Erectile dysfunction can be a precursor to serious cardiovascular problems – a connection that should push doctors to ask men about problems in the bedroom when evaluating patients’ overall risk of heart disease, according to the findings of an expert panel.
The report, by an international group of specialists known as the Princeton Consensus Expert Panel Conference, concludes that ED is a red flag in men younger than 55 years old for future cardiovascular disease or death. In some patients, the time window between onset of ED and a cardiovascular problem may be two to five years.
"Any man with ED should be considered at a substantially higher increase cardiovascular risk until further testing can be done," said lead author Dr. Ajay Nehra, vice chair of the panel and director of Men's Health in the Department of Urology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
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"Erectile dysfunction often occurs in the presence of silent, non-symptomatic cardiovascular disease; and hence this is an opportunity for cardiovascular risk reduction."
The panel recommends that younger men, older than age 30, who experience ED receive a thorough heart evaluation, noting younger men who experience ED are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease than men without ED.
The panel also recommended that testosterone levels be measured in all men diagnosed with ED, citing recent studies linking low testosterone to ED, cardiovascular disease and death.
"Testosterone levels should be routinely measured. Men with testosterone levels less than 230 have higher risk for all cause and cardiovascular mortality," said Nehra.
The new recommendations were reported in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
SPECIAL: These 4 Things Happen Right Before a Heart Attack — Read More.