A recent study shows erectile dysfunction may warn of heart disease.
The warning signs
A study involving 221 patients shows men suffering with erectile dysfunction were more likely to have heart problems. Forty-three percent of men with ED, compared to 17 percent of tested men without ED, had a myocardial perfusion summed stress score greater than eight, which is “strongly associated with clinically significant obstructive coronary artery disease and a high risk of both cardiac death and nonfatal myocardial infarction,” note the authors.
In this study, ED was a stronger predictor of significant coronary heart disease than any of the traditional office-based risk factors, such as family history, cholesterol levels or blood pressure. ED was also associated with reduced exercise endurance and decreased ejection fraction — a measure of the heart’s pumping capacity.
Changing the outlook
The findings from this study could help doctor’s offer better overall care.
“This suggests we may need to ask male patients a new set of sensitive questions as part of the evaluation for heart disease,” said cardiologist and study director Parker Ward, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and director of the cardiology clinic at the University of Chicago. “The good news is that a decrease in sexual function could provide an additional warning sign for the presence of heart disease.”
Ward adds, “Asking patients about their sexual function may help identify those at risk for significant heart disease, allowing physicians to stratify that risk with further testing, and get them engaged in an aggressive program of risk-factor modification or treatment.”
Erectile dysfunction treatment
Oral medications, like Viagra and Cialis, have become popular treatments for battling erectile dysfunction. A recent study shows that one third of all men taking Viagra for erectile dysfunction started feeling results in just 14 minutes. The study, conducted by Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, believes it is the fastest working erectile dysfunction treatment on the market.
