Erectile Dysfunction, Heart Disease Combo Raises Death Risk in Men

Men suffering from erectile dysfunction combined with cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk of death, according to a new research.

Reporting in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, German researchers stated that erectile dysfunction (ED) is a strong predictor of death from all causes and of heart attack, stroke and heart failure in men with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

In the first study to show that ED is predictive of death and cardiovascular outcomes, researchers found that men with CVD and ED (compared to those without ED) were twice as likely to suffer death from all causes and 1.6 times more likely to suffer the composite of cardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke and heart failure hospitalization.

"Erectile dysfunction is something that regularly should be addressed in the medical history of patients; it might be a symptom of early atherosclerosis," said Michael Bvhm, M.D., lead author of the study and chairman of internal medicine in the Department of Cardiology and Intensive Care at the University of Saarland, Germany.

The worldwide study included 1,519 men from 13 countries in a substudy of the ONTARGET and TRANSCEND trials of cardiovascular patients. The men answered a questionnaire to determine whether they had ED. Men with ED were then categorized as having mild, mild-to-moderate, moderate or severe ED. The questionnaires were given at the initial visit, after two years or at the final visit after an average follow-up of five years.

Source-ANI
SRM