Alternative medicine (1)
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Causes (1)
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Complications (2)
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Prevention (1)
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Symptoms (1)
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Erectile dysfunction: A sign of heart disease?
Erectile dysfunction can be a wake-up call that you're at risk of heart disease. The same factors that contribute to heart disease can cause erectile dysfunction.
By Mayo Clinic staffErectile dysfunction can be stressful, but it isn't life-threatening. However, heart disease can be. Erectile dysfunction — difficulty maintaining an erection sufficient for sex — can be an early warning sign of heart problems. Understanding the connections between erectile dysfunction and heart health may help you recognize signs and symptoms of heart disease early on and get treatment before heart problems become serious. Likewise, if you have heart disease, getting the right treatment may help with erectile dysfunction.
Clogged arteries: Where erectile dysfunction and heart disease meet
Atherosclerosis (ath-ur-o-skluh-RO-sis) — sometimes called hardening of the arteries — is the buildup of plaques in the arteries in different parts of your body. It causes the arteries to narrow and harden, limiting blood flow. Because the arteries supplying your penis are smaller than those supplying your heart, symptoms of atherosclerosis may first show up as erectile dysfunction. Heart disease occurs when you have atherosclerosis in the arteries that supply your heart with blood. Atherosclerosis can also increase your risk of other problems, including aneurysm, stroke and peripheral artery disease.
Next page(1 of 2)
- Lue TF. Physiology of penile erection and pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction. In: Wein AJ. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/198358299-3/0/1445/24.html?tocnode=54301159&fromURL=24.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-7216-0798-6..50023-6_1722. Accessed April 10, 2010.
- Inman BA, et al. A population-based longitudinal study of erectile dysfunction and future coronary artery disease. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2009;84:108.
- Goldstein I. The mutually reinforcing triad of depressive symptoms, heart disease, and erectile dysfunction. American Journal of Cardiology. 2000;86(suppl):41F.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 26, 2010.

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