Previous research has pointed to a connection between periodontitis — a chronic condition that affects the gums and bones that support the teeth — and diabetes.
The latter is a major risk factor for the former, with data showing that people with diabetes are three times more likely to develop periodontitis.
Also, the risk of mortality from ischemic heart disease combined with diabetes-related kidney complications is three times higher in people who have both diabetes and severe periodontitis, compared with people who only have diabetes.
Now, new research examines whether there are also links that connect undetected blood sugar disorders — known as dysglycemia — with a heart attackand severe gum disease.
Dr. Anna Norhammar, who is a cardiologist and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medicine, in Solna, Sweden, led the new research. The results appear in the journal Diabetes Care.
Heart attack, periodontitis risk doubled
Dr. Norhammar and colleagues used data from a preexisting study called PAROKRANK, which included 805 participants who had experienced a heart attack — or myocardial infarction — and 805 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants.
