A relationship between periodontal disease and vascular disease
Posted on: Friday, 27 May 2005, 03:00 CDT
A NEW STUDY by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center provides the most direct evidence to date that preventing periodontal disease could significantly improve a person's chances of avoiding vascular problems.
The study, which appeared in the Feb. 8 edition of the American Heart Association publication Circulation, shows that people with periodontal disease are more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis.
Previous studies have suggested a relationship between periodontal disease and vascular disease, but they have relied on surrogate markers for periodontal disease, such as tooth loss or pocket depth. This is the first study to examine the microbiology of periodontal infection and positively connect it to atherosclerosis.
"This is the most direct evidence yet that periodontal disease may lead to stroke or cardiovascular disease," said Mose Desvarieux, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center's Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the paper. "And because gum infections are preventable and treatable, taking care of your oral health could very well have a significant impact on your cardiovascular health."
Columbia researchers measured the bacteria levels in the mouths of 657 people who had no history of stroke or myocardial infarction. They also measured the thickness of the subjects' carotid arteries- the artery that is measured to identify atherosclerosis. The researchers found that people with a higher level of the specific bacteria that causes periodontal disease also had an increased carotid artery thickness, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into account.
Dr. Desvarieux and his colleagues showed that in these people, atherosclerosis is associated specifically with the type of bacteria that causes periodontal disease, and not with other oral bacteria. They confirmed this by assessing the levels of three different groups of microbes-those that are known to cause periodontal disease, those that are thought to possibly cause periodontal disease, and those that are not connected to the disease. The relationship between atherosclerosis and oral bacteria only existed for bacteria causally related to periodontitis.
According to Dr. Desvarieux, one possible explanation for the link is that the bacteria that cause the periodontal disease may migrate throughout the body via the bloodstream and stimulate the immune system, causing inflammation that results in the clogging of arteries.
Among other participants in the research was Panos N. Papapanou, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor and chair of the section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences and director of the Division of Periodontics, Columbia University School of Dental & Oral Surgery, and a co- author on the study, whose laboratory performed the periodontal microbiological analysis.
Copyright Dental Society of the State of New York Apr 2005
Source: New York State Dental Journal
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