An Out-of-sync Relationship between our Gums, Heart & Blood Glucose Levels is Dangerous to Health

Dentists Can Help Us with the Perfect Smile for our Health & Outlook

While each part of the body, internal organs and systems have a definite responsibility of their own they do work in combination with each other for a perfect and smooth functioning of human life. We realize the presence of certain disorders and health problems as it affects our daily routine but, in some cases, some of these issues don’t seem to disrupt our functionality until one day where they land us into serious troubles with our health and wellness.
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Dumping Diabetes into the Dumps
Diabetes is predominantly present in the human population and has been estimated as a serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease-almost 5 times higher in the case of middle-aged men and 8 times higher in women with elevated blood glucose levels. Almost 50% of diabetics show signs of cardiovascular disease during diagnosis. That’s because increased blood sugar levels in combination with free fatty acids in the blood changes the makeup of blood vessels leading to cardiovascular disease. Blood vessels might become thicker preventing normal blood flow thereby resulting in heart problems and sometimes, stroke too. But what about those individuals who remain unaware of the presence of elevated blood glucose levels in their body?

Even our gums, teeth and glucose levels have great understanding between themselves. Severe periodontitis (inflammation of the gums) risks are elevated (almost three times higher) when a person suffers from diabetes. Research also shows that risk of death due to ischaemic heart disease is 3-times more in people suffering from both, diabetes and periodontitis in comparison to those only having diabetes. Researchers have gone a step further and analyzed whether undetected blood sugar disorders (dysglycemia) pose a threat to heart attack/myocardial infarction and gum disease/periodontitis. Ischemic heart disease is a common cause of death worldwide and a healthy lifestyle can surely prevent you from succumbing to it. Get in touch with reputed nutritionists and dietitians at www.firsteatright.com who can help you follow a healthy lifestyle for better health and wellness in life.

The study involved both cardiologists and dentists who analyzed 805 myocardial infarction patients from 17 Swedish cardiology clinics and 805 controls who were matched by their age, sex and post code. Presence of gum disease was analyzed using X-rays and blood sugar disorders with blood tests. Those who tested positive for glucose were ripped off their inclusion and finally, it was only 712 patients and 731 controls who were included. Blood sugar control was classified into three categories namely normal, reduced glucose tolerance and newly detected diabetes. Results showed that:

1. Undetected blood sugar disorders that includes both diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance was associated with myocardial infarction (these people were 2 times likelier to suffer from undetected diabetes)
2. Undetected diabetes was also a risk factor for periodontitis
3. Dysglycemia exists as a serious risk factor for both myocardia infarction and periodontitis. Also, the presence of undetected diabetes and gum disease further increase the risk of a cardiac problem.
   
   

So, maybe the dentists can play a greater role in curbing any severe health problems by asking their patients to go for routine blood sugar tests if they also suffer from periodontitis.