Mayo Clinic study finds younger men with erectile dysfunction at double risk of heart disease

Men who experience erectile dysfunction between the ages of 40 and 49 are twice as likely to develop heart disease than men without dysfunction, according to a new Mayo Clinic study. Researchers also found that men with erectile dysfunction have an 80 percent higher risk of heart disease. "The highest risk for coronary heart disease was in younger men," says researcher Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D. The study was published in the February 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The results suggest that younger men and their doctors may need to consider erectile dysfunction a harbinger of future risk of coronary heart disease - and take appropriate steps to prevent it, says Dr. St. Sauver