Erectile dysfunction indicates cardiovascular risk

Birmingham, United Kingdom, October 22: Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as Male impotence, can be an indication that a person is at a significant risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a leading expert has suggested.

Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) are one and half times more likely to suffer heart attack, claims urologist Dr Geoffrey Hacket from the Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham. He said the condition gives a two to three-year warning of impending problems.

Although, doctors have always ignored the link between erectile dysfunction and the risk of heart disease, Dr Hacket said he regularly saw men referred to him with the sexual dysfunction after a heart attack, often having developed ED years earlier.

In a letter published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal, Dr Hackett wrote: "Erectile dysfunction is the manifestation of vasculardefine disease in smaller arteries and gives a two-to-three-year early warning of myocardial infarctiondefine (heart attack)."

ED is associated with a 50 percent additional risk of coronary events, which is similar to taking up moderate smoking or having a close family history of heart problems.

Further, in men with type 2 diabetesdefine, this socially embarrassing affliction was a more serious warning of heart risk than other common factors including high blood pressure or high cholesterol, Dr Hackett said.

He added, "Despite this evidence we don't even screen for erectile dysfunction or low testosterone in type 2 diabetes or patients with coronary heart disease. We prescribe drugs for coronary heart disease that make erectile dysfunction worse, even though there are drug treatments as effective which improve it."

Doctors generally ignore the risk because they are uncomfortable with talking about the condition, he said.

“Continuing to ignore these issues on the basis that cardiologists feel uncomfortable mentioning the word erection to their patients or that they may have to deal with the management of a positive response, is no longer acceptable and probably clinically negligent,” he added.

ED is a sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis, but it can be a symptom of hardening of the arteries that can block blood flow, Dr Hackett concluded.

NHS Direct described the ED as the inability to get and maintain an erection that is sufficient for satisfactory sexual intercourse. ED is a very common condition, particularly in older men. It is estimated that half of all men who are between 40-70 years of age will experience at least one episode of ED.

ED can have a range of possible causes, which can be both physical and psychological. ED can in many cases be treated by drugs taken orally, injected, or as penile suppositories.