists have previously determined how it plays a role in other conditions, including heart disease, high cholesterol and blood clots.

The same aspects of influence that blood type has on those ailments may also be what gives it some sway over your erection. Problems obtaining and keeping erections have been a red flag in cardiology for a while – these may pop up three years before heart disease surfaces. As the arteries in your penis are much smaller than the arteries around your heart, they are more likely to show effects from damage or buildup first.

The research has been published in the journal Italian Archive of Urology and Andrology.