These Oral Health Habits Prevent Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, Alzheimer’s & Dementia | Be Well Moments

0:00Welcome to Live Well Be Well, a show to help high performers improve their health and well-being.

0:10I was really surprised that there was a whole chapter on Alzheimer's and brain health and the connection. Even looking at like the herpes virus and cold sores and which is known as like the kissing disease. And that there's a connection between neurodegenerative diseases. Like all of this really blew my mind. So can we just kind of like start unwrapping how the oral microbiome has this kind of link to the overarching conversation of dementia? Yeah. And what I can do is maybe start by explaining how these bacteria get into the body. So as I mentioned, we have our oral microbiome. Our mouth is lined by tissue.

0:46And that tissue's job is the same as our skin, which is to keep the environment on the outside and keep things from getting into our bloodstream. But what happens is when we have a dysbiosis in our microbiome, our body senses that there's an infection that shouldn't be there. So it's going to release our white blood cells and our immune modulators to go and try and kill whatever is invading. And ahead of those cells, the body will release AMMP8, which is that enzyme I talked about that's responsible for breaking down the gut tissue. That enzyme acts as a scissor. So it goes and it starts cutting through any collagen that's in the body to allow those cells direct access to the invasion.

1:26And so that enzyme will start to cut through our gum tissue and make our gums permeable. So instead of our gums being a physical barrier, now they microscopically become permeable, kind of like a sponge. And so now it's letting the cells get to the source of infection, but at the same time, that gum tissue can no longer act as a barrier. Now that bacteria get into the gum tissue and our gum tissue is what houses the blood supply of our body. That's why some people's gums are bleeding when they brush or floss. And so when we see our gums are bleeding, that should be an aha warning sign that our gums are leaky.

2:01We have leaky gums. And so once those pathogens get into the gum tissue, they can circulate anywhere and everywhere throughout the body. And one of the places that they go and that's very close to the mouth is the brain. And so we have the blood-brain barrier, which is a semi-permeable membrane that's supposed to let certain things into the brain that we need, but also keep out things that's going to harm our body. So it should be keeping out pathogens, bad bacteria. You know, sometimes people will talk about parasites in the brain, you know, toxins, things like that. Microplastics. Microplastics.

2:38But when the blood-brain barrier can be broken down as well. So things like stress, chronic inflammation, glucose disruption in our bodies, those things will break down the blood-brain barrier. And now that can no longer protect our brain. So it opens the doors for oral bacteria to get into the brain. And the brain knows these bacteria are not supposed to be here. And so what happens in the case of Alzheimer's is the brain starts laying down beta amyloid plaques around the neurons to protect them from that bacteria. but in doing so, starves the brain off from critical nutrients that it needs, and then those neurons start to shrink and die off.

3:15So the brain is trying to save itself, right? But in essence, it's killing itself at the same time. So that's one way the bacteria will directly cause those beta amyloid or contribute to those beta amyloid plaques laying down. It also disrupts tau protein formation, which we know is getting even more important in Alzheimer's. But the other way that the oral microbiome affects brain health is when it causes inflammation, again, the body knows that something is going on. It's out of whack. So we elicit this chronic inflammatory response. And the bacteria will actually cause the inside of our blood vessels to become sticky, to become weakened, to lose their elasticity in terms of dilating and contracting.

4:00And over time, that will reduce blood flow. So we'll actually get reduction of blood flow to the brain, which we need blood flow in the brain. that's how our brain gets oxygen and the nutrients it needs. So it'll contribute to Alzheimer's by those beta amyloid plaques and tau protein disruption, but it also contributes to dementia because it restricts blood flow to the brain and thus oxygen. So two ways that it affects brain health. If people don't start flossing their teeth after this episode, I don't know what's going to make them floss. I feel like this is the information that dentists should be relaying to us when we were in the chair.

4:36Well, and you bring up such a critical thing, which is flossing. So flossing is so important. We have a saying in dentistry that's not widely known, but it's, you only floss the teeth you want to keep. So if you look at your teeth, in between your teeth is where you have your gum tissue. You have the pointy triangle of tissue called the papilla. The papilla is where the blood vessels are. So the two most important areas of your teeth to clean are in between your teeth because that's where the blood supply is. That's the connection to the body. So when you're brushing your teeth, you're only cleaning the three out of five surfaces of your teeth and you're missing the two most critical that are attached to the rest of the body.

5:16So if you're going to do anything at night, let's say you only have time or energy for one of the two, in my opinion, floss, because that's what's cleaning and keeping the barrier intact between your mouth and the rest of the body. One billion people worldwide are deficient in this nutrient that so many of you guys might not be aware of. And women, if you're listening, you are more at risk of being deficient in this nutrient. So I'm going to first of all explain what the physical symptoms are. If you have cold hands and feet, pale skin, extreme lack of energy or fatigue, then you might be suffering with iron deficiency or anemia.

5:54Now, first off, please go to your GP to get your iron levels checked. Secondly, please explore a good iron supplement. Many people that come to me are worried about taking iron supplementation because it can cause constipation or GI distress. That's why I'm so incredibly proud to be partnering for this episode with Spartone, the number one iron-rich water supplement. Now, I've personally been using these for years. The reason why is because they are naturally sourced, highly absorbable iron. That means it's much more gentle on your stomach. There's no harsh tablets. It's just one naturally sourced ingredient that works very well.

6:35You can pick it up in boots or buy online at Amazon, but please do not ignore this. It is really critical to make sure your iron levels are in check. wow do you know what i always cite this one study which shows um you know it shows association not causation but now i'm like maybe it does there's a study that shows that people that floss their teeth on average live eight years longer and i always give that well i always give this kind of analogy because i'm like you know is it that they're flossing or is it the fact that they're just much more health conscious people. And obviously they kind of make these different kind of implementations in their life to make sure that they're looking after their health.

7:21But there's definitely something to do with them flossing their teeth that is also healthy. Either way it's good, right? Either way it's good. Now this is all falling into place. Well, and bringing it back to brain health too, there's a lot of research out there showing that if the number of teeth that you have, and not just number, but number of pairs of teeth. So having a tooth on top and a tooth on bottom that meet up, if you can maintain at least 10 pairs of teeth, that adds, I want to say, I want to say it's like seven or eight years to your life as well. And I have the stat in the book, but the number of pairs of teeth are critically important.

8:03So it's always important as dentists that we help maintain teeth. But if someone loses teeth to replace that tooth. And that comes down to being able to chew nutritious foods, right? Because the more teeth you're losing, the less likely or less able you are to eat very fibrous, nutrient-dense foods. And you're more likely to go to those uber-processed soft foods that we know spike our blood sugar and then cause us to have diabetes of the brain. So very important. Lovely type 3 diabetes that we hear about a lot. Well, this basically leads me onto one of my favorite quotes in your book, which is the quickest way to a man's health, the quickest way to a man's heart is through his mouth.

8:43Literally, the link between heart disease and oral microbiome. People might be shocked by this. I mean, I was quite shocked reading this. What is the kind of connection here between, you know, cardiovascular disease and heart disease with your oral microbiome? Yeah, so this is what I think gets the most attention in terms of oral microbiome and systemic health is the link between heart disease and oral microbiome dysbiosis. So same thing, or very similar to the brain. So we have a bacterial component where we have specific bacteria in the mouth that directly impact heart health. And then we also have the systemic vascular inflammation that reduces blood vessels, or blood flow.

9:28So what we know is that 50 % of all heart attacks and strokes are caused, and I did say caused, by oral bacteria. What we also know is that of the people who died from the heart attack or stroke, they took that blood clot and they analyzed the blood cost to see what made them up. 70 % of the clot makeup was oral bacteria. So they have the clot, 70 % of the clot makeup was oral bacteria. So not only do bacteria, pathogens from the mouth cause heart attacks and strokes, but they also make them more deadly. And so what happens is we get the bacteria into our bloodstream, which I've already explained how that happens.

10:02But the bacteria basically elicit an inflammatory response in our blood vessels. And they will accelerate plaque formation. So it causes these plaque or not causes, but contributes to and accelerates the plaque buildup that's inside of our vessels. Those plaques will then attach to the vessel wall, which the oral bacteria make the inside of our blood vessels become stickier. So instead of them being nice, smooth tubes, if you will, that blood can freely flow through. When we have that oral bacteria in our blood vessels, it makes the vessels a lot stickier. So those plaques are more prone to stick.

10:40And when those plaques stick to the vessel wall, it actually weakens that vessel wall. And I always make this joke. It's kind of like when you're driving your car and you hit a curb, how you'll get like a little bubble on the wall of your tire that makes it very hard to repair. You can't repair that. but it makes the tire more prone to blow. So same thing. Once that plaque attaches to the vessel wall, it weakens that wall. And then if you have a very acute bout of inflammation that oftentimes is coming from the mouth, that will cause that plaque to dislodge. When it dislodges, it rips that vessel.

11:13And then the body will send clotting factors to repair that rip. And those clotting factors will then occlude the blood vessel, and that's what causes the heart attack and stroke. So it's not necessarily the plaque. itself that's that an occlusion of the blood vessel it's the acute bout of inflammation that's causing the tear and the repair that causes the heart attacks and strokes that's made me like really stuff in my tracks 50 yeah it's caused yep by the there's a by poor oral microbiome there's a great book out there called beat the heart attack gene um by bradley bale and amy Donin. And I read their book, maybe circa 2012, 2013, they have a whole chapter in there devoted to oral health.

11:57And that was really the first time I saw the medical community really acknowledging the fact that oral health plays such a crucial role in cardiovascular health or systemic health. But they have a whole chapter in there saying, if you have heart attack in your family, heart disease and heart attacks in your family, part of your care plan should be your dentist, because they should be also keeping the inflammation in your mouth down and also making sure that there's certain pathogens not present in the mouth because we know that certain pathogens, they increase LDL circulation, they decrease HDL, they increase inflammatory processes in the body, they decrease the vessel's ability to expand and contract.

12:41There's all sorts of things that the oral microbiome does. I mean, this should definitely be on the American guidelines because this is your biggest killer is cardiovascular disease. I mean, in the UK, we're dementia. And in the US, you guys are cardiovascular disease. I mean, there's both a big connection. But if there's a 50 % reason of why this is happening is due to the oral microbiome, that should be a public health message. It should be, and it's not. I will tell you that. And actually, the correlation between bugs in the mouth and heart disease and heart attacks is even stronger when someone has a root canal abscess.

13:19So root canal abscesses are actually much harder on the heart and much deadlier than just having periopathogens or gum pathogens. And so a lot of times people will say, oh, I've had a root canal. and you know on my x-ray I have a little abscess or cyst but it's not changing in size I don't feel any pain therefore I'm not going to treat it and even doctors will say we don't recommend treating this it's not growing you're not having symptoms we'll just watch it over time and but we what we know is that those bacteria inside that endodontic abscess are actually way more deadly and dangerous for the heart than periodontal pathogens are okay if anyone has an abscess please go and get it Yes.

14:00Just because you don't have pain doesn't mean it's deadly, right? Same with heart disease. Most often, people don't know that they have heart disease or high blood pressure issue because there's no symptoms. Oftentimes, their first symptom is like, boom, a heart attack, right? Or AFib, and it's too late. so the other thing that i have to mention here i mean there's so many things within your book which is connected to health but it's also cancer and you know everyone listening to this will have had someone that they love affected with cancer um and it's becoming more and more prominent in our society there's a lot of different cancers that we can talk about whether it's mouth cancer or colon cancer um but what is kind of the links here what's the most like prominent to be aware of How can we look at physical signs and symptoms to be aware that we might be having cancer growth inside of us?

14:51I think the biggest thing to note is that cancer, by and large, is not a genetic disease. Sure, there are some cancers that are directly linked to genetic mutations. We know this. There are certain types of breast cancer and what have you that are linked to genetic mutations. but by and large we know that cancers are caused by epigenetics by our environment by toxins and the big thing is by inflammation and so it's everyone's job or duty to make sure that they're lessening their systemic chronic inflammatory burden as much as possible the more inflammation you can reduce in your body the healthier you'll be you'll have less arthritis you'll have less gut issues, less oral issues, less brain fog.

15:35And so really the oral microbiome, sure, there are some direct bacterial links to cancer, like you mentioned FN and colon cancer. That's a really big one that has come out recently. After 2020, we know that FN is directly linked to colon cancer. It burrows inside colon cancer polyps, gets to the center of those polyps and makes them more difficult to treat, more resistant to treatment. And patients that have FN-associated colon cancer have worse outcomes and greater chances of metastasis. So there are certain situations like that where we know specific oral bacteria can lead to or contribute to cancers.

16:12Another big one is pancreatic cancer. We know that certain bacteria in the mouth puts you at a 60, I think it's 62 % increased risk of pancreatic cancer. And pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease because it's oftentimes caught in the late stages. And so the five-year survival rate, I believe is only 8%, just a nasty, nasty one. So yeah, you know, it's all about, you know, keep your oral microbiome in check, lessen your systemic inflammatory burden, and then also keep certain pathogens as low as possible or eliminated completely to reduce your risk of cancer. Thanks so much for listening. To hear the full episode, there's a link in the description.

16:59Thank you.