Erectile dysfunction: A public health issue? The need for consistent treatment

Erectile dysfunction (ED), like any pathology, merits diagnostic evaluation prior to treatment. Listening, accompanied by validated questionnaires, Doppler ultrasound under pharmacological erectile stimulation and testosterone levels are the basic elements. These are complemented by nerve tract examinations, angiography and/or cavernoscans. In the light of these assessments: This is a curable pathology, but it has a serious impact on quality of life, since 30% of our consultants consider their disability to be unbearable. Cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, smoking, TML, obesity) considerably exacerbate the ageing factor, which is considered to be predominant after the age of 50. When ED is of arterial origin, coronary lesions are found in almost 80% of cases, in subjects with no known cardiovascular history. This makes vascular ED the first sign of atheromatous disease, five years before more severe events (myocardial infarction, stroke). There is a specific pathology of younger subjects suffering from primary ED linked to surgically repairable venous malformations. Anamnesis reveals a delay, sometimes numbering years, before effective management of the problem. We therefore recommend that this pathology be managed by specialized multidisciplinary entities. Last but not least, a better understanding of the biochemical processes involved in erection raises hopes for the development of innovative curative therapies targeting easily accessible erectile tissue, for which trials are already underway (plasmatherapy, stem cells).