Heart Problems and Periodontal Disease
Growing evidence suggests infection, including periodontal disease, plays a role in heart disease. It has recently been confirmed that people with a bacterial strain common in periodontal disease, suffer more heart attacks. This may be due to blood clot formation. A Boston study demonstrated that men with periodontal disease had twice the death rate from heart disease. Another study documented that heart disease was 25% more common in those who had gum disease. But the risk was especially great for men under the age of 50 with periodontal disease. They had about a 75% greater risk of heart trouble. These studies and others suggest that bad gums could be as strong a risk factor for heart attacks as smoking, which is blamed for about 40,000 heart-related deaths a year.