How Gum Disease Can Destroy Your Health : The Cancer Connection

    ENCINO, CA, October 28, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- How Gum Disease Can Destroy Your Health : The Cancer Connection

By now everyone knows that many things increase cancer risk. Air pollution, water contaminated with chemicals, fish contaminated with mercury and many home products are all well known to increase cancer risks. Unfortunately, there is a now gum disease to add to the list of cancer related illnesses. Dental patients with moderate forms of gum disease have an overall 14% increased risk of developing cancer according to a recent British report. People who have been avoiding going to the dentist may want to give it a second thought.

It is no news that most people hate going to the dentist. In fact only about 50% of Americans see their dentist each year. So it probably comes as troubling news that they are increasing their risk not only of cancer, but also of serious diseases by avoiding their dental visits. That must come as bad news too many a procrastinator. According to a recent research report in the famous journal Lancet Oncology, cancer risk increase when gum disease is present. In addition, when gums disease is present, the risk of heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, liver disease, blood diseases and brain diseases are increased. Now we have enough evidence to add the risk of cancer to the list.

Doctors have believed for hundred of years that oral infections can have a harmful effect on the whole body but they never really understood the reasons. It was felt that the infected teeth and gums released poisons into the body. It was common to extract a person's teeth to rid the body of the supposed poisons. Modern medicine rejected this theory and believed there was no connection and the idea was simply absurd.

Today there are many new studies on the connection of gum diseases to other health problems. With this expanded knowledge there is now a turnabout-taking place. Concern is growing about these problems and leading health care providers now can make their patients aware of the risks.

Researchers believe that if you have gum disease, the normal act of brushing your teeth or chewing can allow bacteria to enter your blood. The blood stream carries throughout the body the oral bacteria and their toxins. These infectious agents can trigger the immune system to produce chemicals called cytokines. The liver then produces chemicals called C-reactive proteins (CRP) and fibrinogen is released. These increase when there is inflammation or infection present. Oral infections, especially gum infections, can be the cause of this increase. C-reactive protein is a good indicator of chances of a heart attack occurring.

In the case of gum disease the oral bacteria appear to attach themselves to the plaque and fatty acids of the coronary arteries and then increase the build up of plaque in the arteries. They can even cause blood clots to form in the coronary arteries. This has been shown in several studies.

English and American researchers have now found gum disease is linked to a higher chance of lung, kidney, pancreatic and blood cancers in both smokers and non-smokers. Many believe that an immune system weakness could be the cause of this connection. A team at Imperial College London and Harvard studied the statistical health records of 50,000 men. The latest data that was collected for over 21 years in U.S. men suggests that even in those who have never smoked, the presence of gum disease means a higher risk of cancer.

Those with a history of gum disease had a 14% higher chance of cancer compared with those with no history of gum disease. There was a 33% increase in the risk of lung cancer. There was a 50% rise in the chance of kidney cancer and a 51% rise in pancreatic cancer. Blood cell cancers such as leukemia rose by 30% among men with gum disease. In another study it was found that for each millimeter of bone loss in chronic periodontitis, a form of gum disease, there was a four times increase in head and neck cancer.

It is thought that long lasting gum disease could trigger a substantial long lasting reduction in the immune response, which allows the cancer to grow, or the possibility that the bacteria from the gums could be directly causing the cancer themselves.

Further studies are underway to confirm this new statistical research. It should be noted that some researchers such as Dr. Phillip Preshaw at Newcastle University felt the finding are not yet conclusive and that more data is needed. Prominent British researcher Sir Muir Gray believes that "correlation does not equal causation." Dr. Allan Melnick, a well known researcher and clinician in Encino, CA said in a recent interview on the subject "I tell my patients the facts as best we know them, then it is up to them but I do worry." So while the data is not proof positive a red flag has been raised. Clearly few people like going to the dentist but it appears that it is even more important now than ever before.

While the data is new and unconfirmed, people who have been avoiding dental visits need to consider the cancer connection as a serious possibility. The size and duration of the study is hard to refute. The dental visit has always been for reasons such as an attractive smile, comfortable chewing and pleasant breath. Gum disease and heart disease have been proven to be connected. Gum disease and cancer may soon be proven to be even more serious.

Website: www.FocusedCareDental.com

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