Friday, September 4, 2009

Another great reason for Alkaline water; Believe It or Not—Your Unhealthy Mouth Can Kill You

Let’s face it—oral health is a sore subject for a lot of people. And if you have a hard time swallowing the thought of a routine dental cleaning—let alone the prospect of painful gum surgery, or an excruciating root canal—you’re not alone. In fact, you’ve probably been tempted more than once to just skip that dentist appointment altogether.

If so, consider yourself warned: There’s much more to your mouth’s health than meets the eye—and you might be surprised to learn just how deadly a set of “sick” gums can be.

Emerging research has shed a harsh light on the dangerous link between gum disease and your heart health. Recent studies have revealed that a shocking 84 percent of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) also have periodontal disease—and that this same condition significantly raises your risk of hypertension, heart attack, and more severe coronary lesions, too.

What’s more, evidence suggests that oral infections are capable of raising notorious inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, both of which are major red flags for heart disease and atherosclerosis. Meanwhile, other studies show that half of patients with chronic periodontitis have Streptococcus mutans—the very same bacteria found in their dental plaque—lining the walls of their arteries, too.9 And if that wasn’t bad enough, periodontal disease also appears to be connected to high total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and reduced levels of health-boosting HDL (or “good”) cholesterol.

It’s safe to say that all of this is more than enough reason never to miss another dentist appointment again… but what else can you do to keep your mouth (and your heart) healthy and free of pathogenic microorganisms? Luckily, quite a bit—in fact, at least two natural solutions are clinically proven to go a surprisingly long way in this fight.

Sugar, as we know, is acidic and there's no doubt about its ability to foment diesease in the mouth. One alternative for the sweet toothed is Xylitol, an expensive corn-based sugar substitute that, unlike real sugar, actually raises your mouth’s pH—reducing enamel etching acidity and decreasing both tooth decay and plaque formation.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is another useful supplement in the fight against gum disease, with studies revealing this natural molecule’s potency against bacteria and inflammation in cases of gingivitis and periodontitis. As a bonus, HA supplementation is also clinically proven to help more mundane oral health issues—such as canker sores and dry mouth.

Or, of course, you could take the path of least resistance; return to your natural alkaline state and change the way your body 'thinks' about the need for sweetness. And drinking alkaline water instead of carbonated sugardrinks is doing what your mouth wants; supplying an alkaline environment in the mouth.

I remember ten years ago my wife Cassie had chronic gingivitis. It disappeared after beginning alkaline ionised water and has never returned.

References: 1. Cronin A. Periodontal disease is a risk marker for coronary heart disease? Evid Based Dent. 2009;10(1):22. 2. Zhang YM, Zhong LJ, He BX, et al. Study on the correlation between coronary heart disease and chronic periodontitis. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 2006 Mar;27(3):256-9. 3. Liu P, Zhang Y, Wang SJ, et al. Correlation between periodontal disease and coronary atherosclerotic heart disease. Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xue Bao. 2006 Apr;28(2):169-72. 4. Holmlund A, Holm G, Lind L. Severity of periodontal disease and number of remaining teeth are related to the prevalence of myocardial infarction and hypertension in a study based on 4,254 subjects. J Periodontol. 2006 Jul;77(7):1173-8. 5. Amabile N, Susini G, Pettenati-Soubayroux I, et al. Severity of periodontal disease correlates to inflammatory systemic status and independently predicts the presence and angiographic extent of stable coronary artery disease. J Intern Med. 2008 Jun;263(6):644-52. 6. Karnoutsos K, Papastergiou P, Stefanidis S, et al. Periodontitis as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease: The role of anti-phosphorylcholine and anti-cardiolipin antibodies. Hippokratia. 2008 Jul;12(3):144-9. 7. Liu J, Wu YF, Ding Y, et al. Serum C-reactive protein levels and lipid profiles concentrations in moderate to severe periodontitis and coronary heart disease: a comparative study. Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2009 Mar;44(3):150-4. 8. Ge S, Wu YF, Liu TJ, et al. Study of the correlation between moderately and severely chronic periodontitis and coronary heart disease. Hua Xi Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2008 Jun;26(3):262-6. 9. Zaremba M, Górska R, Suwalski P, et al. Periodontitis as a risk factor of coronary heart diseases? Adv Med Sci. 2006;51 Suppl 1:34-9. 10. Duan JY, Ou-Yang XY, Zhou YX. Effect of periodontal initial therapy on the serum level of lipid in the patients with both periodontitis and hyperlipidemia. Beijing Da Xue Xue Bao. 2009 Feb 18;41(1):36-9. 11. Splieth CH, Alkilzy M, Schmitt J, et al. Effect of xylitol and sorbitol on plaque acidogenesis. Quintessence Int. 2009 Apr;40(4):279-85. 12. Han SJ, Jeong SY, Nam YJ, et al. Xylitol inhibits inflammatory cytokine expression induced by lipopolysaccharide from Porphyromonas gingivalis. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2005 Nov;12(11):1285-91. 13. Sukumar S, Drízhal I. Hyaluronic acid and periodontitis. Acta Medica (Hradec Kralove). 2007;50(4):225-8. 14. Pistorius A, Martin M, Willershausen B, et al. The clinical application of hyaluronic acid in gingivitis therapy. Quintessence Int. 2005 Jul-Aug;36(7-8):531-8. 15. Lee JH, Jung JY, Bang D. The efficacy of topical 0.2% hyaluronic acid gel on recurrent oral ulcers: comparison between recurrent aphthous ulcers and the oral ulcers of Behçet’s disease. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2008 May;22(5):590-5. 16. Yuan J, Tohara H, Mikushi S, et al. The effect of “Oral Wet” for elderly people with xerostomia—the effect of oral rinse containing hialuronan. Kokubyo Gakkai Zasshi. 2005 Mar;72(1):106-10.

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