Hello! I am Liu Jian
Today is the 557th issue that Jian Ge said to accompany you
How many times a day do you brush your teeth? How long is each brush? Do you often have bleeding gums?
If you brush your teeth once a day or not, brush your teeth for less than 2 minutes each time, or often bleed your gums, you may develop gingivitis or periodontitis, collectively known as "periodontal disease". Periodontal disease is a common oral disease that is often asymptomatic when mild, and may cause bleeding gums, weakness of bite, loose and displaced teeth, or even loss of teeth.
As the saying goes, "toothache is not a disease, it hurts really badly", although this is a joke, what you don't know is that the real death is that periodontitis and cardiovascular disease are closely related, and even increase the risk of death.
In this issue, we will talk about the relationship between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease.
Periodontal disease increases the risk of cardiovascular disease
A Swedish study found that the more severe a patient's periodontitis, the higher the risk of nonfatal heart disease, stroke, severe heart failure, and death, and after more than 6 years of follow-up, patients with periodontitis at baseline had a 49 percent higher risk of these events than healthy gums [1].
A recent UK study of 64,000 residents with periodontal disease and 250,000 without periodontal disease for three years found that periodontal disease patients experienced a 37% increase in mental illness such as depression and anxiety, a 33% increase in autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and psoriasis, a 26% increase in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and an 18% increase in cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure and stroke [2].
It can be seen that periodontal disease is closely related to a variety of chronic diseases.
You may wonder how periodontal disease affects heart health by the fact that teeth are so far apart from the heart? Studies have found that periodontal disease can trigger cardiovascular disease in four ways [3]:
One is to induce inflammation, periodontal disease is not only local inflammation, but also raises the level of inflammatory mediators throughout the body, triggering endothelial damage to promote atherosclerotic plaque formation;
The second is the cross-regional "settlement" of pathogens, when patients with periodontal disease brush, chew, treat or extract teeth, periodontal pathogenic bacteria can directly enter the circulatory system and "settle" (also known as colonization) in atherosclerotic plaques to expand the volume of plaques;
The third is common risk factors, patients with periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease are often older and have more behaviors such as smoking, which may be common pathogenic risk factors;
Fourth, tooth loss caused by periodontal disease may affect the diet structure, such as reduced intake of fruits and vegetables and fiber foods, thereby increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Brush your teeth well to protect your heart
Since oral hygiene is related to heart health, can improving oral hygiene play a role in protecting the heart?
Of course!
A recently published study of nearly 500,000 residents in our country found that picking up a toothbrush is important! Those who brush their teeth less often or do not brush regularly are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death [4].
Therefore, it is recommended that everyone brush their teeth well, maintain oral hygiene, and protect the heart. Specifically, you should brush your teeth at least 2 times a day, brush your teeth before going to bed, each brushing time needs to be more than 2 minutes, and remember to rinse your mouth after eating. For specific how to brush your teeth, you can refer to the following video.
Brother Jian said
Failure to pay attention to oral hygiene is prone to periodontal disease, which is associated with a variety of chronic diseases, especially increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Periodontal disease may cause damage to the cardiovascular system by inducing inflammation, "settling" pathogenic bacteria, co-risk factors, and affecting dietary structure after tooth loss.
It is recommended that you pick up a toothbrush, brush your teeth well, improve oral hygiene, protect heart health, and avoid "disease from the mouth".
Today's content is finished, and the next issue is more exciting.
Heart health knowledge is in "Jian Ge Says Heart"
We'll see you next time.
bibliography
[1] Gum disease linked with new onset heart disease. 2021-8-25. https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Gum-disease-linked-with-new-onset-heart-disease
[2] Zemedikun DT, Chandan JS, Raindi D, et al. Burden of chronic diseases associated with periodontal diseases: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data. BMJ Open. 2021;11(12):e048296. Published 2021 Dec 19.
Ren Xiuyun. Periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease. China Journal of Practical Stomatology.2016,9(3):138-142.
[4] Zhuang Z, Gao M, Lv J, et al. Associations of toothbrushing behaviour with risks of vascular and nonvascular diseases in Chinese adults. Eur J Clin Invest. 2021;51(12):e13634.
Speaker: Liu Jian
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