BEWARE: Erectile dysfunction increases the risk of early death by 70%- Scientists

Erectile dysfunction is often thought of as an issue that primarily affects older men.

Yet, nearly 20 per cent of men under the age of 40 are affected by the disorder, researchers said.

It was already known that erectile dysfunction is linked to cardiovascular disease risk factors – including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and smoking.

The disorder has also already been recognized as a risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease – in addition to angina myocardial infarction.

The link between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular risk may arise as a result of endothelial cell dysfunction and impaired production of nitrous oxide, the scientists said.

To arrive at their conclusions, they examined data from 1,790 men between the ages of 20 to 85 who participated in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

They linked the survey data with death certificates from the National Death Index through December 21, 2011.

These findings have major public health and clinical implications in that erectile dysfunction is a strong predictor of premature mortality

Erectile dysfunction was measured by asking: ‘How would you describe your ability to get and keep an erection adequate for satisfactory intercourse?’

Those who answered ‘sometimes able’ or ‘never able’ were determined to have the disorder.

The scientists found that 557 of the survey participants had erectile dysfunction.

After a follow-up of nearly eight years, 244 of the original group had died.

Of those deaths, 61 were from cardiovascular disease, 64 from malignant neoplasms, 12 from chronic lower respiratory diseases and the remainder form a myriad of causes.

The scientists adjusted the results to take into account age, physical activity, race-ethnicity, waist circumference, poverty-to-income ratio, cotinine and comorbid illness.

They then concluded that the survey participants who suffered erectile dysfunction had a 70 per cent increased risk of premature overall mortality.

The study said: ‘This finding should, however, be interpreted with caution as among the evaluated sample of 1,790 adults, only 61 adults between 20 to 49 years had erectile dysfunction, and among these 61 patients, only four died during the follow-up period.’

The scientists said the results were also potentially limited by the self-report assessment of erectile dysfunction.

However, they also stated that the major strengths of the study include its novelty and utilization of a national sample.

Further research is needed to see the long-term results over a longer follow-up period, the researchers concluded.

The study said: ‘These findings have major public health and clinical implications in that erectile dysfunction is a strong predictor of premature mortality.’

The study was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

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