The Link Between Periodontitis and Breast Cancer

A recent study from the University of Belfast has found that postmenopausal women who suffer from gum disease are at a much higher risk of developing breast cancer. Breast cancer is a major epidemic in the world, and continues to decimate the adult population along such popular forms of this incurable disease as oral cancer, prostate and lung cancer. Read more to find out what the link between this deadly menace and the easily curable gum disease periodontitis is.

Breast cancer

Breast cancer, or cancerous malformations in the mammary tissues are some of the most explored and researched forms of this illness. This is because it has a relatively high survival rate, and can be easily studied as mastectomies and lumpectomies make it so that the tissues are more or less intact and can be studied. Environmental factors for this disease include the usual suspects: smoking, city life, obesity, alcohol consumption and previous diseases. There are also genetic predispositions to breast cancer as well, and now it seems that gum disease is another cause of breast cancer, as it has been identified as a contributing factor for so many other forms of cancer as well.

The proof

A team of researchers from Buffalo University spent some time studying 76 000 women with breast cancer, and found that some 26% of them had gum disease. The University of Belfast looked into it some more, and found that breast cancer was some 14% more likely to occur to women who had periodontitis or other forms of gum disease, and found that this was the case independent of all other factors. The precise mechanism between the bacteria that cause periodontitis and the development of breast cancer is not yet fully understood.

Good news

The good news is that periodontitis is curable, unlike cancer. This means that if you have periodontitis, you do not have to worry about contracting cancer, you just need to solve the problem of periodontitis then and there. This can be done with a course of antibiotics and a deep cleaning session for early signs of periodontitis, and with oral surgery if the situation is very severe. But it must be cured, even if it does not cause immediate problems, because aside from raising the likelihood of contracting cancer, periodontitis also contributes to heart disease, obesity, intestinal discomfort, and a whole slew of malaise you may not have thought so, and it will cause your teeth to become loose and eventually fall out by destroying the gums around them that hold them in place. Periodontitis is no joke, and should be taken seriously.