Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.
One of the studies also showed that cholesterol-lowering medications could cut the risk of heart problems by about one-third-and suggested that Viagra and other compounds in the same drug family might offer similar protection.
The research, which was published in the May 27, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), underscores the importance of encouraging men to report Erectile dysfunction to their physicians, and of focusing treatment not only on overcoming sexual dysfunction but also on improving overall cardiovascular health.
"The development of erectile dysfunction should alert both patients and healthcare providers to the future risk of coronary heart disease," said Peter Chun-Yip Tong, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong. "Other risk factors such as poor blood glucose control, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, smoking and obesity should be reviewed and addressed aggressively."
Diabetes, erectile dysfunction and heart disease share an ominous link: damage to the blood vessels by high blood sugar levels. The same process that hinders the extra blood flow needed to maintain an erection can have even more serious consequences in the heart. "The first event is probably endothelial dysfunction-when the smoothness and reactivity of the blood vessel are damaged," said Dr. Tong. "This process encourages local inflammation on the inner surface of the blood vessels and the deposition of cholesterol, resulting in formation of clots and atherosclerosis. Therefore, there is a high risk of blockage of blood vessels in the heart, which can lead to a heart attack."
Men typically show signs of Erectile dysfunction more than three years before the onset of symptoms of coronary heart disease. In one study of diabetic men, symptoms of ED always preceded coronary symptoms.
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