Gum Disease May Cause Head, Neck Cancer

[drmithila]

Gum Disease May Cause Head, Neck Cancer

Gum Disease May Cause Head, Neck Cancer

Severe gum disease may result in many other major health problems.

Patients with Human Papilloma Virus-positive tumors had much larger bone loss when compared to patients with tumors that were HPV-negative, according to a recent study.

HPV is a growing cause of cancer in many places around the world. In the United Kingdom, 6,000 people suffer from oral cancer and there are nearly 2,000 people who die from the disease.

This information is essential because more teeth are lost from severe gum disease than through tooth decay.

Many studies in the last few years have concluded that there is a link between gum disease and a higher risk of oral cancer stemming from HPV. There have been studies that indicate that neglecting to brush one’s teeth leads to an extremely increased chance of premature death from cancer.

The best way to avoid these problems is to maintain solid oral health through brushing and visiting the dentist on a regular basis.

        

[Drsumitra]

"Given the theorized link between infection or inflammation and many adverse pregnancy outcomes, it is biologically plausible that periodontal disease may be linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes," write Dr. Sindhu K. Srinivas, of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, and colleagues.

Prior studies examining this topic have largely focused on a single pregnancy problem, the authors note. The current investigation, by contrast, looked at the impact of gum disease on a group of pregnancy-related problems, including preterm birth, poor fetal growth, newborn death, and preeclampsia, a potentially serious condition involving high blood pressure.

The researchers enrolled women from three hospitals who were between 6 and 20 weeks’ gestation. A total of 311 women with gum disease and 475 women without gum disease were included in the study.

The authors found that women with gum disease were not at increased risk for the pregnancy-related complications studied.

"Although the biologic plausibility and the potential for a treatment that could reduce preterm birth and other adverse outcomes were promising, this study demonstrates that no association between periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes exists," Srinivas and colleagues conclude.

The team calls for further studies to look for other causes of pregnancy complications and to investigate strategies that may prevent them.

Source: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, May 2009

 

        

[drmithila]

A University of Louisville scientist has found a way to prevent inflammation and bone loss surrounding the teeth by blocking a natural signaling pathway of the enzyme GSK3b, which plays an important role in directing the immune response.
The discovery of UofL School of Dentistry researcher David Scott, PhD, and his team recently published on-line first in the journal Molecular Medicine. The finding not only has implications in preventing periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes tooth loss, but also may have relevance to other chronic inflammatory diseases. Since GSK3b is involved in multiple inflammatory signaling pathways, it is associated with a number of diseases and also is being tested by scientists for its impact in Alzheimer’s disease, Type II diabetes and some forms of cancer, to name a few.
“The traditional approach to dealing with periodontal disease is to prevent plaque from forming at the gum-line or prevent the consequences of periodontal disease progression,” Scott said. “Our approach manipulates a natural mechanism within our bodies to prevent inflammation and subsequent degradation when exposed to the bacterium P. gingivalis.”
GSK3b is known to facilitate the inflammation that occurs during bacterial infections, so blocking this enzyme from completing its normal function by using the GSK3-specific inhibitor, SB216763 stopped the inflammation process and subsequent bone loss induced by the key periodontal pathogen, P. gingivalis, Scott said.
The next step is for Scott and his team to determine whether SB216763 has any side-effects or whether they need to search for a different inhibitor of GSK3b

        

[Author]

Posts