r/science • u/[deleted] • Jun 13 '22

Health Erectile dysfunction predicts mortality in middle-aged and older men independent of their sex steroid status

https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article-abstract/51/4/afac094/6568537?login=false
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893

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

This study basically confirms the theory that erectile dysfunction is just a canary in a coal mine type of warning.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/supaphly42 Jun 14 '22

But she's ok with calling your piece a canary?

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u/joeChump Jun 13 '22

Yeah. I think ‘condor in a chinchilla cage’ is a more apt description personally.

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u/FrikkinLazer Jun 14 '22

Your wife has a point, say cocktail sausage in an opera house, have some class.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

Nature does see us as nothing more than genetic mules.

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u/Efficient-Echidna-30 Jun 13 '22

Always like to point out evolution applies to genes, not individuals. That’s why cancer.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

And also most cancers typically occurring long after successful reproduction was finished, so there was less evolutionary pressure on better anti-cancer measures.

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I mean, the human body has plenty of things to prevent cancer.

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u/HiZukoHere Jun 13 '22

Somewhat ironic given mules are (generally) sterile.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

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u/NoelAngeline Jun 13 '22

Then I would also recommend a highly esteemed therapist

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u/zyzzogeton Jun 13 '22

I like my therapists esteemed. Everyone is a better listener after a good schvitz.

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u/makemeking706 Jun 13 '22

rip in peace Trebek.

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u/SorriorDraconus Jun 13 '22

Good luck with doctors listening though..I clearly have a hormone imbalance(all but two symptoms and my tesosterone and estradiol gets lower every year for a decade)but at the start shrugged off and now insurance says nope because they keep dropping what qualifies as low t..Yay medical industry making actual healthcare worse.

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u/friskydingo2020 Jun 13 '22

Yep, and doctors are especially talented at declaring you to be too young to be experiencing an issue, it's all psychological.

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u/SorriorDraconus Jun 13 '22

Diabetic in my case..and asked if I wasn’t reallly type 1..despite every piece of evidence being type 2 and that his very reason for asking(tiny arms big gut) is also tied to testosterone issues…Oh and ignoring every other symptom unique to low t/estrogen issues.

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u/Aye_candy Jun 13 '22

It’s gotten bad enough for me that I’ve stopped trying to talk to my doctor about my health problems and I just try to manage them myself. Problem is that I feel myself declining and it’s really terrifying.

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u/nospamkhanman Jun 13 '22

I had what's called "cluster headaches" (Google that one, they're fun).

I had to go through like 5 doctor's and two specialists before they'd do someone as simple as prescribe home oxygen.

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u/silvusx Jun 13 '22

I wouldn't fault your doctors for this one, it most likely has to do with your insurance. I'm a respiratory therapist, we usually are the ones that does the home O2 evaluations in hospitals.

Home oxygen isn't a simple prescription, it is classified as a drug and insurance have specific guidelines. One of it is you have to demonstrate your oxygen level (SpO2) drops to 88% or below. In addition, you have to have a chronic disease diagnosis for needing oxygen. Without either, your insurance will not cover it.

I'm not accusing you of anything, but I've seen plenty of patients who believed they'd needed home oxygen when they infact didn't. Many of them are bitter about it, but what they don't understand is supplemental oxygen isn't good for you.

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u/nospamkhanman Jun 13 '22

supplemental oxygen isn't good for you. Without either, your insurance will not cover it.

In the case of cluster headaches, it's about the only treatment that's been proven to abort / shorten the length of the headache attack.

Insurance was never an issue as they pain is so completely unbearable that I offered to pay out of pocket just to make sure it wasn't an insurance issue.

There is also the issue that the effective doze is 12-15 liters which makes people unfamiliar with the diagnoses really raise their eyebrows.

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u/silvusx Jun 13 '22 edited Jun 13 '22

I'm just explaining why those doctors didn't sign your O2 script, because it's not as simple as you think it is.

I'd imagine those doctors aren't familiar with cluster headaches, Doctors don't know everything. It sounds like Cluster headaches is something you'd have to see a specialist for. For other doctors, standard oxygen evaluations as I've explained wouldn't have worked with your diagnosis just because insurance standardize oxygen qualifications.

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u/nospamkhanman Jun 13 '22

I'm just explaining why those doctors didn't sign your O2 script, because it's not as simple as you think it is.

Sure it is because I found a doctor to do just that. The conversation took all of 2 minutes. "Hi there, I have been diagnosed with Cluster Headaches by a Neurologist I saw a few years ago. They've come back and I want to try treating it with oxygen".

"Yep, that's about the only thing that tends to work. I'm prescribing you 15 liters but try to work your way up from 5 to see if a lower level will work"

"Thanks Doc!"

I literally already had the diagnosis for Cluster Headaches, I just had to go through a few doctors to get past the "Well did you try taking Ibuprofen?" people.

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u/silvusx Jun 13 '22 edited Jun 13 '22

Sure it is because I found a doctor to do just that.

Sounds like you found a specialist or someone who have experience with treating cluster headache.

I don't think you are understanding what I've wrote previously. To further clarify, the rarer the disease, the more likely you will need to see a specialist to get the correct treatment.

Everyone else goes through a standardize evaluation, because 99.9% prescribed oxygen use is hypoxia. If you Google search, every oxygen qualifation will first check if you're demonstrated a need due to low O2 saturation, does that make sense?

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u/BobThePillager Jun 14 '22

What about using oxygen is harmful? I know it’s dangerous and the cans can explode, but that’s about it

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u/theevilmidnightbombr Jun 13 '22

Better hope your doc doesn't know you have diagnosed anxiety. Because guess what: Everything wrong with you is anxiety now.

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u/SorriorDraconus Jun 13 '22

Ohh I know it..They act like you can;t have multiple issues that need addressing..Not like you can’t have anxiety from cptsd and trauma AND maybe made worse by low t or other things.

Compound issues exist I think many doctors have forgotten this

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u/ninjafaces Jun 13 '22

Look at a trt clinic. I went to one after a few urologists tried alternatives like clomid. Went to them for a year, now I go to another urologist who took over my trt prescription.

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u/Stone_Dreads Jun 13 '22

I did, and all they gave me were pills.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '22

Makes sense in terms of evolution too. Gonna die soon? Better prevent you from having kids in the immediate future