Initiative encourages men to discuss ED symptoms

During the month of June, which is Men's Health Month, the Erectile Dysfunction Institute is encouraging all men who experience erectile dysfunction to discuss their symptoms with visits to their physicians.

The institute has begun a year-long initiative to encourage referrals between key urologists and leading physicians across the United States. This will help ensure that both ED and other related genitourinary conditions, such as BPH, are correctly identified and that appropriate treatment plans are offered to symptomatic patients, according to a statement from the institute.

"ED is becoming the alert to several important health issues," said Wayne J. G. Hellstrom, MD, of Tulane Medial Center in New Orleans. "There is growing understanding as to the similarities of etiologies between ED and BPH. If a patient is experiencing ED, it can be anticipated that he could also have symptoms in other areas of the body, such as the heart and the prostate.

"ED and BPH are significant problems for a large population of middle-age and older men in the United States. Only recently have indications pointed to a possible pathogenic association between BPH and ED due to their common embryologic origin."