The Australian study - the world's largest investigating links between erection problems and heart disease - suggested erection problems could act as a warning sign of more serious health issues.

''The risks of future heart disease and premature death increased steadily with severity of erectile dysfunction,'' whether or not there was a history of cardiovascular disease, study director Emily Banks said.

Previous studies had found ties between severe erection problems and heart attacks and strokes, but this study was the first to also include mild and moderately severe erection problems.

''These results tell us that every man who is suffering from any degree of erectile dysfunction should be seeking medical assistance as early as possible and also insisting on a heart health check by their GP at the same time,'' said Rob Grenfell, cardiovascular health director at Australia's Heart Foundation.

The study, published this week in the PLOS Medicine journal, followed 95,000 men aged 45 and older for two to three years. The men responded to a survey on their health and lifestyle, and the authors also studied any records of hospital stays or deaths in the group. Over the study period, there were 7855 hospitalisations for cardiovascular disease and 2304 deaths.

Banks said the study indicated that erection problems seemed to a symptom of heart problems.

''Rather than causing heart disease, erectile dysfunction is more likely to be a symptom or signal of underlying 'silent' heart disease and could in future become a useful marker to help doctors predict the risk of a cardiovascular problem. This is a sensitive topic but men shouldn't suffer in silence … ''

AFP