A simple mouth rinse could spot early heart disease risk

Originally published by Frontiers, on August 18, 2023

 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

What if we could identify the earliest warning signs of cardiovascular disease from a simple saliva sample? Scientists think they have found a way to do so. Gum inflammation leads to periodontitis, which is linked with cardiovascular disease.

The team used a simple oral rinse to see if levels of white blood cells—an indicator of gum inflammation—in the saliva of healthy adults could be linked to warning signs for cardiovascular disease. they found that high levels correlated with compromised flow-mediated dilation, an early indicator of poor arterial health.

"Even in young healthy adults, low levels of oral inflammatory load may have an impact on cardiovascular health—one of the leading causes of death in North America," said Dr. Trevor King of Mount Royal University, corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Oral Health.

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