Gum Disease, Pancreatic Cancer May Be Linked
Wednesday, January 17, 2007; Page A02
By Rob Stein
Scientists have new evidence that gum disease may be linked to more serious health problems, in this case pancreatic cancer.
The
researchers stressed that the findings need to be confirmed and
explored by additional research, but it is not the first time that
periodontal disease has been associated with other serious illness.
Previous research suggested that people with infected gums may be more
prone to heart disease.
ver time, the
bacterial infection that causes gum disease can also cause loss of the
bone that anchors the teeth, and the inflammation from the infection
may set the stage for other serious diseases.
Pancreatic
cancer strikes more than 33,000 Americans each year and kills more than
30,000, making it the fourth-leading cause of cancer death.
For
the study, Dominique S. Michaud of the Harvard School of Public Health
in Boston and colleagues analyzed data from the Health Professionals
Follow-up Study, which has gathered data about a wide range of health
issues from 51,529 American men.
After
taking other factors into consideration, such as age, smoking, diabetes
and body mass index, the researchers found that the men with gum
disease were 63 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than
those without gum disease. Non-smokers with gum disease were twice as
likely to develop the hard-to-treat cancer as those with healthy gums.
"Our
study provides the first strong evidence that periodontal disease may
increase the risk of pancreatic cancer," said Michaud, who reported the
findings in today's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute.
