Erectile dysfunction doubles the risk of heart disease

Scientists in the United States say they have discovered a link between heart disease and erectile dysfunction - they say in some cases that risk is doubled.

The researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota say they have found that men who experience erectile dysfunction between the ages of 40 and 49 are twice as likely to develop heart disease than men without the problem.

According to a new study the highest risk for coronary heart disease was in younger men and researcher Dr. Jennifer St. Sauver says it represented a 80% greater risk and suggests that doctors may need to consider erectile dysfunction a predictor of future risk of coronary heart disease and take appropriate steps to prevent it.

Experts say the importance of the study cannot be overstated as it raises the prospect of a possible 'window of curability,' where the progression of cardiac disease might be slowed or halted by medical intervention.

Erectile dysfunction is a common problem which becomes more likely as men age, it affects 5 to 10% of men at age 40 but by age 70, from 40 to 60% are affected.

The Mayo researchers wanted to learn more about the connections between age, cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction and Dr. St. Sauver says while previous studies suggested that there might be a link between the two,it remained no more than a suggestion.

For the Mayo Clinic study 1,402 men were identified who lived in Olmsted County, Minnesota in 1996 and did not have heart disease; every two years for 10 years, these men were assessed for urological and sexual health.

The researchers then linked the initial data and the increasing incidence of erectile dysfunction over time, to data from a long-term study of heart disease in Olmsted County and found over a 19 year period that men with erectile dysfunction were 80% more likely to develop coronary heart disease compared to men without erectile dysfunction.

The highest risk of new heart disease was seen in the youngest study participants, men 40 to 49 years old when the study began, who had erectile dysfunction.

In men in their 50s, 60s and 70s, the total incidence of new cases of heart disease also was higher in those with erectile dysfunction, but the researchers say the differences were not as striking as those seen among the 40- to 49-year- olds.

Dr. St. Sauver says in older men, erectile dysfunction may be of less prognostic importance for development of future heart disease.

Though the study did not determine reasons for the increased risk of heart disease among men with erectile dysfunction it is suspected that erectile dysfunction and coronary artery disease may be different manifestations of the same underlying disease process, where a build up of plaque blocks arteries around the heart and may also block the smaller penile arteries first, causing erectile dysfunction - alternatively, arteries may lose elasticity over time, contributing to heart disease and this arterial stiffening may affect the smaller penile arteries first.

The study was published in the February 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.