Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Musk’s China visit a fitting rebuff to the ‘decoupling’ rhetoric
Birds of a feather may flock together, but they don’t necessarily build nests
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Mouth-bugs link to heart attacks
Source: Agencies |
April 2, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE with the germiest mouths are the most likely to have heart attacks, United States researchers reported yesterday.
A study that compared heart attack victims to healthy volunteers found the heart patients had higher numbers of bacteria in their mouths. Their findings add to a growing body of evidence linking oral hygiene with overall health.
Oelisoa Andriankaja and colleagues at the University at Buffalo in New York were trying to find if any particular bacteria might be causing heart attacks.
Their tests on 386 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and 840 people free of heart trouble showed two types - Tannerella forsynthesis and Prevotella intermedia - were more common among the heart attack patients.
But more striking, the people who had the most bacteria of all types in their mouths were the most likely to have had heart attacks, they told a meeting of the International Association of Dental Research in Miami.
"The message here is that even though some specific periodontal pathogens have been found to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, the total bacterial pathogenic burden is more important than the type of bacteria," Andriankaja, now at the University of Puerto Rico, said.
"In other words, the total number of 'bugs' is more important than one single organism."
Doctors are not sure how bacteria may be linked with heart attacks but several studies have shown associations between gum disease and heart disease.
Bacteria may set off general inflammation that in turn would cause blood to clot.
A study that compared heart attack victims to healthy volunteers found the heart patients had higher numbers of bacteria in their mouths. Their findings add to a growing body of evidence linking oral hygiene with overall health.
Oelisoa Andriankaja and colleagues at the University at Buffalo in New York were trying to find if any particular bacteria might be causing heart attacks.
Their tests on 386 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and 840 people free of heart trouble showed two types - Tannerella forsynthesis and Prevotella intermedia - were more common among the heart attack patients.
But more striking, the people who had the most bacteria of all types in their mouths were the most likely to have had heart attacks, they told a meeting of the International Association of Dental Research in Miami.
"The message here is that even though some specific periodontal pathogens have been found to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, the total bacterial pathogenic burden is more important than the type of bacteria," Andriankaja, now at the University of Puerto Rico, said.
"In other words, the total number of 'bugs' is more important than one single organism."
Doctors are not sure how bacteria may be linked with heart attacks but several studies have shown associations between gum disease and heart disease.
Bacteria may set off general inflammation that in turn would cause blood to clot.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
