Erectile Dysfunction Raises Heart Risks
Effect of anti-impotence drugs, though, remains unclear

(HealthDay News) -- Erectile dysfunction might be more than a problem in the bedroom. It could be a sign of future heart trouble, some health experts now believe.

Two studies -- one from a group of Italian researchers, the other from Hong Kong -- found that when diabetic men also had erectile dysfunction, their risk of heart disease was significantly increased.

"These reports add two things to what we already know," Dr. R. Parker Ward, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago , told HealthDay . "One is that they indicate the importance of erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients in terms of predicting future cardiovascular events. These studies suggest that the additional presence of erectile dysfunction places them at incrementally higher risk.

"Secondly, they show that even when considered in combination with traditional risk factors, erectile dysfunction offers incremental information about the risk of future cardiovascular events," Ward said.

Results of the studies were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology .

Erectile dysfunction, or the inability to achieve or maintain an erection, is a common problem, according to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. As many as 30 million men are believed to have erectile dysfunction, the institute reports.

Erectile dysfunction and heart disease have long been known to share risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to Dr. Robert A. Kloner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California .

"What is new here is that erectile dysfunction remained a significant risk factor for developing heart disease after controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors," Kloner, who also wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal, told HealthDay .

Diabetes can affect male sexual function in various ways. One is by affecting the blood vessels, and another is by reducing sensation to the nerves, a condition called neuropathy.

"Neuropathy would interfere with the neurogenic responses feeding into proper erection," Dr. E. Scott Monrad, a professor of clinical medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told HealthDay . "And obstruction of blood flow into the arteries reduces the pressure needed to achieve erection."

The Hong Kong study included more than 2,000 men with diabetes, none of whom had a history of heart disease. Still, by the end of the four-year study, those who had erectile dysfunction were 58 percent more likely to have had a heart attack or other serious cardiovascular problem.

The Italian study, which involved 291 men with diabetes, found that men who had erectile dysfunction were twice as likely to have cardiovascular problems.

Additionally, the Italian study found that those who were taking cholesterol-reducing statins had one-third fewer cardiac incidents. They also found that Viagra and other drugs for erectile dysfunction might lower the heart disease risk, though the difference was not statistically significant and could have been due to chance.

With that finding in mind, Ward added a warning.

"I strongly caution that we do not have enough evidence at this point that the drugs used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction have any beneficial effects on the development of heart disease," he noted.

On the Web

Learn more about your risk for heart disease by visiting the American Heart Association.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Robert A. Kloner, M.D., professor of medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; E. Scott Monrad, M.D., professor of clinical medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and director, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; R. Parker Ward, M.D., associate professor of medicine, University of Chicago; May 27, 2008, Journal of the American College of Cardiology ; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (www.niddk.nih.gov)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: May 31, 2009
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