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Sex Life Linked to Heart Health
"It starts showing up in some men in their 30s," says Cleveland Clinic urologist J. Stephen Jones, M.D., author of the 2003 book Overcoming Impotence, with a foreword by former U.S. senator Bob Dole. "About half of men develop it by the time they are 60 or 70." Annually, new cases total more than 600,000 men aged 40 to 69 in the U.S. alone. Poor circulation isn’t always the cause of ED. But it’s a persistent myth, Dr. Jones says, that the problem in most cases is stress, depression or fear of failure. "The cause is usually vascular," he says — not a risk factor but a symptom of plaque build-up partially blocking the two main arteries supplying the penis.
A long-term tobacco habit contributes to the slow build-up of plaque in artery walls. But even a few puffs can act like a vise on vessels. Quitting smoking relieves vessel constriction, improving ED and chest pain.
"It’s like having a heart attack in another part of your body," he says, except the early warning isn’t chest discomfort (angina). Instead, the two chambers in the penis that normally fill with blood during an erection don’t receive an adequate supply. It’s no surprise that the major culprits for heart disease lurk behind almost every case of ED. Smoking (illustration, left), inactivity, obesity, diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and high blood pressure all contribute to both problems.
Safe treatments
Long-term, controlling heart and stroke risks is the best way to avoid ED. And three medications — members of a family called PDE inhibitors — work almost immediately to improve sexual dysfunction symptoms. Sildenafil (Viagra) was originally developed to treat angina by opening up vessels for greater flow. It proved better as a treatment for ED, and two other similar drugs followed it to market, tadalafil (Cialis) and vardenafil (Levitra). All are safe for those concerned about heart health.
But if you take them, be sure to tell doctors treating you in emergencies like a heart attack or stroke. Remnants of the medications in your circulation can intereact with other drugs you might be given, like nitrates, also used to open up blood vessels.
The possible danger of teaming up such meds is low blood pressure. Early symptoms: dizziness, fainting.
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