Study: Gum disease and erectile dysfunction linked to heart attacks

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

If you're a man with bad breath who struggles to get an erection there's more bad news - you're also four times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke, warns a new study.

Researchers have found the risky link between those with a combination of gum disease and erectile dysfunction.

A heart attack or stroke was found to occur on average just four years after the loss of libido was first diagnosed.

The study, published in the Journal of Periodontology, tracked 158 middle-aged patients in Spain.

Lead author Professor Francisco Mesa, of the University of Granada, said the phenomenon is linked to accelerated hardening of the arteries.

He explained: "It is triggered by periodontitis (gum disease) - first, in the small vessels of the penis, and, later, in the rest of the arteries of other vital organs."

They increased the risk of a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) 3.7 fold.

Participants with both conditions were more likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack, death from cardiovascular disease, or heart failure.

They were also more likely to develop angina or need coronary artery bypass surgery.

Prof Mesa said: "Therefore, in the case of men with periodontitis, the onset of erectile dysfunction could be a warning sign of potentially much more serious cardiovascular conditions and events in the near future."

Five years ago the same team demonstrated erectile dysfunction rates more than double in men with gum disease.

Prof Mesa said: "These results are of particular importance, given that MACEs are life-threatening in middle-aged men.

"Thanks to its longitudinal design, this epidemiological association-study provides the greatest volume of scientific evidence among studies of its kind, to date."

The results are of particular importance given MACEs are life-threatening in middle-aged men, say the researchers.

Prof Mesa said: "To our knowledge, these are the first results to demonstrate the association with MACEs in patients with erectile dysfunction and periodontitis in a follow-up study which reached to 5.3 years in some patients.

"Out of every 100 patients with periodontitis and erectile dysfunction, 1.8 people a year would suffer an event, this occurrence rate being 3.7 times higher than in an individual without these pathologies."

The vessels of the penis are smaller than the coronary arteries. Patients with hardening of the arteries are more likely to initially present with erectile dysfunction.

Impotence is a strong predictor of heart attack among high-risk patients, previous research shows.

A study of 1,519 Germans found men with erectile dysfunction who already had cardiovascular disease had twice the risk of premature death as the rest.

Some experts want doctors to ask about impotence in over-40s health checks.