Erectile dysfunction predicts death with CVD

A study just published in the journal Circulation reports a result that is not too surprisingly if we consider the underlying biology of erectile dysfunction. The authors begin with this in mind:

"Although erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis, it is not known whether the presence of ED is predictive of future events in individuals with cardiovascular disease. We evaluated whether ED is predictive of mortality and cardiovascular outcomes..."

After crunching the numbers on a study cohort of 1549 patients over more than two years, this is there clear-cut conclusion:

"ED is a potent predictor of all-cause death and the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure in men with cardiovascular disease."

They also noted this about the medications used in their trial, Altace and Micardis...

"The study medications did not influence the course or development of ED."

There is a lot more to the functional approach to ED than ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor antagonists. See the next two posts.