The relationship between erectile
dysfunction and cardiovascular disease has been the cause of numerous debates
and resulted in various research publications. However, there have not been many
reviews recently that have compared the studies and their implications for
clinical management of erectile dysfunction. Here we consider the findings from
a recently published review that looked at the relationships between erectile
dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.
The study, which was published in
The Journal of Urology, was a literature
review that evaluated all studies and clinical guidelines that had been
published with regards to erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases. The
researchers were keen to see whether a combination of lifestyle change and use
of pharmacotherapies could lead to improved vascular health and sexual
functioning in men with erectile dysfunction.
Based on their methodological and
statistical evaluation of the literature, the researchers concluded that there
was persuasive evidence to suggest that erectile dysfunction can have predictive
value for cardiovascular diseases in various populations. However, they also
pointed out that finding an appropriate tool to assess these risks varied
between populations. In addition to that, the researchers pointed to somewhat
inconsistent findings between statins, diuretics, beta –blockers and
rennin-anglotensin system modifiers and erectile dysfunction, with some studies
indicating negative effects on erectile dysfunction and other studies
suggesting a positive effect on erectile dysfunction. Lastly, the researchers
stressed that the intervention based studies consistently demonstrated the
relationship between improved vascular health and improved sexual functioning.
We were intrigued by the current
study, as it addressed a large area of research in this field. Although the
relationship between cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction should not
come as a surprise to most people, there is a clear need for further divisions
between at risk populations..
The study also raised some
interesting clinical concerns worth addressing. Perhaps the most important one
being the possibility that erectile dysfunction may help predict whether an
individual is at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. As such, it is
important that the clinician establishes whether there is a need for treatment
plans that can help prevent or decrease the effect of cardiovascular diseases.
It is our hope that the current
findings are acknowledged and lead to clinical guidelines that have an impact on the way clinicians look at erectile dysfunction and its treatment.