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How Vascular Disease Can Impact Sex... and What to do About It

· Heart of Innovation

If you have been diagnosed with a form of vascular disease such as Heart Disease, plaque build-up that has the potential to restrict blood flow in the coronary arteries or Peripheral Artery Disease, which impacts the leg arteries then it is likely you have plaque build-up in other vessels in the body, especially small vessels including those that feed the prostate. In this episode, hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips are joined by Board Certified Vascular and Interventional Radiologist Dr. Charles Nutting, who specializes in small vessel revascularization and prostate artery embolization (PAE), an outpatient procedure that involves the release of microscopic, plastic beads into the arteries that feed the prostate gland. We discuss who might be a candidate, the risks involved, and how to talk to your doctor about sexual dysfunction, what might be causing it, and available treatment options.

A patient, Douglas, joined the conversation, sharing his personal story experiencing sexual dysfunction as a first sign of systemic vascular problems. Also, The Way To My Heart Nurse Practitioner Kay Smith shares her story of assisting in a PAE procedure for a 19-year-old who was able to have an erection for the first time in his life while still on the table after physicians completed the case.

During today's show, Dr. John Phillips is broadcasting LIVE from an educational seminar for clinicians that was put together by device maker Cook Medical. Kym is LIVE from the Vascular Institute in Sacramento, California where she observed Dr. Inder Singh saving the leg of a The Way To My Heart patient who was on deck for a below-the-knee amputation.Dr. Singh shares how he was able to restore additional blood flow to help heal wounds on the patient's foot.

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