Erection problem heart disease hint

WASHINGTON - Men with diabetes who also have trouble getting an erection may have heart disease and not realise it, Italian doctors say.

The study is among the first to document what some experts had predicted with the advent of new drugs to treat erectile dysfunction - that they would help flush out men with heart disease but no serious symptoms apart from erectile problems.

"If our findings are confirmed, erectile dysfunction may become a potential marker to identify diabetic patients to screen for silent coronary artery disease," said Dr Carmine Gazzaruso of Maugeri Foundation Hospital in Pavia, Italy, who led the study.

Writing in the journal Circulation, Dr Gazzaruso and colleagues said theirs was the first study to evaluate how common erectile dysfunction was among men with type 2 diabetes and silent heart disease.

They studied 133 men who had uncomplicated diabetes and silent coronary artery disease documented by coronary angiography, a test that creates images of the inside of the heart's blood vessels.

They were compared with 127 diabetic men who were found to be free from heart disease.

Silent coronary artery disease is a strong predictor of coronary events and early death. Diabetes and heart disease both can affect bloodflow to the extremities so erectile dysfunction is a likely side-effect.

HEART OF THE MATTER

AIM

* To evaluate 160 men to find out whether erectile dysfunction is linked to heart disease in diabetics.

METHODS AND RESULTS

* Of the 133 men with heart disease, 33.8 per cent also had erectile dysfunction.

* Of the 127 free of heart disease, the erectile dysfunction rate was only 4.7 per cent.

CONCLUSIONS

* A strong link between erectile dysfunction and heart disease.

* Erectile dysfunction potentially a marker for heart disease in diabetics.

* Diabetics should have an ECG before starting treatment for erectile dysfunction.

- REUTERS