Dental disease and heart attacks have a genetic link say German researchers.
Periodontitis, a gum disease is said to be linked with heart disease. The exact association is still unknown.
Recently the University of Kiel team has found a common gene mutation in people with periodontitis and heart attack patients. This was heard in a conference.
Dr Arne Schaefer, the leader of the study said gum disease should be taken very seriously and treated as early as possible.
Smoking, diabetes and obesity are the risk factors associated with both coronary heart disease (CHD) and periodontitis. The risk factors are the same.
The bacteria involved in gum disease trigger a low grade inflammatory response throughout the body, one theory says. This prompts changes in the arteries leading to strokes and heart attacks. Another possibility is that bacteria disturb the way blood vessels dilate directly. This happens as  some bacteria can enter the bloodstream.
Study leader Dr Arne Schaefer from the University of Kiel said his team found the gene linking the conditions on chromosome 9. This was spoken at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Vienna.
“Now we know for sure that there is a strong genetic link, patients with periodontitis should try to reduce their risk factors and take preventive measures at an early stage”, said Dr Schaefer.
“We hope that our findings will make it easier to diagnose the disease at an early stage, and that in future a greater insight into the specific pathophysiology might open the way to effective treatment before the disease can take hold.”
“In the meantime, because of its association with CHD, we think that periodontitis should be taken very seriously by dentists and diagnosed and treated as early as possible.”
Dr Francesco D’Aiuto, clinical lecturer at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, said, “There l great interest whether this genetic locus is associated not only with aggressive forms of periodontitis but also with the more common chronic form, which is present in some form in at least 10-20% of the UK population.”
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