Erectile dysfunction is a warning of impending heart attack

Too many doctors are ignoring the link between erectile dysfunction and heart disease, says a British doctor.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Geoffrey Hackett, a consultant in urology at the Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham, says that he has had many patients with erectile dysfunction referred to him after they have had a heart attack, only to find out that they developed erectile dysfunction two to three years prior to their heart attack, and that the problem was ignored by their doctor.

Research has shown that erectile dysfunction doubles the risk of heart disease. In fact, in men with type 2 diabetes, erectile dysfunction has been shown to be a better predictor of heart disease than high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Dr Hackett says that many doctors are still ignoring these facts and are treating erectile dysfunction as a “recreational” or "lifestyle issue" as opposed to an indication of a serious health problem.

Dr Hackett concludes: "Continuing to ignore these issues on the basis that cardiologists feel uncomfortable mentioning the word 'erection' to their patients or that they may have to deal with the management of a positive response, is no longer acceptable and possibly, based on current evidence, clinically negligent.”.

Hackett G. Erectile dysfunction predicts cardiovascular risk in men (letter). BMJ 2008;337:a2166