Erectile dysfunction may be related to cardiovascular disease?

*Is it just a simple ED question for medical professionals? A 47-year-old man came to the clinic with erectile dysfunction (ED).
In the past ten years, he was very healthy and he had not even been seen in an outpatient clinic.
Is this just a simple ED problem? The patient's body mass index was 32 kg/m2 and the blood pressure was 134/82 mmHg.

Laboratory examination: high sensitivity C-reactive protein 2.
7 mg/L, triglycerides 221 mg/L, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol 171 mg/L.

The father has a history of coronary heart disease (63 years old).

After the testosterone was measured, he was given sildenafil treatment.
A few months later, the patient returned for a visit.
The urologist recommended that he go to a general practitioner for a cardiovascular disease risk assessment.

 Why is a cardiovascular disease risk assessment necessary? What are the risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)? Early-onset ASCVD family history, primary hypercholesterolemia, chronic kidney disease, and metabolic syndrome in women with certain special conditions (such as preeclampsia, early menopause), chronic inflammatory state (especially rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, AIDS, etc.
) ) Since special conditions such as race (South Asian) increase the risk of ASCVD, are some special conditions specific to men also related to ASCVD? ED is a risk factor for men suffering from ASCVD.

ED and cardiovascular diseases share common risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and smoking.

ED and cardiovascular diseases also have common underlying pathological mechanisms, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammation and atherosclerosis.

As early as 2018, a study in the journal Circulation[1] pointed out that erectile dysfunction is an independent predictor of future cardiovascular events.

Figure 1 Summary of the evaluation process for patients with ED and cardiovascular diseases 1.
Vascular ED is a vascular disease.
When male patients visit a doctor, they may be first diagnosed in the urology department instead of the cardiology department due to the manifestations of ED.

2.
Compared with cardiologists, urologists may first diagnose higher-risk primary prevention patients.

3.
ED should be regarded as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

4.
Please carry out risk assessment and preventive treatment for ED patients, which may save lives! On May 15-17, 2021, the 70th American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Meeting (ACC.
21) will be held online.

Fast and accurate, click directly on the content of the ACC.
21 meeting, and the "Forefront of ACC Meeting" section is here!