TROUBLE getting and keeping an erection for sexual activity is more than just a problem in a man’s pants or in the sack – it is an early sign of impending heart disease.

Consultant urologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies Dr Belinda Morrison told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview that underlying disease is the first thing for which men with erectile dysfunction are evaluated.

“When we treat the men we don’t just look at it (erectile dysfunction) as a social problem and a way for men to get increased gratification, we look at it as a major medical problem,” Dr Morrison shared.

 The consultant urologist explained that it can be a screening test for underlying cardiac disease, because the risk factors for erectile dysfunction and ischemic heart disease – heart disease that may ultimately lead to a heart attack or myocardial infarction – are the same.

“A heart attack is because of poor blood supply to the heart and so it means that the disease is occurring because of poor flow,” Dr Morrison argued. “Any risk factor that affects flow to the heart can result in ischemic heart disease, but those are the same risk factors that may put someone at greater chance of having erectile dysfunction.”

These risk factors include smoking, lack of exercise or sedentary lifestyle, high cholesterol – which may be derived from the diet, hypertension, and diabetes.

While admitting to Your Health Your Wealth that erectile dysfunction is quite common and is seen in about 50 per cent of men between the ages of 40 and 79, she said it is more common in specific high risk groups, such as diabetics.

“We saw it in a study here in diabetics,” Dr Morrison said. “We saw it in 86 per cent of diabetic men with some form of erectile dysfunction because, of course, there are varying degrees.

“In patients with hypertension, it is not as common as diabetes, but it is certainly greater than the rest of the population,” she added.

The urologist reiterated that erectile dysfunction is higher in men who have a history of chronic smoking, men who do not exercise and also men who have heart disease and kidney disease.

Outside of sharing similar risk factors, the process by which men develop both erectile dysfunction and heart disease is also similar.

“If you think about it, the vessel going to the penis is pretty small — the diameter is about one to two millimetres. The vessel going to the heart is larger, it is three to four millimetres,” she reasoned. “If both vessels are affected because of plaque deposition and obstruction, so if effectively there is a narrowing of the lumen, the one that is most early compromised is the one with the smaller diameter and that would be your penile vessel.”

Dr Morrison added that, later on, the cardiac vessel is also compromised.

“So, when they have looked at studies of men who have erectile dysfunction, but do not have symptoms of cardiac disease, they find that with successive years, there is an increased risk of cardiac disease,” she pointed out.

The urologist said that various studies have been done and that the results vary in relation to the development of heart disease, from as low as three years to five years after diagnosis with organic or vasculogenic erectile dysfunction. She insisted that it is not for all types of erectile dysfunction, but for erectile dysfunction that is related to poor blood flow because of the risk factors mentioned.

“So people who have vasculogenic erectile dysfunction and have no symptoms of heart disease, if you follow them up for another three to five years, they may ultimately get heart disease,” the urologist said.

5 things to know about erectile dysfunction

1. It is common.

2. You can reduce the risk of getting it.

3. It is treatable.

4. It can cause anxiety, stress and depression.

5. Lifestyle is important in prevention.

Did you know?

Excessive masturbation DOES NOT result in erectile dysfunction.