Men who suffer from erectile dysfunction are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke
and death, Chinese researchers suggest.
Although it is well accepted that
cardiovascular disease is a risk factor for erectile dysfunction, it has not
been clear whether erectile dysfunction is an independent risk factor for
cardiovascular disease, the researchers noted.
"Erectile dysfunction
significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the increase
was probably independent of conventional risk factors," said lead
researcher Dr. Li-Qiang Qin, from the department of nutrition and food hygiene
in the School of Public Health at Soochow University in Suzhou.
As such, "erectile dysfunction
may not only contribute to cardiovascular risk prediction, but also serve as a
potential target for cardiovascular disease prevention," Qin said.
The report was published in the
Sept. 13 online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
For the study, Qin's team culled
data on the relationship between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular
disease from 12 studies published between 2005 and 2011 that included a total
of 36,744 people and an average follow-up of 4 to 16.2 years. This process,
called a meta-analysis, tries to pool data from several sources to tease out a
pattern that might not be obvious in a single study.
The researchers found a significant
association between erectile dysfunction and the increased risk of
cardiovascular disease, heart disease, stroke and death.
In fact, men with erectile
dysfunction had a 48 percent increased risk for cardiovascular disease, a 46
percent increased risk for heart disease, a 35 percent increased risk for
stroke and a 19 percent increased risk of dying of any cause, compared to men
without the condition.
Even after taking risk factors such
as age, weight , blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and smoking into
account, there was still a 54 percent increased risk for cardiovascular disease
associated with erectile dysfunction alone. The reasons for this association
are unclear, the researchers noted.
However, based on these findings,
Qin's group now thinks erectile dysfunction is an independent risk factor for
cardiovascular disease and not just an early marker of the condition.
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of
cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that
"erectile dysfunction impacts some million 18 million men in the United
States."
Cardiovascular disease and erectile
dysfunction share many common risk factors, including diabetes, obesity,
smoking, hypertension and high cholesterol, he said.
"A number of prior individual
studies have shown that men with erectile dysfunction are at increased risk for
fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events," Fonarow said. "Men with
erectile dysfunction should be aware of this significant increase in
cardiovascular risk and take proactive steps to adopt a healthy lifestyle and
better control their cardiovascular risk factors."
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