Healthy gums for stronger heart

DIAGNOSING a chronic disease in its early stage is difficult although treating it at this stage is easy.

This applies especially to periodontal (gum and jaw bone) disease suffered by the majority of the adult population.

A popular health poster in ­dental clinics aptly reads: “Without good periodontal health, you can’t have good general health”.

In the past 20 years, some 190 major health and medical journals have published evidence linking gum disease to cardiovascular disease.

Chronic inflammation

Medical research shows gum disease as a highly-prevalent source of chronic inflammation, which can lead to atherosclerosis and to arterial plaque rupture.

The development and ­progression of heart disease are highly dependent upon chronic low-grade inflammation ­causing arterial lesions (damage) and destabilising plaques.

Contrary to popular belief, most heart attacks actually ­happen with arterial blockages of less than 50%.

Soft and unstable plaques are much more likely to rupture than stable ones formed decades ago.

Blocked arteries with ­stabilised plaques might have grown some small collateral vessels to ease blood flow to adversely-affected heart muscles.

Furthermore, most plaque growth is extra-luminal which means that plaque tends to grow in an outward fashion away from the interior (lumen) of the artery.

For adults suffering from other inflammatory or autoimmune disorders such as arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, eczema, diabetes, or even obesity, their gum disease adds to their existing inflammatory burden.

Periodontal disease progression seems rather similar to atherosclerosis: ‘insults’ to affected area causing an immune response leading to inflammation (gum swelling and/or bleeding) to be followed by tissue destruction.

Bacteria implicated

Oral Microbiol Immunol (2009) found that gum bacteria S. mutans and Aa are implicated in cardiovascular diseases.

Some 78% of people with dental plaques may have the bacterium S. mutans in their heart arteries while fatty streaks found in early stage heart disease can be promoted by bacterium P. gingivalis.

Besides promoting systemic (whole body) inflammation, gum bacteria have been implicated for causing hypertension (high blood pressure), elevating fibrinogen (blood thickness), expressing atherosclerotic vascular disease genes, increasing migration of monocytes (white blood cells) to artery wall to form plaques, ­promoting transformation of foam cells to form arterial plaques, and even inducing ­rupture of these plaques.

Most gum bacteria are ­­sulphur-producing which explains the bad breath among those with ­decaying teeth.

A genetic link

The level of immune cells responding to bacterial infection depends partly on one’s genes. Consequently, gum disease can run in family.

The risk of heart disease caused by the defective gene (IL-1) has been estimated to be as high as the risk of cigarette smoking.
Knowing the genetic markers for IL-1A and IL-1B may become popular for dental health ­management.

Dietary and lifestyle connections

Regular intake of refined starch or sugary food/beverage can promote gum disease and tooth decay.

However, the use of diluted hydrogen peroxide (Oxydrops) helps protect against gum ­disease and tooth decay.

Being liquid, it slips into spaces between gum and teeth to ­eliminate anaerobic bacteria where toothpaste alone cannot do.

Brushing the gum may also cause it to recede, exposing teeth and bone to more bacteria.

The presence of pathogens in the gum can lead to bone loss over time.

Drinking green or yellow tea can help protect against tooth decay whereas highly-acidic soft drinks or packaged fruit juices cannot.

Cooking oils rich in Omega-6 fats such as those from corn or sunflower can generate pro-inflammatory chemicals soon after consumption.

So can food such as organ meat, farmed salmon, or farmed chicken.

Nutritional therapies

Bee propolis is a natural antibiotic and is suitable for gargling before consuming.

Use of virgin coconut oil in one’s cooking can also help to reduce bacterial, fungal, and/or viral load.

The strongest mineral for teeth is probably manganese, which can be found in green or yellow tea.

Licensed nutritional therapists may also recommend vitamin K2 (MK4 or MK7 version) and vitamin D3 to help regenerate bone cells.

High-dose calcium alone is ­unlikely to be effective since it can cause mineral imbalance leading to increased calcium loss.

Such intake can even promote growth of arterial plaques and prostate tumour/cancer in men, while it reduces stomach enzyme production and lowers insulin secretion by the pancreas.

Besides vitamins, magnesium citrate may help to balance the negative effects of calcium ­supplementation.

EPA /DHA from quality fish oil and curcumin from turmeric are widely used to control or reverse chronic inflammation.

Recently, supplementing with trans-resveratrol (with bromelain) has become popular.

This phytonutrient helps regenerate endothelial cells in heart arteries while suppressing chronic inflammation and expressing one’s longevity genes.

Local food items rich in trans-resveratrol include cocoa and peanut.

Globally, most supplemented resveratrol comes from the ­Chinese herb Hujang and not from organic red wine.

Source: The Sun Daily
Published: 29 Oct 2014

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Category: Features, Health alert