Exploring the Link Between Oral Health, Asthma, Allergies & Eczema

 

The mouth is teeming with bacteria. Most of this bacteria is the good sort which helps in the normal function of your teeth and gums, but there is still a chance you may be suffering from periodontal or gum disease.

Gum disease is said to be one of the most common ailments in the world. There’s almost as many people suffering from gum disease as the common flu at any given moment in time. But most people don’t realize that gum disease could have much more fatal consequences. In the past, studies have linked the seemingly benign disease to various other forms of bodily ailments such as- diabetes, heart disease, asthma and, in severe circumstances, cancer.

 

The Window to Your Health

There is a substantially growing amount of evidence supporting the notion that the mouth is the window to our body’s overall health and wellbeing. Particularly gum disease or periodontal disease has been observed by experts to be closely correlated to other forms of ailments people generally suffer.

The bacteria associated with gum disease was, at first, thought to be the primary contributing factor. It was believed that as gum disease worsened the bacterial growth increased and spread to other parts of the body and created different sorts of issues there. Recently, though, there is a growing consensus that inflammation is the leading cause for this link between deteriorating oral health and overall wellness issues.

 

Asthma & Allergies

Studies have shown that the most common ailment associated with gum disease is asthma. Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that when adjusted with other factors, such as age, sex, height, weight, smoking habits and lifestyle choices, the patients suffering from gum disease were most at risk for developing asthma.

The debate on whether gum disease is related to other forms of health issues is still ongoing. Whether it’s bacteria or inflammation or both which cause these problems is still relatively unknown. Research is ongoing but there is a lot of evidence to show that the irritants present in the body can migrate to other parts, sometimes leading to minor allergies.

Bacterial infection is considered to be the main cause for gum disease leading to respiratory problems such as asthma. Pneumonia is also said to be caused in certain cases where the bacteria in the mouth is transmitted to the lungs via the windpipe.

 

Eczema

Asthma is itself closely associated with a sort of skin irritation whose cause has not yet been uncovered – atopic eczema. Eczema is a sort of skin inflammation which cause the skin to redden, dry out, itch and crack. Patients, especially children, suffering from asthma are said to be at a higher risk for this sort of skin ailment. Dry and irritated skin is a fairly common problem and this sort of eczema is mainly triggered by allergens in the body.

Susceptibility to allergies, asthma and eczema are all correlated to developing gum disease. The best way to combat these ailments is to take much better care of oral hygiene.

 

Preventative Care

Brushing the teeth twice a day, once before bed at night and once in the morning, is a common staple of good oral care. But a lot of people don’t understand the importance of brushing for longer, preferably two minutes, for better results.

Also, a lot of people are unaware of the amount of fluoride their toothpaste contains or the amount that is actually recommended for use. Fluoride is highly effective in protecting your teeth from tooth decay, which is why it is being added to mainstream toothpastes by manufacturers. The element is naturally present in food sometimes and is known to also eradicate your mouth of almost all its bacteria. The recommended level of fluoride is 0.7-0.2 parts for every million parts of water.

 

Oil Pulling

You’ve no doubt heard about the health craze, oil pulling. Though it’s taken on a new life in the health world these days, it’s not new at all – the practice actually has old roots in Ayurveda Indian medicine.  It simply involves swishing around with a plant-based oil (coconut, sesame, sunflower) for about 15 minutes, which is said to improve oral health and draw out toxins from the body.

A casual perusal of online article on oil pulling will present a whole host of health issues that the practice supposedly cures; everything from hangovers to sinus infections to eczema.  While there doesn’t seem to be definitive proof of any of this, it makes perfect sense that faithful oil pullers would see a variety of health benefits.

Oil pulling is a great way to keep your mouth very clean, and having a very clean mouth helps to maintain health in the rest of your body as well.  So while I’d hesitate to endorse oil pulling as a cure-all for anything, it is one way to ensure good oral health, which has a myriad of benefits.

You can protect yourself from all the issues caused by gum disease by simply brushing and flossing regularly, replacing the toothbrush you use once every 3 months and eating a healthy diet. Regular dental checkups will also be useful in spotting signs of gum disease early and treating it effectively. Detecting gum disease early will be your best chance at avoiding any of the other health issues correlated with it.

 

 

About the Author:  Dr. Kimberly Dyoco is a Chicago dentist who founded One Mag Smile, a practice that specializes in both general and cosmetic dentistry.  Dr. Dyoco loves exploring the many links between oral health and the rest of the body and enjoys sharing her knowledge and passion as a guest author on a wide variety of health and lifestyle publications. To find out more, check out www.1magSmile.com.

Categories: Asthma, Disease, disease early, Eczema, exploring, Gum Disease, health, health issues, oil pulling, oral health, oral heath, people don

Sucking Your Child’s Dummy Could Protect them From Eczema

When it comes to family wellness, do you follow the hygiene hypothesis? If you do, you may be guarding your baby’s wellbeing against asthma and eczema. This is according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg, who say that parents who “clean” their baby’s dummy with their mouth improve their baby’s health with regards to these conditions. At 18 months, babies who had come into repeated contact with their parents’ saliva were 12% less likely to have asthma and 37% less likely to develop eczema.

You may have been advised to soak your baby’s dummy in equal parts white vinegar and water, and, each time it hits the floor, to wash it in hot, soapy water. However, the “hygiene hypothesis,” posits that when kids are overly sterilised, they never learn how to fight off pathogens. Because the bacteria you pass on to your children, whether through sucking their dummy or kissing, are basically harmless, you may afford your children increased immunity, at least temporarily, from allergic diseases. Therefore, the study “Pacifier Cleaning Practices and Risk of Allergy Development”, which was published in the journal Paediatrics, sought to see who was right.

The researchers specifically targeted families in which allergic disease was prevalent, and, every six months, interviewed the new parents of 184 infants about their pacifier cleaning processes. The Swedish parents were also asked to keep journals tracking their behaviour, and the team of investigators collected the infants’ saliva in order to analyse their oral microbes. The babies were tested for an array of allergies at 18 and 36 months.

The results of the study revealed that the 18-month-olds of parents who sucked dummies to clean them were 12% less likely to have asthma, 37% less likely to have eczema, compared to children whose parents rinsed or boiled their dummies. Moreover, the children of “saliva parents” appeared less likely to be sensitive to airborne and food allergens. However, when the infants were all tested again at 36 months, there were no longer any significant differences in terms of asthma or allergen sensitivity. Yet, there was still a distinction in eczema susceptibly, with the children of parents who sucked dummies being 51% less likely to have eczema.

Categories: Baby, Children, dummy, Eczema, hygiene hypothesis, pacifier cleaning, Parents, Research, saliva, sucked dummies

Could Antibiotics Increase Your Child’s Risk of Eczema?

Antibiotics are often vital to family wellness, but they may be putting your child’s wellbeing at risk of eczema. This is according to a new study, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, which found that the use of antibiotics in the first 12 months of life may increase your child’s chance of developing eczema by up to 40%. Moreover, your child’s eczema risk increases by 7% with each additional course of antibiotics.

 

For the study – which was carried out by researchers from the University of Nottingham, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary – the researchers examined data from 20 existing studies. All of this previous research had investigated the association between prenatal and early exposure to antibiotics, and the subsequent development of eczema. The results of the study revealed that children with eczema had often been treated with antibiotics in the first year of life, but not while still in the womb.

 

One of the study’s authors, Dr Teresa Tsakok of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, commented, ‘One potential explanation is that broad-spectrum antibiotics alter the gut microflora and that this in turn affects the maturing immune system in a way that promotes allergic disease development.’ Senior author, Dr Carsten Flohr of King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’, noted, ‘A better understanding of the complex relationship between antibiotic use and allergic disease is a priority for clinicians and health policymakers alike, as determination of a true link between antibiotic use and eczema would have far-reaching clinical and public health implications.’

 

According to Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, ‘Eczema is our most common skin disease, affecting one in every five children in the UK at some stage and causing a significant burden to the patient and the health service. Allergic diseases including eczema have increased over past decades, particularly for children in high income countries, but the causes for this are not fully understood. The evidence is not conclusive and the researchers are not suggesting that parents should withhold antibiotics from children when doctors feel such treatment is necessary, but studies like this give an insight into possible avoidable causes and may help to guide medical practice.’

Categories: antibiotics, Eczema, Research

New Cell Discovery Linked to Eczema and Allergies

If your wellness is affected by eczema or other allergies, it may be due to a type of immune cell in your skin. This is according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature Immunology, which has come about thanks to a collaboration among researchers from the University of Sydney’s affiliated Centenary Institute and colleagues in New Zealand, the UK, and the US.

Years ago, a family of cells, known as group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), was discovered ago in the laboratory of Professor Wolfgang Weninger, and this new cell type is part of this group. Professor Weninger’s lab has been responsible for developing techniques in marking different cells of your immune system, and tracking them live under the microscope. However, until now the identity of the immune cells has remained a mystery.

According to Dr Ben Roediger, first author on the paper and a research officer in the Centenary’s Immune Imaging Laboratory, this is the first time such cells had been found in the skin, and they are relatively more numerous there. He noted, ‘Our data show that these skin ILC2 cells can likely suppress or stimulate inflammation under different conditions. They also suggest a potential link to allergic skin diseases.’

The researchers contacted Professor Graham Le Gros at the Malaghan Institute in New Zealand, one of the world’s foremost researchers into type 2 immunity (the part of your immune system that deals with infection by parasitic organisms), as they suspected that the cells may be associated with this system. The Professor not only confirmed this suspicion, but also provided a new strain of mouse developed in the United States that provided insight into the function of ILC2 cells.

Roediger explained, ‘Using these mice, we found that ILC2 cells were the major population in the skin that produced interleukin 13, a molecule that has been linked to a number of allergic diseases, including eczema.’ He added, ‘We now have experiments underway in which we are actively looking for the direct involvement of these cells in the sort of skin diseases you would predict based on these findings.’

New Cell Discovery Linked to Eczema and Allergies

Categories: cells, Eczema, ilc2, ILC2 Cells, immune, professor, Research, skin, skin diseases