Erectile dysfunction? Check the heart!
The results of two studies involving men with type 2 diabetes indicate that erectile dysfunction is a reliable early symptom of serious heart diseases, including heart attack.
(The causes of erectile dysfunction can be different, and depending on personal preferences, some sex therapists and andrologists claim that problems with potency are 80% caused by vascular disorders, while others say that psychogenic factors are to blame for 90%. Here we are talking about vascular erectile dysfunction, although the psyche necessarily contributes to any malfunction of the most unreliable of human organs :).
The authors of the work conducted by scientists of the Chinese University of Hong Kong under the leadership of Dr. Chun-Yip Tong also found that cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by a third. In addition, Viagra and its analogues have a similar effect. The researchers emphasize the importance of timely informing the doctor about erection problems, which will help not only to take timely measures to eliminate sexual dysfunction, but also to improve the state of the cardiovascular system by actively combating risk factors such as high blood glucose and cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, smoking and excess weight.
Diabetes, erectile dysfunction and heart disease are characterized by a common symptom – a violation of the functions of blood vessels. The first stage of the damage process is endothelial dysfunction – a violation of the smoothness and reactivity of the walls of blood vessels. This contributes to the appearance of local inflammatory foci on the inner surface of blood vessels and the deposition of cholesterol plaques, which leads to the development of atherosclerosis and the formation of blood clots. As a result, the risk of heart blood vessel blockage and myocardial infarction increases.
Usually, signs of erectile dysfunction appear more than three years before the first symptoms of heart disease appear. In one study involving men with type 2 diabetes, the symptoms of erectile dysfunction in all cases preceded the symptoms of coronary heart disease.
As part of the work aimed at proving that erectile dysfunction can be considered as a harbinger of deterioration of the cardiovascular system, Hong Kong scientists conducted a thorough examination of 2306 men with type 2 diabetes and for an average of 4 years observed changes in their condition and the development of complications, including pathology of the kidneys, retina and heart-vascular system. At the beginning of the study, slightly more than 25% of the participants noted symptoms of erectile dysfunction. None of the participants had symptoms of heart disease, vascular disease or stroke.
During the follow-up period, 123 participants suffered a heart attack, died of cardiac pathology, complained of chest pain due to narrowing of the arteries, or underwent surgery to restore cardiac blood flow. Statistical analysis showed that out of 1000 men with type 2 diabetes and erectile dysfunction, 19.7 are diagnosed with symptoms of coronary heart disease annually, while for diabetics without erectile dysfunction, this indicator is 9.5.
Statistical analysis, in addition to erectile dysfunction, taking into account many factors associated with the development of coronary heart disease, including age, high blood pressure, duration of diabetes, as well as the degree of diabetic damage to the kidneys and retina, showed that erectile dysfunction is an independent early symptom of coronary disease. The authors claim that erectile dysfunction indicates an increased risk of coronary heart disease by 58%. A more pronounced symptom is only doubling the risk of high protein content in the urine, indicating severe kidney damage.
The second study, conducted by researchers from four Italian medical centers working under the guidance of Dr. Carmine Gazzaruso, involved 291 men suffering not only from type 2 diabetes, but also asymptomatic coronary heart disease, detected during a stress test and confirmed by X-ray angiography. 118 participants had erectile dysfunction at the beginning of the study. The authors also observed the participants for about four years, registering serious manifestations of cardiovascular diseases, differentiated by them as coronary heart disease, stroke, micro-stroke (transient ischemic cerebrovascular accident) and diseases of the arteries of the legs. According to the results of observations, in patients who had erectile dysfunction at the beginning of the observation period, serious pathologies of the cardiovascular system were observed twice as often as in patients who did not suffer from erectile dysfunction.
At the same time, taking cholesterol-lowering statins reduced the risk of developing cardiovascular pathologies by a third. Viagra and other drugs of the 5-phosphodiesterase inhibitor group had a similar effect, but the authors note that the statistical reliability of this result is low.
Dr. Chun-Yip Tong's team continues to analyze a database containing information on almost 1,000 patients with diabetes in search of answers to unanswered questions about the relationship between erectile dysfunction, diabetes and heart disease.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily
22.05.2008