Risks of heart attack related to bacteria in gum plaque

Bacteria that live in the sub-gingival plaques can increase the risk of heart attack for people.

The research, which is published in the current issue of Journal of Periodontology, say that people with periodontal disease who have suffered from an acute myocardial infarction or heart attack are also the ones whose total number of periodontal bacteria in sub gingival plaques were higher than the rest of the participants of the study. Researchers had looked into the gum state of 150 participants who had been suffering from periodontal disease.

In another study, which is also published in the same journal, researchers have reported the DNA strains of the periodontal bacteria in the arteries of the patients. Researchers report that this is due to the fact that a periodontal infection can cause inflammation of the gums that cause opening of pores in the blood vessels of the area around the infection. This makes it easy for the bacteria to travel to other parts of the body by the bloodstream and succeed in causing health problems away from the place of infection.

Reference: American Academy of Periodontology, News release, June 2005