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     How Gum Disease Can Harm Your Body

 

Gum disease can have damaging effects that go beyond the gums themselves. Recent studies show that people with gum disease are at greater risk of suffering from heart problems. This is possibly because damaged gums will let harmful bacteria into the bloodstream, where they can worsen problems faced by the blood vessels, such as inflammation. For similar reasons, people with gum disease are more likely to experience a wide range of further health problems, from having a stroke or high blood pressure to developing arthritis or diabetes.

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Inflammation of the gums in gum disease may precipitate inflammation elsewhere in the body, such as in the heart and lungs, which can cause more serious health complications. Because inflammation in one part of the body sends chemical signals to the rest of the body to become likewise inflamed, gum disease can make trouble where you’d least expect it—even causing blood vessel inflammation that leads to erectile dysfunction.

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Gum disease is also associated with mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, and even dementia. In one study, gum disease was found to be associated with mental illness in a staggering 37% of cases. Evidence shows that gum disease correlates with the substance beta-amyloid accumulating in the brain—a major sign of Alzheimer’s. Infection by a bacteria known as Porphyromonas gingivalis, which gum disease lets in the gate, may cause this increase in beta-amyloid production. What’s more, breathing in Porphyromonas gingivalis from the mouth may increase your risk of lung cancer.