- Erection discussion could save your life
- The Age
- 09/12/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
Going to the doctor to discuss the embarrassing problem of erectile dysfunction (ED) could not only rescue your sex life, it could also save your life, a leading urologist says.
The condition, which is estimated to afflict more than 150 million men across the globe, is increasingly being seen as a red flag for serious future illnesses including diabetes and, Dr Jay Lee warns, it can also provide advanced warning of a heart attack.
"The blood vessel to your penis is about a millimetre in diameter, the blood vessels to your heart are three to four millimetres in diameter," Dr Lee said.
"So ... if your small blood vessels have been blocked you have ED, it's not going to be very long before the next size up blood vessel - your heart blood vessels - goes.
"That's why there is that future risk of heart attack."
Canada-based Dr Lee, who was speaking at a global sexual health conference in Belgium this week, said 80 per cent of men who suffered a heart attack had previously suffered from ED.
"There are studies indicating a three to four year window from when you first get ED to when they have their first heart attack or heart condition," he said.
"Ideally, we need to catch these guys when they first get their ED and say `okay you need to diet, you need to exercise, let's check your blood sugar, your cholesterol, so that we may be able to prevent that heart attack from happening'."
Survey results released at the European and International Societies for Sexual Medicine conference in Brussels also show 50 per cent of men remain unaware of the underlying illnesses which cause ED.
More than 170 ED sufferers - from nine countries across Europe but also taking in Mexico and Korea - were quizzed in the independent survey commissioned by pharmaceutical company Bayer Schering Pharma.
Half said they were unaware diabetes, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels could cause ED while 70 per cent said they would have acted sooner had they known of the links to potentially life-threatening conditions.
Dr Lee said a poll of Australian men with ED would return similar, or possibly worse, results.
"Australian men tend to be more macho, or think they are. Help-seeking behaviour is quite poor especially in younger men," he said.
"If you have ED see your doctor, it can happen at any age and ED is related to underlying conditions as well as being related to future heart disease."
Dr Lee presented the results of a global study of 74,000 men who use Bayer's drug Levitra to treat their ED. Thirty-two per cent of the men in the study had hypertension, 22 per cent had diabetes, 16 per cent were clinically obese and 15 per cent had lipid metabolism disorder.
Bayer Schering Pharma is one of three pharmaceutical companies which have drugs on the market to treat ED, along with Eli Lilly's Cialis and Pfizer's Viagra.
The condition, which is estimated to afflict more than 150 million men across the globe, is increasingly being seen as a red flag for serious future illnesses including diabetes and, Dr Jay Lee warns, it can also provide advanced warning of a heart attack.
"The blood vessel to your penis is about a millimetre in diameter, the blood vessels to your heart are three to four millimetres in diameter," Dr Lee said.
"So ... if your small blood vessels have been blocked you have ED, it's not going to be very long before the next size up blood vessel - your heart blood vessels - goes.
"That's why there is that future risk of heart attack."
Canada-based Dr Lee, who was speaking at a global sexual health conference in Belgium this week, said 80 per cent of men who suffered a heart attack had previously suffered from ED.
"There are studies indicating a three to four year window from when you first get ED to when they have their first heart attack or heart condition," he said.
"Ideally, we need to catch these guys when they first get their ED and say `okay you need to diet, you need to exercise, let's check your blood sugar, your cholesterol, so that we may be able to prevent that heart attack from happening'."
Survey results released at the European and International Societies for Sexual Medicine conference in Brussels also show 50 per cent of men remain unaware of the underlying illnesses which cause ED.
More than 170 ED sufferers - from nine countries across Europe but also taking in Mexico and Korea - were quizzed in the independent survey commissioned by pharmaceutical company Bayer Schering Pharma.
Half said they were unaware diabetes, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels could cause ED while 70 per cent said they would have acted sooner had they known of the links to potentially life-threatening conditions.
Dr Lee said a poll of Australian men with ED would return similar, or possibly worse, results.
"Australian men tend to be more macho, or think they are. Help-seeking behaviour is quite poor especially in younger men," he said.
"If you have ED see your doctor, it can happen at any age and ED is related to underlying conditions as well as being related to future heart disease."
Dr Lee presented the results of a global study of 74,000 men who use Bayer's drug Levitra to treat their ED. Thirty-two per cent of the men in the study had hypertension, 22 per cent had diabetes, 16 per cent were clinically obese and 15 per cent had lipid metabolism disorder.
Bayer Schering Pharma is one of three pharmaceutical companies which have drugs on the market to treat ED, along with Eli Lilly's Cialis and Pfizer's Viagra.
Source: https://news.theage.com.au/world/erection-discussion-could-save-your-life-20081210-6v2d.html
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