Cholesterol Drugs May Boost Your Gums' Health, Too

Cholesterol Drugs May Boost Your Gums' Health, Too

 

The statin medications you take for your heart may have an unexpected side benefit: They help reduce inflammation of the gums, according to new research.

Using advanced imaging techniques, researchers were able to see that when people with gum disease took higher doses of the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, their gum inflammation decreased.
During the 12-week study, the researchers also looked for evidence of inflammation or hardening of the blood vessels (atherosclerotic disease) in the study volunteers, and they found that reduced gum inflammation was correlated with improved blood vessel health.
"There is a building, growing body of literature that draws a line between gum disease and atherosclerotic disease. In our study, benefits in the gums correlated with benefits in the arteries," said the study's senior author, Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, co-director of the Cardiac Imaging Trials Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "People with [gum disease] and atherosclerotic disease should likely be that much more vigilant in treating their gum disease."
The study was published online Oct. 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Funding was provided by drug manufacturer Merck and Co., which does not produce the statin used in this study.
Currently, statins are prescribed to lower high levels of "bad" cholesterol, also known as LDL cholesterol. When there's too much LDL cholesterol, it can start to build up on blood vessel walls, leading to hardening of the arteries.
In the United States, more than 30 million people take statins, and as many as 200 million people worldwide take these cholesterol-lowering medications, according to a journal editorial accompanying the study. Periodontal disease (or gum disease) affects nearly half of U.S. adults.
According to editorial author Dr. Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in Baltimore, a "consistent stream of data" shows that statins have benefits beyond their cholesterol-lowering properties.
"There are three big categories of how statins likely exert their effects: lowering LDL, reducing inflammation, and by modulating plaque," said Blaha.
The current study lends support to the idea that statins can reduce inflammation. It included 83 adults who had risk factors for, or already had, atherosclerosis. They were randomly assigned to take either 10 or 80 milligrams of a statin called atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor) for three months.
Everyone underwent imaging at the start of the study, again after four weeks and then at 12 weeks.
At the end of the study, the investigators had complete data on 59 people. They found a significant reduction in gum inflammation for the people taking 80 mg of atorvastatin compared to those on the 10-mg dose. Changes began as early as four weeks after people started taking the higher-dose drug.
There was a more significant reduction in gum inflammation for people who had more serious gum disease at the start of the study and took a higher dose of the statin. The researchers also found that a reduction in gum inflammation correlated with reduced blood vessel inflammation.
"It was really those on the higher-dose statins that had the benefit," noted Tawakol. But, "I would not recommend the use of statins outside the current guidelines," he added. "We see this trial more as a proof-of-principle trial. Our findings need to be confirmed in a larger clinical trial."
Still, he said, there's little harm in telling people to take care of gum disease. "Patients with known heart disease and known gum disease should have their gum disease evaluated and treated," Tawakol said.

Daily Walk May Cut Your Breast Cancer Risk

Daily Walk May Cut Your Breast Cancer Risk

FRIDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who walk every day may reduce their risk of developing breast cancer. And those who exercise vigorously may get even more protection, according to new research.
The study of more than 73,000 postmenopausal women found that walking at a moderate pace for an hour a day was associated with a 14 percent reduced breast cancer risk, compared to leading a sedentary lifestyle. An hour or more of daily strenuous physical activity was associated with a 25 percent reduced risk, the study found.
This is welcome news for women who aren't very athletic.
"The nice message here is, you don't have to go out and run a marathon to lower your breast cancer risk," said study researcher Alpa Patel, senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society, which funded the study.
"Go for a nice, leisurely walk an hour a day to lower risk," Patel advised.
Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women. In the United States, about one in eight women will develop the disease in her lifetime.

When they enrolled in 1992, the average age was nearly 63. The women completed a questionnaire about medical, environmental and demographic factors at the start and repeated the reports every two years between 1997 and 2009. The study participants also reported on their physical activity and time spent sitting, including watching television and reading, and reported any diagnosis of breast cancer.
During the follow-up, which was roughly 14 years, 4,760 women developed breast cancer.
The researchers compared the exercise habits of women who developed breast cancer and those who did not. About 9 percent never participated in physical activity, while about half reported walking as their sole activity.
Those who walked seven hours or more a week, even without engaging in other recreational physical activity, reaped protective benefits compared to those who walked three hours or less a week.
The message is encouraging, Patel said.
However, the study only found an association between moderate exercise and reduced breast cancer risk, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
While other studies have found that exercise lowered risk of breast cancer more for women with a lower body mass index (BMI) -- a calculation of body fat based on height and weight -- this study found the effect held regardless of BMI, weight gain in adulthood or use of postmenopausal hormone therapy.
Other studies have found a link between time spent sitting and breast cancer risk, but Patel's group did not find this link.
This is "a good news study for women," said another cancer expert, Dr. Laura Kruper, who was not involved with the research.
The findings add to the accumulating evidence about exercise lowering breast cancer risk, and present a goal that is reachable for most women, said Kruper, co-director of the breast cancer program at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.
"This is something nearly every woman can do," Kruper said of exercising moderately for an hour daily.
"This is not running a marathon," she said.
Her advice to sedentary women who want to reduce their breast cancer risk: "If you get off the couch and walk around, it would help."