2024-02-29 04:15:52
A growing body of research suggests that not brushing your teeth adequately or flossing properly can lead to a whole host of acute and chronic diseases.
Dr. Nigel Carter, from the Oral Health Foundation, explained that this is “because the mouth is full of bacteria. Although most of them are harmless, some of them can cause disease,” as Russia Today newspaper reported.
How oral bacteria affect general health is still not well understood, but some conditions are more related to oral health than others, according to experts, most notably:
1. Heart disease
If you have gum disease, you’ll be up to three times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, according to several studies.
Gum disease, which causes gingivitis, is a widespread problem. This occurs when bacteria accumulate in and around the gums.
Things can take a turn for the worse when these bacteria seep into the bloodstream, causing hardening of the arteries.
This can make the heart have to work harder to pump blood around the body.
“If blood flow is badly affected, it might lead to a heart attack,” warns Dr Nigel.
2. Pneumonia
Just minutes following you finish brushing your teeth, a sticky layer of bacteria, known as plaque, will begin to cover your teeth.
Research has shown that suspended plaque is capable of causing pneumonia, because the bacteria can be breathed in from the teeth and travel to the lungs, where it can cause infection.
Symptoms of pneumonia include a cough that may produce green, yellow, or even bloody mucus secretions, fever, sweating, chills, shortness of breath, sharp pain or a stabbing feeling in the chest, which gets worse when breathing deeply or coughing, along with loss of appetite, low energy, and fatigue. .
3. Diabetes
This may seem like a bit of a strange link, however, studies have found a direct relationship between diabetes and gum disease.
In fact, gum disease is more common in diabetics and vice versa, because high blood sugar levels, which is a symptom of diabetes that cannot be controlled well, can stimulate the overgrowth of harmful bacteria in the mouth.
These bacteria can lead to various types of infections in the mouth, which can lead to increased inflammation in the bloodstream, causing blood sugar levels to rise and making the condition more difficult to manage.
Common symptoms of diabetes include urinating more than usual, feeling thirsty all the time, feeling very tired, losing weight without trying, wounds that take longer to heal, and others.
4. Dementia
Flossing may be the key to staying healthy as you age, as a new study of 28,000 patients in Taiwan found that those who had chronic gum disease for more than a decade were 1.7 times more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The most common form of dementia.
Scientists have found evidence of the presence of bacteria that cause gum disease in the brains of those who died of Alzheimer’s disease.
Experts believe that toxins can move from the blood to the brain, where they cause long-term damage over time.
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