FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 23, 2006
GALVESTON, Texas — One year ago, Galvestonian Lonnie Burgett suffered from deep depression because of sexual dysfunction related to heart disease. He described his sex life as “destroyed.” At the end of his rope, he turned to Dr. Ernst Schwarz, director of cardiology clinics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, for help. With a new emphasis on the problem of sexual dysfunction, and the planned opening of a multidisciplinary sexual health clinic, UTMB offered hope to Burgett and other men whose heart and other vascular problems disabled their sex lives.
According to Schwarz, more than 50 percent of men between the ages of 40 and 70 will experience sexual dysfunction, a problem expected to affect many millions more than in the past as the population ages. Sexual dysfunction is caused by vascular conditions in more than 80 percent of all cases, he said.
“Erectile dysfunction can be devastating to a man and his partner and it is often linked to other problems like heart disease,” Schwarz said. “How many cardiologists really ask their patients about sexual problems? Patients might not tell us cardiologists about this particular problem, and cardiologists are not asking about it.”
Late last year, UTMB launched the Multidisciplinary Clinic for Sexual Health, a unique program that provides a first-visit cardiac, cardiovascular and sexual dysfunction evaluation for high-risk patients with a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure or other types of heart disease. After the first assessment, the patient is referred to a specialist. Physicians in the clinic specialize in cardiology, urology, psychiatry, vascular surgery and endocrinology. The clinic is the only sexual health program in the United States to focus specifically on patients with heart disease.
Burgett, who is now a patient at the clinic, says he is a changed man. His sexual health has improved significantly and he was recently married to a schoolteacher in China. Once again, he is happy.
Physicians from the clinic and several well-known specialists in cardiology, urology and sexual health plan to address the relationship between heart disease and sexual dysfunction at the Second Annual Sex and the Heart Conference April 1 in Galveston. Among the presenters will be renowned urologist Jennifer Berman who will speak on “The Science of the Sexually Satisfied Woman,” and Hollywood “loveologist” Ava Cadell, who will present “Tantric and Practical Solutions for Couples with Sexual Dysfunction.” The conference is the only one of its kind held in the United States.
The conference will be held at the Galveston Island Convention Center, 5400 Seawall Blvd., in Galveston on April 1. For more information or to register, visit http://www.utmb.edu/mcsh/ or call (409) 772-9300.
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Media Hotline (409) 772-6397
Jennifer Reynolds-Sanchez: jareynol@utmb.edu