Gingivitis Causes Heart Attacks

There are two things to know about gingivitis (gum disease) and heart disease.

First, a leading cause of heart disease is inflammation and gingivitis may be a sign of rampant inflammation. But gingivitis may just be the result of bad personal hygiene. It is surprising the number of people who do not brush or floss regularly. You should do both at least twice a day.

Second, an advanced case of gingivitis...whatever the cause...can result in bleeding gums. Once your gums are bleeding the risk of a heart attack increases for this simple reason: bleeding gums create an avenue for bacteria to get into your blood stream and it can cause an infection of the heart (infective endocarditis). The heart gets inflamed and whack! A heart attack!

Your mouth is naturally full of bacteria. When you swallow it your stomach acid kills the bacteria. (This is true if your digestive tract is healthy.) In this way, bacteria is eliminated before it can possibly get into your blood stream. But when your gums are bleeding the bacteria becomes a heart risk.

If you have red, swollen gums and especially if they are bleeding, you probably have gingivitis. Don't ignore it. It won't go away on its own. You must take action to correct it and you can reverse it. Ignoring gingivitis will eventually result in periodontitis. It is a much worse gum disease and it will cost you your teeth and a lot of money. Treatment is expensive and pulling teeth is expensive and dentures are expensive. Any way you look at it, periodontitis is expensive. Not to mention painful. I know. I have it.

Follow the link to read more about gingivitis, periodontitis, the causes, related diseases and a very effective natural gingivitis remedy.

Bleeding Gums, Inflammation and Heart Disease

Inflammation causes heart disease. Among other things: arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer's, depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, asthma. Don't forget cancer.

What causes inflammation? Constantly bombarding your body with unhealthy foods, drugs (recreational and pharmaceutical), smoking (of course), over doing the alcohol (moderate consumption of red wine is good for you, especially good for your heart). Then there's the myriad of chemical toxins introduced to your body in hundreds of ways: your shampoo, toothpaste, cosmetics, water, and environmental pollution. Eating plastic foods...any fast or junk or processed food that you buy today is likely to contain the ubiquitious trans fats...a sure-fire cause of inflammation.

Inflammation is strongly connected to heart disease. Dr William J Meggs in his book The Inflammation Cure says that atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) is the disease responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other cause. He goes on to explain that while cholesterol plays a part in this form of heart disease "...inflammation has the lead role".

So how do you know if you have life-threatening inflammation? A tell-tale sign is gum disease. Again Dr Meggs: "Our gums are the most visible indicator of an inflammation imbalance in our bodies and we would be wise to pay attention."

Gum disease, especially if you have bleeding gums, can introduce heart-attack-causing bacteria to your blood stream. Get more detail about gum disease and how it causes other diseases here.