Men who have problems with their erections may be two to three years away from a heart attack, according to a report on BMJ.com.

But Dr. Geoffrey Hackett of the Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham, England, said doctors are ignoring the link.

Hackett said that erectile dysfunction, which is a symptom of vascular disease, doubles the risk of heart disease. In people with type 2 diabetes, it is a better predictor of the risk of heart disease than high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

But, he said, impotence is treated as a recreational or lifestyle issue rather than a predictor of a serious health problems, he wrote.

"Continuing to ignore these issues on the basis that cardiologists feel uncomfortable mentioning the word 'erection' to their patients or that they may have to deal with the management of a positive response is no longer acceptable and possibly, based on current evidence, clinically negligent", he said.