Archive for June, 2007
Weak erections point to disease
Thursday, June 21st, 2007
IT'S a problem that affects about 30 per cent of men aged over 40, though few would admit it.
But erectile dysfunction -- the persistent inability to get or maintain an erection - is more than just an embarrassing secret. It could be a symptom of serious disease.
Associate Prof Doug Lording, from the Melbourne Andrology Centre at Cabrini Hospital, said International Men's Health Week was the perfect time to warn men that more than their sex lives could be at risk. "It is now recognised that all the conditions which cause heart disease, like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and obesity, are all linked to erectile dysfunction," he said.
"Even men who are not really looking to seek treatment to restore sexual function should talk to their local doctor about this problem, so they can get proper medical attention."
Underlying health problems are just some of the many possible causes of erectile dysfunction.
Medications and psychological problems such as performance anxiety, relationship difficulties, stress and depression can also interfere with a man's ability to get and keep an erection. A 2004 survey by men's reproductive health group Andrology Australia found at least one in five men aged over 40 experienced erectile dysfunction. Prof Lording said other studies had found the figure was closer to 30 per cent. The Andrology Australia survey also found that despite 80 per cent of men visiting their GP in the previous 12 months, most of those with erectile dysfunction failed to discuss it with their doctor. Prof Lording said men's attitudes to their health were changing but they, and often their doctors, still needed encouragement to talk about such problems. Andrology Australia chief executive Dr Carol Holden agreed interest in men's health was growing. She said the number of organisations supporting International Men's Health Week had more than tripled in two years. The group is helping to get the message out by distributing 50,000 cards in the shape of Y-front underpants, which open to reveal alarming men's health statistics, including on infertility, prostate cancer, testicular cancer and erectile dysfunction. Prof Lording said the risk of erectile dysfunction increased with age. "For a lot of men in middle age and older, there remains an intense desire to be sexually active and demonstrate their manliness," he said.
"There's often a time of life, towards the end of a busy working career and when the children have left home, where there's a strong feeling to rekindle some of the intimacy there hasn't been time for. "But alas, they find things don't work quite as well."
Prof Lording said most men could be treated. Oral medications such as Viagra were the most popular approach. "There is huge demand for these medications," he said.
"These are among the biggest private prescription-selling drugs in the world." But at $65 to $80 for a pack of four tablets, the treatment was not cheap. Vacuum devices, injections, hormone therapy, penile prosthetic implants and lifestyle changes were other options that could be discussed with GPs.
Source: Daily Telegraph
But erectile dysfunction -- the persistent inability to get or maintain an erection - is more than just an embarrassing secret. It could be a symptom of serious disease.
Associate Prof Doug Lording, from the Melbourne Andrology Centre at Cabrini Hospital, said International Men's Health Week was the perfect time to warn men that more than their sex lives could be at risk. "It is now recognised that all the conditions which cause heart disease, like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and obesity, are all linked to erectile dysfunction," he said.
"Even men who are not really looking to seek treatment to restore sexual function should talk to their local doctor about this problem, so they can get proper medical attention."
Underlying health problems are just some of the many possible causes of erectile dysfunction.
Medications and psychological problems such as performance anxiety, relationship difficulties, stress and depression can also interfere with a man's ability to get and keep an erection. A 2004 survey by men's reproductive health group Andrology Australia found at least one in five men aged over 40 experienced erectile dysfunction. Prof Lording said other studies had found the figure was closer to 30 per cent. The Andrology Australia survey also found that despite 80 per cent of men visiting their GP in the previous 12 months, most of those with erectile dysfunction failed to discuss it with their doctor. Prof Lording said men's attitudes to their health were changing but they, and often their doctors, still needed encouragement to talk about such problems. Andrology Australia chief executive Dr Carol Holden agreed interest in men's health was growing. She said the number of organisations supporting International Men's Health Week had more than tripled in two years. The group is helping to get the message out by distributing 50,000 cards in the shape of Y-front underpants, which open to reveal alarming men's health statistics, including on infertility, prostate cancer, testicular cancer and erectile dysfunction. Prof Lording said the risk of erectile dysfunction increased with age. "For a lot of men in middle age and older, there remains an intense desire to be sexually active and demonstrate their manliness," he said.
"There's often a time of life, towards the end of a busy working career and when the children have left home, where there's a strong feeling to rekindle some of the intimacy there hasn't been time for. "But alas, they find things don't work quite as well."
Prof Lording said most men could be treated. Oral medications such as Viagra were the most popular approach. "There is huge demand for these medications," he said.
"These are among the biggest private prescription-selling drugs in the world." But at $65 to $80 for a pack of four tablets, the treatment was not cheap. Vacuum devices, injections, hormone therapy, penile prosthetic implants and lifestyle changes were other options that could be discussed with GPs.
Source: Daily Telegraph
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Saturday, June 16th, 2007Impotence Indicates Risk Of Heart Disease
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
Many people who suffer a heart attack had never had any symptoms of heart disease. Of the roughly 5,000 individuals who die of sudden cardiac arrest in Sweden each year, two thirds had not had any known heart disease. But in men there is one thing that should constitute a advance sign of coming heart problems: impotence.
In some cases, impotence can have neurological, psychiatric, and other causes. But the most common cause, accounting for up to four cases of five, is that the blood circulation in the penis has become so poor that erection is impaired, or no erection can occur at all. And if the circulation in these vessels has been affected by atherosclerosis, then it is highly probable that the same process is under way in the coronary artery in the heart.
In a dissertation from Lund University in Sweden, the physician Rasmus Borgquist has managed to show that this reasoning is correct.
"One of our studies shows that otherwise healthy men with impotence show signs of early atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries of the heart. In another study we saw that men with impotence evince a higher incidence of high blood pressure, high blood fat, abdominal fat, and other traditional risk factors for heart disease," he says.
The conclusion is that men with impotence problems should seek care as soon as possible, since both their impotence and the possible threat of heart disorders can be counteracted with early intervention. The first priority involves changes in life style, such as quitting smoking, exercise, and altered diet, and then if these are insufficient, medication for lowering blood pressure and blood fat and also pharmacological therapy for treatment of the impotence as such.
"It's probably easier to get men to accept changes in their life style if you can point out that they alleviate impotence, rather than talking about the risk of a heart attack sometime down the road. And there are studies that show that potency improves rather quickly in those who quit smoking and lose weight," says Rasmus Borgquist.
The notion that there is a connection between impotence and heart disease was put forward in the mid 1980s. But this connection has been studied seriously only in recent years.
"Today there is a greater interest in these issues, both among the public and at drug companies," claims Rasmus Borgquist. "On the one hand, several new drugs have appeared to combat cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors, and, on the other hand, potency drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra have led many more men to seek help for impotence."
There is still a certain "awkwardness factor" that makes some patients reluctant to seek help, and some physicians are hesitant to take up the matter. But in Rasmus Borgquist's experience, once the physician has broached the subject, patients tend to respond frankly.
Source: Medicalnewstoday
In some cases, impotence can have neurological, psychiatric, and other causes. But the most common cause, accounting for up to four cases of five, is that the blood circulation in the penis has become so poor that erection is impaired, or no erection can occur at all. And if the circulation in these vessels has been affected by atherosclerosis, then it is highly probable that the same process is under way in the coronary artery in the heart.
In a dissertation from Lund University in Sweden, the physician Rasmus Borgquist has managed to show that this reasoning is correct.
"One of our studies shows that otherwise healthy men with impotence show signs of early atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries of the heart. In another study we saw that men with impotence evince a higher incidence of high blood pressure, high blood fat, abdominal fat, and other traditional risk factors for heart disease," he says.
The conclusion is that men with impotence problems should seek care as soon as possible, since both their impotence and the possible threat of heart disorders can be counteracted with early intervention. The first priority involves changes in life style, such as quitting smoking, exercise, and altered diet, and then if these are insufficient, medication for lowering blood pressure and blood fat and also pharmacological therapy for treatment of the impotence as such.
"It's probably easier to get men to accept changes in their life style if you can point out that they alleviate impotence, rather than talking about the risk of a heart attack sometime down the road. And there are studies that show that potency improves rather quickly in those who quit smoking and lose weight," says Rasmus Borgquist.
The notion that there is a connection between impotence and heart disease was put forward in the mid 1980s. But this connection has been studied seriously only in recent years.
"Today there is a greater interest in these issues, both among the public and at drug companies," claims Rasmus Borgquist. "On the one hand, several new drugs have appeared to combat cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors, and, on the other hand, potency drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra have led many more men to seek help for impotence."
There is still a certain "awkwardness factor" that makes some patients reluctant to seek help, and some physicians are hesitant to take up the matter. But in Rasmus Borgquist's experience, once the physician has broached the subject, patients tend to respond frankly.
Source: Medicalnewstoday