17-12-2019
Hypertension and periodontal disease - in theory, it would seem that these two entities, which are quite common in humans, do not have much in common. The reality, however, is probably somewhat different - well, according to researchers from the UK's University College London Eastman Dental Institute, the risk of hypertension may be significantly increased in people struggling with periodontal inflammation.
Both hypertension and periodontal disease are problems that are simply commonly found in patients - in the US alone, almost half of people over the age of 30 struggle with some form of gum inflammation, while in the case of hypertension, up to 30% of American adults may suffer from it. In principle, one could assume that the two problems mentioned - apart from the fact that they occur in people with high frequency - have little in common. However, researchers in the UK have argued that there is a - and even a very significant - relationship between hypertension and periodontal disease.
The British researchers used data from 26 studies conducted in the past in different countries to conduct their analysis. They came to a rather intriguing conclusion: the researchers observed that, compared to those without periodontal disease, patients with gum inflammation had elevated systolic blood pressure values by an average of 4.5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure values by an average of 2 mmHg.
One might assume that the elevations in blood pressure values described above are of little significance - however, this is unfortunately not the case. In practice, every time blood pressure rises above the normal value by 5 mmHg, the risk of death from heart attack or stroke increases by up to 25%, according to statistics.
Another finding of the British researchers was that the risk of arterial hypertension correlates with the severity of periodontal disease: in the case of mild to moderate inflammation, the risk reached 22%, but then, when patients had severe periodontal disease, the risk of arterial hypertension increased to almost 50%.
It is not entirely clear why there should be such a clear correlation between periodontal disease and hypertension - the study authors suggest that inflammation associated with oral disease may be the culprit. However, the correlations described are certainly of such interest that further studies are likely to be conducted in the future that will eventually provide insight into the basis of the relationship between hypertension and oral disease.
