External contributor – Kim Jin-hwan, CEO of One Day Dental Clinic
The thing that all human beings fear most, regardless of age or gender, is death. So what is the biggest cause of death? According to the World Health Organization ( WHO )’s 2021 statistics, the first is ischemic heart disease, and the second is stroke. The first and second causes of death in the world are cardiovascular diseases.
Deaths are caused by cardiac arrest and stroke caused by well-known angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, and high blood pressure. Among these cardiovascular diseases, the one that threatens the elderly is high blood pressure. According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, 13.68 million people experienced high blood pressure. This figure corresponds to 30.8% of adults over 20 years of age. One in three adults has or is suffering from high blood pressure.
Although high blood pressure is a common disease, it progresses without clear굿모닝토토 도메인 symptoms, so many people suffer from high blood pressure without being aware of it. Although patients with high blood pressure do not take or manage their medications, they often experience sudden complications or side effects. For this reason, high blood pressure is sometimes called the ‘silent devil of death.’ It is something that goes on without symptoms, but suddenly develops symptoms and can lead to death.
When measuring blood pressure,high blood pressure is defined as systolic blood pressure of more than 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure of more than 90 mm Hg . In this case, you will be treated, take medication, and manage it. Hypertension is divided into essential (primary) hypertension, whose cause is unknown, and secondary (secondary) hypertension, which occurs due to abnormalities in the kidneys and adrenal glands. About 95% of the high blood pressure we suffer from is essential hypertension. Although the cause is unknown, the risk factors that cause high blood pressure are things we know very well. These are environmental and psychological causes such as drinking, smoking, salty eating habits, lack of exercise, family history, and stress. In most cases, this is something we can control with our effort and will alone. Among the causes that we do not know much about, periodontal disease is closely related to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Although there are slight differences depending on the study, research results show that patients with periodontal disease are more than twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease than patients without periodontal disease. As a result of a study conducted on 500 adults by Dr. Eva’s research team at University College London, the group with periodontal disease found that high blood pressure was more than twice as high as the group without periodontal disease . Researchers found thatgroups with periodontal disease had higher blood sugar levels, higher levels of bad LDL cholesterol, higher levels of inflammation ( hsCRP ), and higher levels of white blood cells. It is said that periodontal disease not only causes inflammation in the gums and alveolar bone in the mouth, but also causes inflammation throughout the body, especially affecting the myocardium and blood vessels, causing high blood pressure. Preventing and treating periodontal disease is effective in reducing systemic inflammation and restoring cell function in the lining of the heart and blood vessels. The research team said that the easiest way to prevent high blood pressure is oral care. If you do not have periodontal disease, you can prevent periodontal disease by simply brushing your teeth properly in the morning and evening. If you have periodontal disease, you must visit a dentist and treat the teeth and gums with periodontal disease to make them free of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is not a disease that goes away once treated. As long as you eat three meals a day and consume food, bacteria in your mouth cannot disappear. Oral bacteria can cause periodontal disease if oral hygiene is not maintained. After receiving treatment for periodontal disease, you need to make your own efforts and manage it, not from a dentist. Brushing your teeth is the most essential effort to remove bacteria, food residue, and plaque from every corner of your teeth and gums in a timely manner. In some ways, it’s such a simple and easy effort that you won’t believe that one of the highest-ranking causes of death can be eliminated. This is because not brushing your teeth right away does not cause high blood pressure, and high blood pressure does not immediately lead to death. However, our lifespan will be shortened by the time we neglect oral care. It’s so obvious that it’s cliché, but precious things tend to be small and nearby. The precious tools that extend our lives are with us. Please do not forget that picking up the toothbrush placed on one side of the bathroom and brushing your teeth sincerely is the way to save your life.