Impotence and heart attacks strongly linked

Men with heart disease, who are also impotent, are twice as likely to die compared with those who have heart disease alone. This stark warning from German researchers came after a study, consisting 1,500 men. The findings would serve to suggest that patients who visit their doctors with symptoms that are associated with erectile dysfunction, should also be checked for cardiovascular problems.

It has been acknowledged for a long time that impotence can be a strong predicator for early death in middle-aged to older men.

Often the reason for this is heart disease. Impotence is caused by a narrowing of blood vessels leading to the penis and this can be a sign that the person’s arteries are narrowing in general, as a result of cardiovascular problems.

Older men with erectile dysfunction are often embarrassed about their condition (although with one in two men suffering it, they really needn’t be). Because of this they are often keen to only speak briefly about their symptoms if at all, and will not generally go to see a doctor once Viagra has helped them to overcome their impotence. If doctors were able to examine these men more carefully, they may find them to be in the early stages of cardiovascular disease.

On the flip side, men with heart problems may not always be talking to doctors about erectile dysfunction. Experts also believe that men should be screened for erectile dysfunction as a routine part of cardiovascular checks.

The Department of Health said that it would "keep new and emerging evidence under review." They highlighted the existing NHS Health Check programme, which offers medical checks to 40 to 74-year-olds with the aim of preventing conditions like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and chronic kidney diseases.