Original article from WebMD Archives. This content has not been reviewed within the past year and may not represent WebMD’s most up-to-date information. The following excerpt is from WebMD:

Doctors should look more closely at the overall health of impotent men, a large new study suggests.

Men with even mild erectile dysfunction — but no known heart problems — face a major extra risk of developing cardiovascular conditions in the future. And as erectile dysfunction becomes more pronounced, signs of hidden heart disease and earlier death risk grow.

Not surprisingly, men already known to have a heart condition along with severe erectile dysfunction fare worst of all, the Australian researchers found.

Among men aged 45 and up without diagnosed heart disease, those with moderate or severe erectile dysfunction were up to 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized for heart problems, according to an adjusted analysis. Erectile dysfunction boosted the risk for hospitalization even more when men had a history of cardiovascular disease.