Impotency is a barometer for heart condition: study

Impotency is a barometer for heart condition: study

Finally, some good news about impotency. A large scale study of men over 55 years has thrown evidence that the onset of impotency may be an indication of impending heart disease.

A study has shown that men who have erectile dysfunction are more likely to experience symptoms of a weak heart like chest pain, heart attack or even stroke seven years from the first appearance of dysfunction.

What this evidently means is that men who have to take impotence drugs should have themselves screened for heart diseases, says Ian Thompson from University of Texas Health Science Centre of San Antonio who is the co-author of the study.

“There are many men who die suddenly of a heart attack, never having seen a physician and never having their cardiovascular risk assessed,” says Thomson. “Some of these men may never have had a symptom of cardiovascular disease.” The report of the study has appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Despite the findings, the connection between impotence and the heart disease is well documented. Researchers already know about the common risk factors between the two that includes, smoking, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and lack of physical activity.

Where the study scores, is in its ability to monitor a big group of healthy men over a long time. Data of 8,063 men who have not shown any previous heart condition was used. The data analyzed by the researchers showed that erectile dysfunction, like a family history of heart ailment, is a good indicator of heart attack.

However, this was not a perfect indicator as during the study of the group having erection problems, 11 percent had a cardiovascular event. However, in the group which had no erectile problems, 6 percent still had a cardiovascular event.

The study had its share of limitations though. The standard questionnaire usually used by researchers for measuring erectile dysfunction was not used. Instead it ended up relying on patients own assessment of their heart problems, instead of medical reports.