A new study by researchers at <<>> provides the most direct evidence to date that preventing gum disease could significantly improve your chances of avoiding vascular problems.
The study, which appears in the February 8 edition of the cardiovascular disease publication atherosclerosis, shows that people with gum disease are more likely to suffer from periodontitis – a narrowing of blood vessels that can lead to stroke or heart attack.
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 gum disease may lead to stroke or cardiovascular disease," said Moïse 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 are 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.
Desvarieux and his colleagues showed that in these people, heart attack 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 stroke and oral bacteria only existed for bacteria causally related to periodontitis. The research is part of the NIH- funded INVEST (Oral INfections and Vascular Disease Epidemiology STudy) at Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Minnesota and the NINDS-funded Northern Manhattan Study.
According to Dr. Desvarieux, one possible explanation for the link is that the bacteria that cause the gum disease may migrate throughout the body via the bloodstream and stimulate the immune system, causing inflammation that results in the clogging of arteries.