Keeping your gums healthy protects the heart’s valves

Keeping your gums clean and healthy can protect your heart.

Bacteria in the gums can damage heart valves—and that’s a life-threatening problem, say researchers from Fuwai Hospital’s National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases in China.

The bacteria can cause a buildup of calcium in the heart’s aortic valve, potentially leading to calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS), a common and potentially fatal heart valve disorder.

CAVS develops when the aortic valve gradually becomes thicker and more calcified, making it harder for blood to flow from the heart to the rest of the body. The condition often causes no symptoms at first, but, as it worsens, it can lead to fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting, heart failure, and in some cases premature death.

And it can start with chronic gum disease and infection.  The researchers focused on the bacterium P. gingivalis, which plays a key role in periodontal disease, that starts with gum inflammation and the wearing away of the gum tissue.

When they analysed heart valve tissues, the researchers were surprised to see the amount of P. gingivalis, and they also found that the bacterium gravitated to the heart valves in mice.

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