Doctors are not asking basic questions about our sexual health, says Michael Perelman.

Topic: Mistakes Doctors Make

Michael Perlman: I think the primary thing doctors in general did wrong is they didn’t ask about it. When you went to see your physician, did your physician ask you, as he was checking your blood pressure or as he was checking your weight, as he was giving you some advice that you better cut down, you know, on your drinking and increase your exercise, how are things going sexually? And yet sexual health is really a great marker of other cardiovascular health. So we are talking an external organ, so, in that sense, there is some plumbing involved, and this is especially important for men. Men tend not to go to the doctor, so some men are going to the doctor now because of the advertising that is going on with these sexual health drugs. And one of the particularly important things about that is that this could be, erectile dysfunction can be an early indicator of diabetes, of blood pressure problems, you know, various kinds of cardiovascular problems, that otherwise would not get diagnosed and be able to be treated effectively. So, in that sense, it’s really more than just sex. And it is only recently that physicians are becoming aware that this is something they need to do, and at this point, probably not more than 25 percent of physicians do ask about this. And this is something myself and a number of other people are very actively involved in trying to educate physicians ask the important-- asking about sexual health.