- SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- Brushing
and flossing may do more than give you a bright smile, it may also help
prevent heart disease, microbiology experts said Saturday.
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- Caroline Genco of Boston University's medical school
said infecting mice with the microbe that causes periodontal disease more
than doubles the amount of blockage in their arteries, compared with uninfected
mice.
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- Genco said the study, presented the Interscience Conference
on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, is the first clear evidence that
preventing or curing periodontal disease -- known in its less severe form
as gingivitis -- also can reduce the inflammation that leads to such ailments
as atherosclerosis.
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- Periodontal disease, which is caused by a microbe called
porphyromonas gingivalis, is common among people over 40, and often begins
colonizing the human mouth around the age of 12 or 13, Genco said.
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- Genco told United Press International the study has a
clear message, even before more research ties down the link between the
mouth and the arteries. "Go to your dentist and be treated for this
disease," she said.
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- Periodontist Thomas Van Dyke, a biomedical researcher
at Boston University's dental school, said there have been many studies
that found a link between periodontal disease and such different problems
as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and low-birth-weight babies.
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- Those studies, however, he said, didn't demonstrate a
cause and effect relationship between the microbe and the diseases.
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- "The significance of (Genco's) study is that it's
the first step toward showing there is a cause-effect relationship,"
Van Dyke told UPI.
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- Genco took mice, specially bred for a tendency to develop
heart disease, and infected their mouths with the gingivitis microbe. Other
mice of the same type were infected with a closely related microbe that
does not cause disease, and still others were left alone.
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- After 17 weeks, she said, the mice with gingivitis had
2.5 times the amount of fatty build-up in their arteries as did either
of the other two groups of mice.
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- Because it's in the mouth, which often suffers minor
cuts and abrasions, the microbe can easily get into the bloodstream, Genco
said, where it causes inflammation in the arteries. It's that inflammation
that leads to the build-up of fatty deposits that block the arteries and
lead to cardiovascular disease.
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- Genco added other bacteria also may cause inflammation
that leads to cardiovascular disease, but the gingivitis microbe is important
because it's common.
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- She added by the time periodontal disease is serious
enough for people to seek help -- especially those who don't regularly
see a dentist -- it may be tool late -- the microbe may already be inflaming
the blood vessels.
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- "You need to practice early oral hygiene,"
Genco said, and added there is no vaccine to combat the gingivitis microbe.
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rights reserved.
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