Other studies have shown links between gum disease and diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even -- though this is more controversial -- pregnancy problems such as low-birth-weight infants.
The evidence is accumulating faster than you can say "Don't forget to floss" that taking good care of your teeth -- and treating gum disease aggressively -- may be one of the best things you can do not just for your mouth but for your overall health.
With pancreatic cancer, for instance, previous studies had suggested such a link, but those studies were muddied because many participants smoked, and smoking is a risk factor for both diseases. This time, even among people who never smoked, gum disease was linked to a doubling of the cancer risk, said epidemiologist Dominique Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health, the study's first author. It's still not clear, cautioned Michaud, whether that means the gum disease led to the cancer.
Chronic inflammation anywhere, including swollen gums, makes the body release nasty chemicals called cytokines that have been linked to many problems, including diabetes and heart disease. The crucial point, in other words, is that "oral infections have systemic effects," said Dr. Thomas Van Dyke , a professor of periodontology and oral biology at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine.
In some cases, these systemic effects are probably linked to the direct spread of oral bacteria through the bloodstream to other parts of the body.
In other cases, oral bacteria have been found in plaques in artery walls, though it is not clear whether these bacteria are a cause of heart disease or merely incidental, said Dr. Bruce Pihlstrom , acting director of the Center for Clinical Research at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health.
But most of the systemic problems linked to periodontitis, which affects millions Americans to varying degrees, are believed to be problems of chronic inflammation.
