Mediterranean diet linked to improved CV function in erectile dysfunction patients

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

3-Dec-2014

Contact: Jacqueline Partarrieu press@escardio.org 33-492-947-756 European Society of Cardiology @escardio

Vienna, Austria - 3 December 2014: The Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in patients with erectile dysfunction, according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014 by Dr Athanasios Angelis from Greece. Patients with erectile dysfunction who had poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet had more vascular and cardiac damage.

EuroEcho-Imaging is the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and is held 3-6 December in Vienna, Austria.

Dr Angelis said: "Erectile dysfunction is not a symptom of ageing, it is a bad sign from the body that something is wrong with the vasculature. In 80% of cases erectile dysfunction is caused by vascular problems and is a warning that patients are at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke."

He added: "The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower cardiovascular events and could be a way to help erectile dysfunction patients lower their risk. We wanted to investigate whether patients with erectile dysfunction who follow this diet have less vascular and cardiac damage."

The study included 75 men with erectile dysfunction, aged 56 years on average, who attended the Department of Cardiology at Hippokration Hospital in Athens, Greece. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed with the Med-Diet Score1 which ranks patients as high (30-55), intermediate (21-29) or low (0-20) according to consumption of cereals, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, wine and olive oil.

Vascular function was assessed by measuring two aspects of atherosclerosis, namely atheromatosis and arteriosclerosis. Atheromatosis refers to the development of atheroma (plaque), a fatty deposit in the intima (inner lining) of the artery, and was measured by the intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery. Arteriosclerosis refers to the stiffening of the arteries and was evaluated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Heart involvement was based on diastolic function and left ventricular mass.

The researchers found that a lower Med-Diet Score correlated with significantly worse vascular and heart function. These patients had greater IMT and aortic stiffness as well as higher left ventricular mass and more profound diastolic dysfunction.

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Mediterranean diet linked to improved CV function in erectile dysfunction patients