Heart disease is well known to be man's biggest killer, but did you know the penis is the most accurate early-warning system?

Raise the alarm

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By Jim Pollard Photos by Nick Wilson 16 July 12

Heart disease is well known to be man's biggest killer, but did you know the penis is the most accurate early-warning system?

Heart disease is a killer. You knew that already. In the UK, it's actually the single biggest killer of men, striking down nearly 50,000 every year. You may also know most of the things you should do to stave off heart disease: quit smoking, eat more fruit and vegetables, go easy on the booze and stress, take more exercise. It's obvious.
The big problem is linking cause and effect. We can't see the impact of our lifestyle choices, so we tend not to adjust the risks. Often, the first time a man realises he has a heart problem is when he keels over with a heart attack. But it needn't be like this.
Mother nature equips every male with a heart-disease early-warning system. Yes, this is one service you probably didn't know your penis could provide for you. It's what the doctors call erectile dysfunction (ED) - not being able to get a decent erection.
ED is the single best indicator of future heart problems known to man. If getting it up is repeatedly getting you down, it's worth talking to your GP. Not only can the problem itself be treated, but you can get some heart advice, too, while there's still time for it to make a difference.

136 men die of heart disease every day, 57 of whom are men below the age of 75

Why haven't you heard about this before? Perhaps doctors are as embarrassed to talk about poor erections as other men. But in a landmark meeting, organised by the Men's Health Forum (MHF) at the Houses of Parliament last year, cardiologist Dr Graham Jackson pulled all the research together.
It breaks down like this:
● In the well-known Massachusetts Male Ageing Study, men with ED had a 43 per cent higher risk of dying from heart disease than men without ED.
● ED is as good a predictor of future heart disease as a family history of the condition, perhaps better, and certainly better than cholesterol level.
● ED precedes conventional heartdisease symptoms (such as chest pain after exercise) by two to three years, and serious events (such as a heart attack) by three to five years.
Because the arteries supplying blood to the penis are smaller than those to the heart, in theory they get blocked more quickly. No wonder Jackson calls ED "probably the most important marker of heart disease we have".
MHF president Dr Ian Banks says, "It is a perfect storm of men's embarrassment about erection problems and a deadly disease."

1 in 10 men are affected by erection problems

It's never smart to self-medicate and source your own tablets for ED. All drugs have side-effects that are best monitored by a doctor. Buying them online from an unregulated source, you also run the risk of getting the wrong drug, a fake, or something cobbled together in a cement mixer with plaster and blue paint (yes, really - it happened in Wembley). Moreover, the underlying  problem will remain.
Of course, ED can also be caused by drinking too much, smoking, stress, depression, relationship problems or simply not feeling like sex. The occasional failure to launch is normal, but if it keeps happening, talk to your GP. If you don't, erection problems may kill more than just the moment.
The good news is that it cuts both ways. Losing weight and taking more exercise will also improve the quality of your erections. Better sex? Now there's a good reason to leave the car at home and skip that mega-cheese double-coronary burger.

www.vydox.com