New study links gum disease and male infertility
Two Israeli doctors – one a periodontal specialist, the other a fertility specialist – studied 56 men over the course of three years. The men had all visited a fertility clinic to have their sperm counts analyzed.
The subjects also received periodontal examinations. Overall, they had poor gum health. Only 13% had healthy gums. Fully 50% suffered from gingivitis, with 32% having chronic periodontal disease and 5% aggressive periondontitis.
Half of the men with zero sperm counts had chronic gum disease. Of the subjects with low sperm counts, 2 out of 3 had gingivitis; by contrast, only 1 out of 2 subjects with normal sperm counts had gingivitis.
Gum disease has already been linked with a host of other health problems ranging from heart disease to diabetes. Why not add one more to the list?