A New Heart Warning for Men

A study finds a strong link between erectile dysfunction and cardiac deaths.

For the first time, researchers have shown that erectile dysfunction (ED), is a strong predictor of the likelihood that men will die of heart disease. Men who suffer from the problem, which some consider more an emotional than a physical issue, are twice as likely to succumb to cardiovascular disease or heart attacks as those who do not have the problem, German researchers reported in March 2010 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers have known for some time that there is a link between ED and heart disease, notes Dr. Sahil Parikh, an interventional cardiologist from Uniersity Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland who was not involved in the study. "But now there is pretty clear evidence that there is a substantially increased risk of heart attack and death when patients have erectile dysfunction."

The results are probably not too surprising, added Dr. Robert Kloner, a cardioloist at USC's Keck School of Medicine, "because arteries in the penis are smaller, so atherosclerosis shows up there sooner," perhaps 3 to 4 years before the onset of cardiovascular disease.

The take-home message, both experts said, is that whan a patient seeks treatment for ED, typically from a general practitioner, he should be given a full physical work-up to look for heart disease and referred to a cardiologist. "When they are treated aggressively early, we can prevent heart attacks and stroke and they can have many years added to their lives," Dr. Parikh said.

Existing guidelines for treating men with ED from the Princeton Consensus Conference already state that "a man with ED and no cardiac symptoms is a cardiac (or vascular) patient until proven otherwise." Dr. Kloner, a coauthor of these guidelines, said that when the guidelines are updated this year, they will probably carry a stronger recommendation that a patient with ED get a cardiovascular exam.

Dr. Michael Bohm, a cardioloist at Germany's Saarland University, and his colleagues studied over 1,500 men from 13 countries who were involved in a study of two drugs to treat cardiovascular disease. The men were also queried about their ED at the beginning of the study, 2 years into it and at the end at 5 years. A full 55% of the men had ED at the beginning of the trial, nearly double the normal incidence of about 30% in the population at large.

The team reported that, in the 5 years of follow-up, men with ED were 1.9 times as likely to die from heart disease, twice as likely to have a heart attack, 1.2 times as likely to be hospitalized for heart failure and 1.1 times more likely to have a stroke. The risks increased with the severity of the ED.

Disappointingly, the 2 drugs tested in the study, ramipril and telmisartan, did not improve the course of the ED. That's not surprising, said Dr. Peter Pelikan, a cardiologist at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, "because it takes years and years and years to get any resorption of cholesterol" that would reduce blockage of the penile arteries.

Many men with ED see a general practitioner or a urologist to get treatment and are prescribed drugs like Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis. Dr. Bohm warned in a statement that "the drug works and the patient doesn't show up any more. These men are being treated for ED, but not the underlying cardiovascular disease. A whole segment of men is being placed at risk." --adapted from the Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2010.

Suzanne

Impotence Drugs to Carry Vision-loss Warning Label

The government has ordered warning labels on Viagra and the two other impotence drugs, cautioning that some users have developed a form of blindness--while noting that it is impossible to know if the pills are to blame.

This move by the Food and Drug Administration comes as the agency is under intense pressure to investigate more aggressively and warn the public about drug side effects.

At issue is sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked, a condition known as NAION or non-arteric anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. This condition is considered one of the most common causes of sudden vision loss in older people, with anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 cases per year. Risk factors include diabetes and heart disease, two of the leading causes of impotence, as well as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking.

Patients have been advised to stop taking the pills and call a doctor if they experience sudden or decreased vision loss in one or both eyes--and inform them if they have ever suffered an episode of sudden vision loss because such patients are at increased risk of a second episode. --Source: Riverside, Calif. Press-Enterprise, July 9, 2005.

Suzanne

Daily Aspirin Use Linked to ED Risk

Daily use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, known as NSAIDs, is associated with a 22% increase in the risk of erectile dysfunction, Kaiser researchers say.

The results were a surprise because ED is thought to be caused by inflammation, and the researchers expected that the use of the drugs would alleviate the problem.

Researchers studied over 80,000 men enrolled in Kaiser health plans beginning in 2002. The team assessed the men's use of NSAIDs and controlled for a variety of other factors, including age, smoking status and diabetes. The study will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Urology.
--Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2011.

Suzanne

Erectile Dysfunction Linked to Heart Disease

Erectile dysfunction, or ED, is associated with increased risk of fatal heart attacks, according to a study in the journal Circulation.

Among over 1,500 adult male research participants, those with ED had twice the risk of death from any cause, compared with those without ED. Men with ED were also 60% more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or heart-related hospitalization or death. The new study confirms previous findings showihng that both ED and heart disease are usually signs of atherosclerosis. --Circulation, 2010;121:1439-1446; Good Medicine, Summer 2010

Suzanne

Aspirin, ibuprofen linked to erectile dysfunction

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A new study published in The Journal of Urology says that men who regularly take over-the-counter (OTC) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) like ibuprofen and aspirin are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) than men who do not take the drugs. The study counters the widespread public notion that it is safe to take NSAIDs regularly to treat pain, and it is also a sobering wake-up call to the dangers of flippant NSAID use.

The observational study involved the examination of over 80,000 health records of men between the ages of 45 and 69. After adjusting for control factors like age, race, ethnicity, smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol, and body mass index, the research team found that regular users of NSAIDs were 140 percent more likely to develop ED than non-regular users. And men who took NSAIDs three times a day for more than three months were 240 percent more likely to develop ED than other men.

"This study is a great example of how we work to understand the safety and effectiveness of what we recommend for our patients," said Steven J. Jacobsen, MD, PhD, senior author of the study, epidemiologist, and director of research for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. "We went into this study thinking we would find the opposite effect: that NSAIDs would have a protective effect because they protect against heart disease, which is also linked to ED."

The notion that NSAIDs protect against heart disease, however, has actually been debunked in numerous studies. A study published in the journal Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) found that aspirin is not effective at preventing heart-related death in "at risk" cardiovascular disease patients (http://www.naturalnews.com/028710_a...). And a 2005 study published in the journal Circulation linked NSAID use to causing heart attacks, not preventing them (http://www.naturalnews.com/020036.html).

Besides causing ED, NSAIDs are also linked to killing thousands of people every year. One report states that roughly 2,500 Britons die every year from stomach bleeding caused by NSAIDs (http://www.naturalnews.com/028510_N...).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...

Suzanne

Recent study finds aspirin linked to erectile dysfunction

by T.M. Hartle

(NaturalNews) Recent research has identified daily use of aspirin or other NSAID's with a significant increased risk of erectile dysfunction. The association of aspirin and other NSAID's with erectile dysfunction began with a small study in Finland. The results seen in the Finland study were affirmed in a larger study conducted by Kaiser Permenente Los Angeles Medical Center. The results of these two studies contradicted commonly held beliefs about the cause of erectile dysfunction.

Researchers believed that erectile dysfunction was caused by inflammation, and they had the assumption that anti-inflammatory drugs would have a beneficial effect. Kaiser researchers studied more than 80,000 men and found that daily use of aspirin or other NSAID's was associated with a 22% increase in the risk of erectile dysfunction. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were used regularly by 47% of the men in the study. Nearly 30% of the men regularly using NSAID drugs reported moderate to severe erectile dysfunction. Increased risk of ED was seen even after adjusting for known risk factors.

The researchers of the Kaiser study stated that the regular use of NSAID medications and resultant erectile dysfunction risk was 'above and beyond what would be expected due to age or other conditions.' Regular users of NSAID drugs were 2.4 times more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than men who used them infrequently or did not use these drugs. Researchers controlled for age, smoking, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and other conditions that may contribute to erectile dysfunction and the association between NSAID's and erectile dysfunction remained. Researchers are now left with more unanswered questions and have indicated more research is needed.

Generally erectile dysfunction is associated with cardiovascular problems, increased inflammation, and decreased circulation. Researchers believed that through the use of NSAID's and a reduction in inflammation improvements would be seen. At the conclusion of the study researchers offered several theories for the results found. One theory stated that while NSAID's improve blood flow there may be other pathways that these drugs inhibit leading to increased erectile problems. In the wake of conflicting understanding of the interaction of medications and erectile dysfunction recent research has found dietary factors that can reduce the risk.

A recent study in the International Journal of Impotence Research sheds light on dietary factors involved in erectile dysfunction. Researchers found that intake of fruits and nuts were associated with a reduction in erectile dysfunction risk. The ratio of monounsaturated fat in comparison with saturated fat consumption was also associated with reduced risk. Researchers concluded that the adoption of a healthy diet could potentially prevent the development of erectile dysfunction. In the face of side effects from medication and health problems that increase the risk of reproductive dysfunction in men, dietary and lifestyle changes provide an avenue of protection for those willing to take responsibility for their own health.

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-ed-aspirin-03032011...
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/738497
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011/03/New-study-links-pai...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16395326

Suzanne

It seems of interest in this connection that at least one of the medications that physicians prescribe for senior males to prevent cancer of the prostate causes ED as a side effect.

So there seems to be a serious danger present in some of the commonly used medications.

There are many blood pressure medicines which have as a side effect ED. ED is associated with atherosclerotic vascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc. All of this diseases are addressed by the Adventist health message. The gospel is a healing gospel, not a legal gospel. Is it any wonder that the medical work is the right arm of the ministry?

So it makes an impact on our thinking if we read the Gospels as a healing message or a legal message?