Impotence and Heart Attack Risk

Impotence may increase heart attack risk in some patients.
The Los Angeles Times (3/16, Maugh) reported that, after following some 1,500 men in 13 countries who were previously diagnosed the cardiovascular disease, researchers in Germany noted that participants who also had "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." For the first time, researchers have shown that erectile dysfunction is a strong predictor of the likelihood that men will die of heart disease."
According to HealthDay (3/15, Reinberg), the "treatments for cardiovascular disease had no effect on erectile dysfunction, so the German researchers concluded that erectile dysfunction is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease." The paper in Circulation, according to one expert, "provides further evidence that all physicians should include questions about erectile function as part of their office-based assessment of a patient's risk of future cardiovascular disease."