A study found that about a third, or 33.7 per cent, of patients with coronary artery disease suffer from severe erectile dysfunction (ED).A further 56.3 per cent of the patients surveyed suffer from mild to moderate ED.

"Everybody knows that the older you get, the less it functions. However, we found that ED seems to be more prevalent among heart patients," said Dr Ramesh Singh Veriah.

The interventional cardiologist at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) led a team of researchers who studied 510 patients with coronary artery disease (also called ischaemic heart disease or IHD) at its cardiology and geriatric clinic.

The study polled men between 36 and 92 years with surprising results.

"The results indicate that 90.4 per cent of my patients cannot get an erection or have trouble doing so. That's terrible," said Dr Ramesh.

The UMMC, which has a dedicated heart centre, had decided to embark on the six-month study as both IHD and ED have similar risk factors. The study was completed in May.

The risk factors include hypertension, diabetes, smoking, hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol), lack of physical activity, stress and obesity.

IHD is a condition that affects the supply of blood to the heart which could lead to a heart attack, while ED is the inability or difficulty in obtaining and maintaining an erection.

Dr Ramesh said of those surveyed, 58.4 per cent were diabetic while 64.5 per cent had high blood pressure. A total of 39.6 per cent had high cholesterol, 42 per cent were non-smokers and 40.4 per cent were ex-smokers while the remaining were still nicotine addicts.

"We also found that ED did not discriminate by race, but diabetes and high blood pressure are very significant predictors."

Dr Ramesh said many patients were keen to take part in the study and those found to be suffering from ED were eager to seek help.

"Many consider ED a taboo subject to talk about even with their doctors but once the taboo is broken, they want help."

As heart disease is the number one killer in the world, ED has become a big problem, he added.

Source:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Thursday/National/20060824081946/Article/local1_html