For Obese, Finding Worth Frowning Over

So you’ve known for some time that obesity carries with it a variety of health issues that have an impact on other aspects of life. For instance, the obese are at a distinct disadvantage in any sporting pursuit, due to the excess weight they have to carry (with the exception of sumo wrestling). The obese are also at a distinct disadvantage in the workplace. According to research published in the journal of Health Economics, obese people make an average of 2.5 percent less than their thin counterparts, and 6.2 percent less when obese women were compared to thin women (I must admit that I’m disappointed this is the case, but nevertheless am not entirely surprised).

What you may not have known up to now is that obesity can impact the health of your pearly whites.

Periodontal disease, or what’s more frequently referred to as gum disease, affects a whopping 40 percent of the world’s population! It forms when an excess of bacteria, acquired from food, forms around the teeth, causing the gums to become inflamed. If left untreated, gum disease can lead to one or many teeth actually falling out because the disease has advanced so aggressively on the gum line.

To determine the effects of obesity on teeth, researchers from Boston University performed a rather interesting experiment on a group of mice, some of whom were obese, others of normal weight. They wrapped a sticky-like material around the gums of both sets of mice, the material being infused with a form of bacteria called P. gingivalis. This form of bacteria frequently serves as the predecessor to gum disease.

In virtually every result reviewed by the researchers, the obese mice’ teeth fared worse. For instance, the obese mice did not produce the same amount of chemicals in the saliva as did the lean mice in the body’s ability to defend itself from the gum-eroding bacteria – chemicals that the immune system produces naturally. Further, the bone loss in the obese mice’ gums was more advanced than among the mice with normal weight levels. The study and all its findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences.

This research piggybacks on previous research done on the topic with relation to those with diabetes, in that those with type II diabetes (who are often obese) also have a diminished capacity to fight gum disease. In both the diabetes case and the obesity case, researchers believe that the body’s immune system is not as well-conditioned to combat the bacteria that forms in the mouth after eating.

Now, it’s undeniable that there are other factors that contribute to one’s susceptibility to gum disease, including how good one’s dental hygiene is, the types of food one eats, genetics, how one copes with stress and whether one smokes or not. These factors certainly need to be considered in future testing. However, this is not the only study that’s been done that links obesity to an increased susceptibility to gum disease. To me, considering all the direct and indirect consequences related to obesity and the body’s diminished capacity to function in such a state, this finding just makes intuitive sense. If you’re obese, your health will suffer – physically, mentally, even orally.