Post Date December, 03 2023
The quality of erection is not only related to sexual function, but also closely related to physical health. Andrologists believe that erectile function is a sign of male virility. When the penis is unable to achieve or maintain enough erection and cannot have a satisfactory sexual life, it is ED, commonly known as impotence. If a man's erectile function is poor or suffers from ED, it is not only a "lower body" problem, but also a precursor of other diseases, such as cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.
▲ Symptoms of poor erection or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
A health monitoring project in Austria evaluated 2651 men. The results showed that compared with men without ED, the relative risk of coronary heart disease and stroke increased by 65% and 43% in 10 years for men with moderate and severe ED. It was previously believed that 90% of ED is psychological, but recently it has been found that many ED have organic diseases. Erectile function has become a "weathervane" of male health, especially that of middle-aged and elderly men.
▲ The penis with vascular disease will suffer first
Statistics show that 85% of the potential causes of ED are related to cardiovascular diseases, and they have a common cause, namely the damage of vascular endothelial cell function. From coronary artery, aorta to penile artery, when the vascular endothelial function is damaged to a certain extent, symptoms of corresponding parts will appear, such as lower limb claudication, carotid atherosclerosis, cerebral atrophy, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, etc.
The blood vessel of the penis has one characteristic: its diameter is half smaller than that of the coronary artery of the heart; In addition, there are more blood vessels in the penis. As for the whole body, the proportion of vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle in its unit volume is also the highest. Therefore, once the blood vessel has a problem, the penis is more sensitive than other organs, and it immediately shows itself in terms of erectile function. Some studies found that ED appeared 38.8 months (more than 3 years) earlier than the symptoms of cardiovascular disease, and about 13 months earlier than coronary heart disease.
The erectile function of the penis is something we can see and use in life, and it is easy to observe. Therefore, it has naturally become a weathervane of male health and a precursor of systemic vascular disease.
Therefore, even if ED patients have no symptoms of cardiovascular disease at the time of diagnosis, they should be treated as a potential cardiovascular disease patient. The risk factors related to cardiovascular diseases should be checked, including blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, etc. The European Society of Urology recommends that patients with ED should check blood glucose and blood lipids in addition to blood testosterone.
