Do you know why erectile dysfunction is an early sign of heart disease?

Prof. Know Why answers for your general knowledge and awareness on why erectile dysfunction is an early sign of heart disease:

Erectile dysfunction and heart disease may seem to be two different problems, but recent findings from two studies of men with diabetes add to the evidence that erectile dysfunction can be a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease.

A Hong Kong study of 2,306 men with diabetes but no signs of heart disease found that those with erectile dysfunction at the start were 58 percent more likely to have a heart attack or other major cardiac problems over the next four years than those with adequate sexual function.

And, Italian physicians who followed 291 men who had diabetes and early coronary heart disease for four years, reported similar numbers - those with erectile dysfunction were twice as likely as men without the problem to have major adverse events, including strokes.

There's a physical connection between male sexual failure and heart disease, involving the effect of diabetes on the nervous system and the blood vessels, said Dr. E. Scott Monrad, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "Neuropathy would interfere with the neurogenic responses feeding into proper erection," Monrad said. "And obstruction of blood flow into the arteries reduces the pressure needed to achieve erection."

It has been known that erectile dysfunction shares many risk factors with coronary heart disease, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes, according to Dr. Robert A. Kloner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California. "What is new here is that erectile dysfunction remained a significant risk factor for developing heart disease after controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors," Kloner said in a statement.

"These reports add two things to what we already know," said Dr. R. Parker Ward, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, who led an earlier study linking erectile dysfunction with heart disease. "One is that they indicate the importance of erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients in terms of predicting future cardiovascular events. These studies suggest that the additional presence of erectile dysfunction places them at incrementally higher risk. Secondly, they show that even when considered in combination with traditional risk factors, erectile dysfunction offers incremental information about the risk of future cardiovascular events."

The researches indicate that acknowledgment of erectile dysfunction can prompt doctors to suggest more aggressive treatment at an early stage for risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol that may lead to heart diseases.

So, if you are having erectile dysfunction, talk it out with your physicians, since this may prove to be a very sensitive marker for cardiovascular risk. Remember, an early and more sensitive measure may save you from future heart risks.

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Do you know why women can’t be medically fit when fat?

Prof. Know Why answers for your general knowledge and awareness:

The popular belief that supports the 'fit but fat' theory, has recently got a setback. New research challenges the notion that you can be fat and medically fit at the same time, finding that being active can lower but not eliminate medical risks like heart attacks and other complications, faced by heavy women.

Previous research has gone back and forth on whether exercise or weight has a greater influence on heart disease risks.

The new study involving nearly 39,000 women helps sort out the combined effects of physical activity and body mass on women's chances of developing heart disease.

The study by Harvard-affiliated researchers appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Participants were women aged 54 on average who filled out a questionnaire at the study's start, detailing their height, weight and amount of weekly physical activity in the past year, including walking, jogging, bicycling and swimming. They were then tracked for about 11 years. Overall 948 women developed heart disease.

In the study, women were considered active if they followed recommended guidelines and got at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week, including brisk walking or jogging. Women who got less exercise than that were considered inactive.

Weight was evaluated by body mass index: A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight, while obese is 30 and higher.

It was found that compared with normal-weight active women, the risk for developing heart disease was 54 percent higher in overweight active women and 87 percent higher in obese active women. By contrast, it was 88 percent higher in overweight inactive women; and 2.5 times greater in obese inactive women.

Women over 50, who eventually develop heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems, excess weight can raise those odds in many ways, by increasing blood pressure and risks for diabetes, and by worsening cholesterol. But exercise counteracts all three to some extent – it was observed.

"It is reassuring to see that physical activity really does make an impact," said lead author Dr. Amy Weinstein of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. However, she added, "If you're overweight or obese, you can't really get back to that lower risk entirely with just physical activity alone."

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