inflammation

The Body Fights Gum Disease Better When You Are Not Fat

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An interesting study was conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine. The study included 31 obese people with gum disease. Half of those in the group with an average BMI of 39 had gastric bypass surgery and had had fat cells from the abdomen removed. This half did better than a control group of people with an average BMI of 35 who did not have gastric bypass surgery or had fat removed. It was stated that “All study participants underwent nonsurgical periodontal treatments of scaling/root planing and oral hygiene instructions for home care. While both groups showed improvement, the surgery group did even better on the measures for periodontal attachment, bleeding, probing depths and plaque levels.” Periodontal disease is a potential risk of keeping wisdom teeth and is discussed in more detail over at http://www.teethremoval.com/risks_of_keeping_wisdom_teeth.html. Periodontal disease has … Read more

Periodontal disease may associate with breast cancer

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An interesting study was published in Breast Cancer Res Treat (vol 127, pages 497 – 502, 2011) titled “Periodontal disease may associate with breast cancer,” by Birgitta Soder and et al. The study evaluated the association between periodontal disease and the incidence of breast cancer in a prospective study of 3273 randomly selected subjects aged 30 to 40 at baseline. The authors open by discussing how periodontal disease is characterized by chronic infection and inflammation leading to destruction of the bone surrounding the teeth. Some studies estimate that between 15 to 35% of the adult population in industrialized countries suffers from periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is initiated by a biofilm of bacteria on the teeth which triggers an immune-inflammatory response in the adjacent host tissues. Periodontal disease is of particular importance when considering whether or not to have wisdom teeth … Read more

Bringing Teeth Back to Life

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This post may sound a bit futuristic, but it is just one of the many ways nanotechnology can play a great role in impacting our lives. A study appearing in ACS Nano, describes a nano sized dental firm which could be used for bringing a diseased tooth back to life instead of leaving the tooth dead via a root canal. Nadia Benkirane-Jessel and colleagues state in the report that root canal procedures help prevent tooth loss in millions of people each year. During  a root canal a dentist removes the painful, inflamed pulp, the soft tissue inside the diseased or injured tooth that contains nerves and blood vessels. An area called regenerative endodontics in which the development and delivery of tissues to replace diseased or damaged dental pulp could become the future. The researchers have developed a multilayered, nano-sized film … Read more

Colon Cancer and Inflammation

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Researchers led by Dr. Brian Iritani at The University of Washington found that mice that lack the immune inhibitory molecule Smad3 are acutely sensitive to both bacterially-induced inflammation and cancer. I actually study some of the Smad moelecues in Biology classes at University by performing Western blot plots. Absence of Smad3 inhibits inflammation and  increase susceptibility to colon cancer. To examine whether Smad3 signaling contributes to development of colon cancer, mice deficient in Smad3 were studied. It was found that these mice are acutely sensitive to bacterially-induced inflammation and cancer due to both deficient T regulatory cell function and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines. “That the inflammatory response to microorganisms is a key event in these results reveals important ‘tumor-suppressive’ functions for Smad3 in T effector cells, T regulatory cells, and intestinal epithelial cells, all of which may normally limit … Read more