Smoking and periodontal disease increases risk for strokes

You may be asking yourself what a periodontal disease is; it’s a disease caused by harmful bacteria in your gums from plaque. An early sign of this is when your gums start to feel tender and if you bleed whenever you brush your teeth or floss. There are new studies out showing that smokers who suffer from gum disease have increased risks for a stroke. What that means is if you have blocked arteries it will decrease the blood flow to your brain which will lead to a stroke. Smoking and periodontal disease are no joke.

If you are a smoker and have a stroke you are much more likely to die from it than a non-smoker. Whenever you smoke you are weakening your body’s immune system which will make it much harder for your body to fight off any disease and your recovery rate will slow down. Smokers have a much larger chance of getting periodontal disease  because tobacco products release harmful chemicals into your mouth such as hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, arsenic etc. All of these chemicals play a role in enhancing the symptoms from gum disease, the more you smoke the worse your symptoms will become and the treatments you will get will stop working. Smoke releases well over 6000 chemicals into your lungs and then gets into your blood causing damage and a change in your cells. This change leads to an increased possibility of a stroke.
Another way that smoking damages your body is that it reduces your body’s high-density lipoprotein which is also called the good cholesterol and increase your low-density lipoprotein which is your bad cholesterol causing a block in your arteries.

Studies have found that if you visit a dentist at least once every six months you will reduce your chances of getting gum disease; for smokers that is a good way to reduce their chance of getting a stroke.