Men who experience erectile dysfunction at a young age — from 40 to 49 — are two times more likely to develop heart disease compared to men without erectile dysfunction, according to a new Mayo Clinic study.
Overall, researchers found that men with erectile dysfunction have an 80 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to those without erectile dysfunction.
Beginning in 1996, a group of 1400 men, who did not have cardiac heart disease were followed over a period of ten years.
It was found that those men who were younger, between 40 to 49 years of age, and had erectile dysfunction at the start of the study, were much more likely to develop heart disease ten years later.
The bottom line recommendation is, if you are a younger man and suffer from erectile dysfunction, going to talk to your doctor about screening for cardiac risk factors is a good idea.
Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., one of the researchers talks about the study in this brief video clip.
Click on the arrow in the center of screen to begin playing.