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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Erectile dysfunction is more than just an embarrassing bedroom problem. Two new studies show that its a serious early warning sign of life threatening heart disease and stroke for men with type 2 diabetes. Not reporting those early signs to a physician can be a fatal mistake.
The first symptoms of ED typically show up three years before coronary heart disease. One study, done in Hong Kong, followed diabetic men for four years. After a thorough evaluation, none of the patients showed any sign of heart or vascular disease or stroke. One-quarter had ED.
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The results showed out of every 1,000 men with type 2 diabetes and ED, 19.7 percent were likely to have some sort of coronary heart event every year. The number dropped to 9.5 percent for men without ED.
Diabetes, erectile dysfunction and heart disease share an ominous link, Peter Chun-Yip Tong, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of medicine and therapeutics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, was quoted as saying. The same process that hinders the extra blood flow needed to maintain an erection can have even more serious consequences in the heart.
Researchers found even when other symptoms were taken into account, ED raised the risk of a serious heart incident to 58 percent.
Another study led by Carmine Gazzaruso, M.D., Ph.D., included data from four major medical centers in Italy. Researchers found patients with ED were twice as likely to have not only a major cardiac event, but also to experience stroke, mini-stoke and arterial disease in the legs than men who did not experience ED.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs decreased the risk by one-third. Viagra and other medicines in that family of drugs appeared to reduce the risk as well, but showed no statistical significance.
Men should know that ED is a true harbinger of heart disease, Robert A. Kloner, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and director of research for the Heart Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying. In diabetic patients, its important to not only control the blood sugar level, but also to keep blood pressure below 130/80 and reduce LDL [cholesterol] to less than 100 milligrams. If the patient smokes, a cessation program is essential.
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SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, to be published online May 27, 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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