Healthy and strong teeth are not just aesthetic. According to a recent scientific study, the results of which were presented at the annual conference of the American Cancer Research Association (AACR), dental health is also indicative of the condition of the pancreas.
According to researchers at the University of New York's Langon Medical Center who developed the study, pancreatic cancer may possibly be detected by two main signs of oral health.
The susceptibility to dental cavities (holes) and gum disease may indicate the cancer of the pancreas, according to the study.
In particular, researchers found that the presence of specific bacteria in the oral cavity is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, possibly indicating new ways of early detection of the disease.
The researchers reached the above conclusions after studying at around 700 people. Bacterial colonies were analyzed in samples from the oral cavity of the participants at the start of the study (all participants were healthy at this stage) and at regular intervals for almost a decade. Overall, 361 men and women who participated in the study developed pancreatic cancer. The data for these individuals were compared with the samples from the 371 individuals of the same age, gender and nationality who did not develop cancer in the pancreas.
The bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis in the oral cavity was shown to correlate with a 59% increased risk of cancer of the pancreas, while the bacterium Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans associated with at least 50% increased risk of disease. These two bacteria are directly associated with periodontitis (inflammation of the gums).
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