RESEARCH - Gum disease raises arthritis risk

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Gum Disease Raises Arthritis Risk

October 21, 2009 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Brush and floss! Gum

disease may raise your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a new

study shows.

“We’ve known for a while that there is an association between gum

disease and rheumatoid arthritis. But our new work suggests

periodontal disease is causal,” says study head Jerry A. Molitor, MD,

PhD, associate professor in the division of rheumatology and

autoimmune disease at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Compared to people with mild or no periodontitis surrounding two or

three teeth, people with moderate to severe gum disease are nearly

three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the

study shows. Among never-smokers with moderate to severe gum disease,

the risk is increased ninefold.

People with periodontitis also have higher blood levels of an antibody

that has been associated with more severe, damaging RA than do people

with healthy gums, Molitor says.

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Read the entire article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/711101

Not an MD