In the good old days when men sold their souls to the company store for sixteen tons and even then only got deeper in debt, there was no technology to warn the miners if gas was building up. The first they might know is an explosion bringing down the roof. Being careful men, they experimented with different ways of testing the air for gas and canaries were the most reliable indicator they found. All they had to do was keep the birds in the mine. If they fell off their perches, there was too much gas around and it was time to evacuate. So much for the history lesson.

Every year, modern medicine directs a lot of money into basic research to look for ways of detecting serious health problems in their early stages. Sometimes, technology is the answer. So many women who go for regular mammograms detect breast cancer early and the treatment is more likely to save the breast and guarantee a long life. In other cases, there are early symptoms that may not, at first sight, have any connection to the more serious condition that appears later. In the case of heart disease, there’s now very clear evidence that erectile dysfunction in younger men is a very clear warning of a possible stroke or heart attack within the next five years.

The explanation for this is slightly complicated. Various types of cells line the walls of our blood vessels. The most sensitive of these are called endothelial. For reasons no one can explain, there are more of these cells in the penis than anywhere else in the body so anything that affects them is going to show up in erectile dysfunction. If you eat a diet containing too much fat, there’s likely to be a build up of plaque on the walls of the arteries. This hardens the cells and prevents the arteries from dilating and contracting. Since the formation of an erection depends on dilation, anything preventing it in younger men signals high risk the same problem will spread to other blood vessels in the body.

If you’re under the age of 50 and you experience a consistent pattern of erectile dysfunction, you should ask a doctor for a full cardiology workup. Indeed, the younger you are, the more urgent it is you have the tests done. But if you’re older, there are fewer risks. It’s reasonably safe to buy Viagra online and rely on that to solve the problem. That said, we’re all aware of the so-called epidemic of obesity. That’s too many men carrying too much weight. No matter what your age, you should think about changing your diet. One of the most common causes of a plaque build-up is eating too much carbohydrate in your food. The evidence shows men find erectile dysfunction is less of a problem if they lose weight. This should not be a big deal. It’s just a matter of eating a low-fat diet in smaller portions. If you can add in a little exercise, so much the better. If this is too much of a challenge, there’s always Viagra but, if your weight does continue increasing, it may only be a short-term fix. Losing weight is better.

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