Men complaining of erection problems should be checked and monitored for heart trouble, researchers said yesterday.
研究人員昨日表示，抱怨有陽萎問題的男人應該檢驗與觀察是否心臟方面出了什麼毛病。
Erectile dysfunction can have a variety of origins including cardiovascular disease, and sufferers can easily obtain pharmacological relief from a physician.
導致勃起障礙的因素有很多，包括心血管疾病，患者只要看醫師並服藥就能獲得改善。
But the study of nearly 9,500 men older than 55 found that those without a previous diagnosis for cardiovascular disease who sought help for erectile dysfunction had a 25 percent higher risk of suffering a cardiovascular“event” within the following five years.
但一項研究指出，近乎九千五百名五十五歲以上原本未被診斷出有心血管疾病的男性，因勃起功能障礙而就醫者，未來五年內患有心血管疾病的風險為百分之二十五。
The five-year risk of a heart attack, stroke or angina rose to 45 percent when men with previous cardiovascular problems were included in the nine-year study, said Dr. Ian Thompson of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
聖安東尼奧德州大學衛生科學中心的伊恩．湯普森博士表示，這項長達九年的研究顯示，先前有心血管問題的男性，未來五年罹患心臟病、中風或心絞痛的機率提高至百分之四十五。
“Our data provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of a strong association between erectile dysfunction and subsequent development of clinical cardiovascular events,”Thompson wrote in the report published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
湯普森在這禮拜發表的美國醫學學會雜誌中寫道：「據我們所知，我們的數據顯示勃起功能障礙與後來的心血管疾病有強烈關聯 。」
Among the 600,000 American men aged 40 to 69 who annually seek help for erectile dysfunction, a significant number do not get regular check-ups so it presents a good opportunity for the doctor to check for heart trouble, suggest further monitoring, and prescribe treatment, if necessary, Thompson wrote.
湯普森也寫道：「六十萬名(四十至六十九歲間)每年因勃起障礙尋求幫助的美國男性，多數未做過例行身體檢查，醫生可藉此檢查是否有心臟疾病，必要時，最好進一步檢測並給予治療。」
