How to avoid heart disease: brush your teeth, say scientists
by Marlowe HoodWed Sep 10, 7:16 PM ET Here’s another reason to brush your teeth: poor dental hygiene boosts the risk of heart attacks and strokes, a pair of studies reported this week. Heart disease is the number one killer worldwide, claiming upward of 17 million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization. […]
Preventing Hospital Pneumonias: Brush the Teeth
ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2008) — Hospital-borne infections are a serious risk of a long-term hospital stay, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), a lung infection that develops in about 15% of all people who are ventilated, is among the most dangerous. With weakened immune systems and a higher resistance to antibiotics, patients who rely on a mechanical […]
Inflammation has been linked to diseases from Alzheimer’s to cancer, and the list just keeps swelling
Inflammation isn’t pretty. And it often hurts. But the tell-tale swelling and ache, the redness and heat are signs that our bodies are fighting back against microbial invaders that might otherwise harm or kill us. Inflammation is our first line of defense and sometimes, it now seems, our worst enemy. CRISTINA MARTINEZ / Union-Tribune In […]
Germ warfare in dental chair
A developing health science aims to prevent disease by focusing on mouth bacteria. By Dorsey Griffith – Bee Medical Writer Sacramento Bee Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, June 2, 2007 You might be surprised to learn that the microscopic bugs around your teeth that cause gum disease may also contribute to tongue cancer, medical researchers […]
Doctors give lip service to dangers of gum disease
Gustavo Rodriguez had expected numerous physical exams and blood tests before checking into the hospital last July for a long-awaited kidney transplant. But he was bewildered when told to see a dentist. “My gums were really bad, but I didn’t know that mattered,” says Rodriguez, 26, of Long Beach, Calif. “They said I had to […]