Gum disease may up stroke risk - study

Last Updated: 2006-07-03 11:41:33 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Making regular visits to the dentist not only protects the teeth, it also may protect the carotid arteries -- the main blood vessels leading to the brain.

Study findings presented this past weekend in Brisbane, Australia at a gathering of the International Association for Dental Research hint that gum disease may contribute to clogged carotids, leading to an increased risk of stroke.

Chronic inflammation arising from dental disease has been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries -- a key risk factor for stroke. Advanced carotid artery blockages contain calcium, and can be imaged when a dentist takes a panoramic x-ray of the teeth.

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles used panoramic x-rays to quantify the degree of dental disease seen in 18 individuals with carotid artery clogs and 18 without these blockages who were matched for age, sex, and stroke risk factors such as body weight, smoking history, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.

They found that dental disease, as determined by the number of teeth with decay, missing teeth, and the amount of bone loss around the teeth, was much more prevalent in people with carotid atheromas, as the clogs are called, than in those without.

"The main finding is that patients with atheromas have greater amounts of active dental disease than age-matched controls with similar atherosclerotic risk factors," Dr. Evelyn Chung from the UCLA School of Dentistry in Los Angeles told Reuters Health.

"Untreated dental disease may in some way accelerate the atherosclerotic process," Chung noted. "Therefore patients should visit their dentists for continued care to remove infections."

"We believe that these results correlate well with other studies that have only hinted at the relationship between dental disease burden and atherosclerosis," Chung added.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Blood sugar control impacts stroke risk

Last Updated: 2006-07-03 9:51:36 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Impaired glucose tolerance, a precursor to full-blown diabetes, is associated with an increased risk of stroke in non-diabetic patients who have already experienced a minor or mini-stroke, Dutch researchers report.

Symptoms of a mini-stroke, known medically as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), are exactly the same as those of a full-fledged stroke, but resolve within 24 hours. While TIAs in themselves cause no long-term problems, they substantially increase the likelihood of having a full-fledged stroke soon afterwards.

Impaired glucose tolerance has been linked to stroke in patients with coronary artery disease. However, it was unclear if this metabolic derangement increased the risk in patients with a prior TIA or minor stroke.

Dr. Sarah E. Vermeer, from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and colleagues assessed the impact of glucose tolerance on stroke risk in 3,127 patients with a prior TIA or minor stroke.

During an average of 2.6 follow-up, 272 patients developed a stroke and 200 patients experienced heart attack or cardiac death.

An 80 percent increased stroke risk was seen in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. Patients with excessively low glucose levels also had a 50 percent greater risk than did those with normal glucose levels.

The biggest risk of stroke -- a nearly threefold increased risk compared with normal glucose levels -- was in patients with overt diabetes.

By contrast, the glucose levels seemed to have no bearing on the risk of heart attack or heart-related death, the report indicates.

"Intensive glucose control in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients seems to reduce stroke and other macrovascular events," the authors state. "New secondary prevention trials should be initiated to investigate whether intensive glucose control reduces stroke incidence in these patients."

SOURCE: Stroke June 2006.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.