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Erectile dysfunction may be the sign of other disorders
According to Lawrence Levine, a urologist at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago,
about 30,000,000 American men currently experience complete or partial erectile dysfunction (ED).
Dr. Levine concludes that doctors should routinely inform about their patients' erectile status
as the diagnosis of ED may may be the sign other disorders like progressive coronary,
cerebrovascular disease, diabetes as well as undiagnosed hypertension or other diseases.
Therefore it is very important for physicians in general and cardiologists in particular
to identify men with erectile dysfunction. It's also important that men having such kind
of condition, to go to health care and openly to discuss the problem for early detection of
the above disorders. If necessary, doctors must to encourage them to seek treatment.
A study presented at the 2000 American Urological Association meeting supports this conclusion.
In a survey involving 500 men who were seeing urologists for reasons other than erectile dysfunction,
44% of them had experienced ED, but failed to visit their physician about the problem, from embarassing
reasons.
Dr Levine stresses once again: "All physicians should take the initiative to ask their patients about
erectile status", because ED and cardiovascular disease share many important and common risk factors,
including diabetes, hypertension, and smoking.
Once a damage in the cavernosal arteries is produced - the primary blood vessels supplying penile
erectile tissue - that same damage is likely to occur in the coronary arteries.
To reduce the embarassing feelings of patients, Levine suggests doctors initiate conversation with
them by being open, direct, forthright, and nonjudgmental. If a physician is uncomfortable asking
such kind of questions or feels the patient a questionnaire is a valid and reliable way to initiate discussion.
NOTE: The Information on this site is provided for information only,
and is not meant to substitute for the advice of your own physician or other medical professional.
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