Erectile function has always been one of the signs that many men are concerned about the health signals of their body. In the case of erectile dysfunction (commonly known as impotence or ED), for example, we often associate it with problems like male alcoholism, smoking, kidney disease or psychological disorders, while heart disease rarely enters the picture. And scientists have long suspected a link between male sexual dysfunction (ED) and heart health. According to a new report in the Daily Mail, a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology from Soochow University in China confirms that ED may be an early sign of heart disease. The results of the new study, which involved nearly 37,000 men in 12 “ED and Heart Disease Association Studies,” showed that men with ED had a 48 percent increased risk of heart disease and a higher mortality rate compared to men with normal sex lives. This risk may be independent of conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors such as obesity, smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure. It has been shown that the penile vessels are part of the systemic vasculature and are 1/2-1/3 the diameter of the coronary arteries, which are more sensitive to risk factors such as hypertension, hyperglycemia, and coronary atherosclerosis than the coronary vessels because of their narrower diameter. Most of the time, middle-aged and older men who develop ED 2-5 years later tend to have a higher probability of developing other vascular diseases such as coronary heart disease than men who do not develop ED. The U.S. scientists did a long-term follow-up study to understand male sexual function and the condition of their cardiovascular system, researchers conducted a 19-year follow-up of 2,000 men between the ages of 40 and 79. Although the researchers concluded that the findings did not confirm that ED necessarily indicates an impending heart attack, the data they obtained in 1996 showed that between 1979 and 1995, the number of men who had ED was 3.5 times higher than those who did not have heart disease. This means that men with ED were more than three times more likely to have a heart attack than men without ED. Active exercise and a better diet (more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts and olive oil), and taking statin lipid-lowering drugs can all play a role in improving the condition of ED.