Severe Gum Disease, Impotence May Be Linked

Men with severe gum disease, known as periodontitis, are at greater risk for impotence, according to a new study that finds young men and the elderly at particular risk.

The researchers from Taiwan used data from a large study to identify almost 33,000 men with erectile dysfunction and randomly selected about 162,000 men without this condition.

Of these study participants, about 12 percent had periodontitis. This group with gum disease included about 27 percent of the men with erectile dysfunction and about 9 percent of those without sexual problems. The men were followed for five years.

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