Strengthening The Mouth - Body Link

The latest on pancreatic cancer

Gilbert crowns A Harvard study has linked gum disease with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, a fatal disease and the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the US. About 30,000 new cases are diagnosed annually, and its five-year survival rate of 3% gives it the worst prognosis of any cancer. This places great urgency upon every diagnostic tool, treatment strategy, and study that could lead to prevention or a cure.

Although two other studies have linked gum disease and pancreatic cancer, the Harvard study analyzed sixteen years of data on over 52,000 males. Among the 216 cases of pancreatic cancer that occurred...

Men who reported having periodontal disease had a 63% higher risk than those who did not, after adjusting for smoking, diabetes, age, physical activity, and diet;
Men who never smoked had double that risk;
Men who reported a history of periodontal disease within the past four years showed more than two-and-a-half times the risk.

Scientists believe the association may be due to systemic inflammation and/or increased levels of carcinogenic compounds generated by bacteria in the mouth. Individuals with periodontal disease have high amounts of bacteria in the mouth and the gut, as well as nitrosamines (chemical compounds) which have been proposed to increase the risk for pancreatic cancer.

This gum disease risk could mean an additional 36 cases of pancreatic cancer per 100,000 people. Please take care of yourself.

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Sheldon Sullivan, DDS - Providing cosmetic dentistry and smile makeovers to the Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Phoenix, Arizona areas.

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