It is a common medical condition in men, yet many never want to discuss it at home or even with their doctors.

When men withhold information from their doctors, it could be a matter of life and death.

A recent survey finds that men with erectile dysfunction, or E.D., don't feel comfortable taking the first step to get treatment.

"Very important information came out of the survey including the fact that 38 percent of men with E.D. do not and have never spoken to their doctor about erectile dysfunction," says Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh the Director of Urology at  Maimonides Medical  Center in New York.

Doctors say by not talking about this condition men could be missing something very serious.

So psychologically, why are men holding back in the privacy of a doctor's office discussing this with a doctor when no one else will hear them? 

"It's such an important and terrific question because these erectile dysfunctions are really the canary in the coal mine this could be alerting the doctor about disease that they should be checked for," says  Dr. Michael Perelman, a psychologist at Cornell, New York Hospital.

 Doctors stress that this condition is not only about sexual performance, it is a predictor of problems going on that can be deadly.  New studies show that E.D. is an early warning sign for diabetes, heart attacks, cardiovascular disease such as hardening of the arteries and stroke.

Some studies showed that erectile dysfunction precedes a heart attack by 3 years," says Dr. Shabsigh.

Doctors say men are especially at risk from E.D. who are middle-age and older, obese, smoke or don't exercise. If it is being caused by your high blood pressure medicine, don't stop taking it. Ask your doctor for another brand and request a testosterone level test at your next doctor visit.

"In cases that have low testosterone there are excellent treatments with testosterone replacement therapy.  We specifically find low testosterone in men with obesity especially with what we call abdominal obesity fat in the abdomen. We see low testosterone in men who have diabetes and metabolic syndrome," says Dr. Shabsigh.

And there is another problem to not talking about E.D. with a medical doctor.

"What's particularly tragic about this is so many women are left feeling rejected and abandoned because these men will withdraw from conversation withdraw from affection,” says Dr. Perelman.

In some cases, it's women who helped men get treatment. The survey finds that 33 percent of men spoke to a doctor because their wives encouraged them too. And while the survey finds that 75 percent of men feel too embarrassed or distressed to talk to a doctor, they should know that in many cases there are simple treatments and medications to help. 

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