Gum Disease Associated With Kidney Disease Deaths -

Gum Disease Associated With Kidney Disease Deaths

Here is an article I found that will help you understand the relationship between oral health and your general well being. This is something that most people don’t realize. To say the least, it is something that the general public should be made aware of because gum disease can affect you, your spouse or your children in ways that can be life changing.

Dr. Gregory

Written by: Catharine Paddock PhD
Published: Thursday 18 February 2016 at: Medical News Today

New research reveals that patients with chronic kidney disease who also have severe gum disease or periodontitis have a higher risk of death than chronic kidney disease patients with healthy gums.

The study – led by the University of Birmingham in the UK and published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology – provides further evidence of a link between oral health and chronic diseases, say the authors.

Senior author Iain Chapple, a professor in periodontology, says we should be aware that oral health is not just about teeth, and: “The mouth is the doorway to the body, rather than a separate organ, and is the access point for bacteria to enter the bloodstream via the gums.”

He and his colleagues analyzed data from 13,734 people living in the US who took part in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

They found 861 (6%) of the participants in the sample had chronic kidney disease, and they were typically followed for 14.3 years.

Comparable to the effect of diabetes

The researchers then assessed links between periodontitis and mortality in people with chronic kidney disease and compared them with the link between mortality and other risk factors in people with chronic kidney disease, such as diabetes.

After adjusting for the effect of other potential influencing factors, the team found that over 10 years, the rate of death due to any cause among survey participants with chronic kidney disease without periodontitis was 32%, while with periodontitis it was 41%.

This is comparable to the effect of diabetes. The 10-year mortality in participants with chronic kidney disease without periodontitis rose from 32% in non-diabetics to 43% in diabetics, note the authors.

Periodontitis is a serious, chronic, non-communicable gum infection that damages the soft tissue and bone that supports the teeth. It is the sixth most common human disease and affects around 11.2% of the world’s population.

The researchers note that kidney disease and other non-communicable disease are becoming more common – partly because the world’s population is getting older, lifestyles are becoming less physically active and diets more refined.

The increase in these diseases is adding to global disease burden and health care costs: evidence suggests 92% of older adults now have at least one chronic disease.

Prof. Chapple explains that many people who have gum disease do not realize they have it. Perhaps they notice a bit of blood in their spit when they brush their teeth. However, if they don’t have this checked out, they could inadvertently be raising disease risk for the rest of the body.

The team is now looking more closely at the link between gum disease and kidney disease, to see if the link is a coincidence or if gum disease causes kidney disease.

If they establish a causal connection, then they want to address the question of whether treating gum disease and increasing oral health improves prospects for kidney disease patients.

Prof. Chapple concludes: “It may be that the diagnosis of gum disease can provide an opportunity for early detection of other problems, whereby dental professionals could adopt a targeted, risk-based approach to screening for other chronic diseases.”

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