In what will prove very unwelcome news to the male population, a new study has linked mobile phones to erectile dysfunction (ED).

But before you throw your phone out of the window in a panic, larger-scale research is needed to prove the findings.

Medical teams in Austria and Egypt identified a positive correlation between carrying a switched-on mobile phone and ED, according to a report published in the Central European Journal of Urology.

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The pilot study was based a group of 20 men who had complained of ED for at least six months, as well as another group of 10 healthy men with no history of ED. There was no significant difference between either group regarding age, weight, height, smoking, total testosterone or exposure to other known sources of radiation.

All men completed the German version of the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) for evaluation of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), as well as another questionnaire designed to assess their mobile phone usage.

According to the researchers, the men suffering from ED carried their switched-on mobiles for an average of 4.4 hours a day, compared with just 1.8 hours for those without any problems.

But researchers conceded that more data is required to prove the findings.

Mobile phones have previously been linked to an increased risk of cancer, particularly brain tumours. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified mobile phones for the first time in their "gold-standard" rating system. They rated the devices as "group 2B" - meaning that they could "possibly" cause cancer in humans.

However, no conclusive link has been found.