Preventing Heart Attack, Stroke, Vascular Disease: The Role of Oral Health

Preventing Heart Attack Stroke Vascular Disease The Role of Oral Health

Heart attacks, strokes, and vascular disease. Heart attacks and strokes are the top killers in the United States and worldwide, and not only are they the top killers, but they are at the top of the list for the diseases in our future that impact the quality of our life as well. So, for those individuals who don't die from heart attack and stroke, or don't die from the first heart attack or stroke, are oftentimes left with the quality of life that they don't enjoy.

Most heart attacks and most strokes occur from vascular disease. So, a problem in the blood vessels anywhere can ultimately lead to a thrombus, a little blood clot, or a little embolus, a lipid bullet it's called. These can occur anywhere in the body and those dislodge and travel to the heart or travel to the brain and lead to a heart attack or stroke. But most often what occurs is vascular disease in the arteries in the brain and the blood vessel supply to the brain called the cerebral arteries or the carotid arteries in the neck leading to the brain. And for the heart, vascular disease occurs in the arteries, giving the blood supply to the heart. Those are called the coronary arteries.
So, what does this have to do with the mouth? Is the mouth putting the body at risk for any of these things? Absolutely so. In fact, we have several studies now clearly demonstrating the direct impact of these pathogens in the mouth and an unhealthy altered oral microbiome in the mouth, leading to heart attack and stroke, and leading to vascular disease.

So, some of these dangerous pathogens that we're testing for actually contribute to plaque formation in our blood vessels everywhere, none less important than the blood vessels to the heart and the brain. And not only do they contribute to just the formation, the development of these plaque, this debris laying down in the wall of our arteries, but also the acceleration of that plaque becoming unstable and more dangerous.

It's incredibly important to understand the health of your mouth and know if you have any of these dangerous pathogens because we have a direct and a circular relationship. Some people call it a bidirectional relationship, but it's circular in my mind between the mouth and the rest of the body. Whatever's happening, and remember I've said also the nose and the mouth, but this saliva in the mouth that we're testing for, the bacteria, the yeast, the viruses, the other organisms that we find, they're circulating throughout the body because we swallow the saliva, the mouth has blood circulation to it. So, it's a circular or a bidirectional relationship.

It's so important to identify if you have any of these pathogens lurking in your mouth right now and get rid of them. They're incredibly dangerous and totally silent unless you test for them by spitting in a tube and having the saliva test or The Spit Test performed.

So, vascular disease is also incredibly important because think about the fact that these blood vessels that can be diseased anywhere in our body, we hear the most about heart disease and coronary artery disease and heart attack, or we hear the most about cerebral artery disease or carotid artery disease and strokes, but these blood vessels and arteries that give the blood supply to our kidneys, our liver, our GI tract, all the way down to our toes, every organ and every cell in our body can be the reason we have problems in other parts of our body. Perhaps your kidneys were doing just fine until there was reduced blood vessel flow, reduced blood flow with nourished and oxygenated blood. That can occur in the kidneys, the liver. Any organ in the body because flow is reduced because there's vascular disease.

Is your mouth putting your body at risk? You can know.