Gingival Inflammation May Indicate Other Health Problems
Posted on March 14th, 2014Dr. David Brownstein MD, an endocrinologist, has written about a very important subject that he has entitled “Gum Disease Can Kill You”. His report on periodontitis indicates that this is an inflammation of the gums that may be the reason why teeth often become loose and infected and may be the reason why extractions may be necessary.
Dr. Brownstein also notes that statistics indicate that one half of the adults in the United States have periodontitis, which can lead to bleeding gums, bad breath, recurrent gum infections and loss of teeth. He also indicates that periodontitis may lead to other systemic diseases in humans. He notes that canines with periodontitis have been associated with other systemic diseases like pulmonary fibrosis and chronic bronchitis.
These are many of the medical EFFECTS that can occur with this inflammation of the gums in both humans and in animals.
Did you realize that there is a CAUSE to why this inflammation of the gums or periodontitis occurs?
Dr. Brownstein also mentions many risk factors that seem to be involved with the development of periodontal disease or periodontitis. The following are some of the risk factors he lists:
- Smoking
- Chewing tobacco
- Stress
- Systemic diseases
- Oral contraceptives
- Some forms of antidepxressants
- Chemotherapy
- Some calcium channel blockers.
The gingival or periodontal tissue in humans and animals is protected by a mucous membrane antibody referred to as immunoglobulin A (IgA) and is produced by the B-lymphocyte. The B-lymphocyte is regulated by the endocrine system. The fact that the endocrine system regulates the immune system is still not well recognized by the medical profession.
The endocrine mechanism that regulates the immune system, including the B-lymphocyte, comes from the relationship of the middle layer adrenal cortex hormone production of cortisol and the pituitary and its hormone production of ACTH. When this relationship is damaged, a loss of regulation of the B-lymphocyte occurs and its production of IgA becomes deficient and no longer will protect the mucous membranes in the body, including the gingival or periodontal tissue.
With a normal relationship, the pituitary gland stimulates the middle layer adrenal cortex and its production of cortisol. Once this has occurred, the cortisol will perform its functions in the body, including the normal regulation of the immune system including the B-lymphocyte. Once this has been accomplished, the liver will breakdown the cortisol and the kidneys will excrete the end products. Once the level of the cortisol is diminished, the pituitary gland will produce its hormone called ACTH and cause the middle layer adrenal cortex to release more cortisol. This is referred to as a negative feedback mechanism.
When several different factors like stress, lack of proper exercise and nutrition, alcohol, drugs, anesthetics, vaccines, genetics, aging, medications, etc. occur, they all seem to effect the middle layer adrenal cortex production of cortisol.
If this reduction of cortisol occurs, and the middle layer adrenal cortex cannot respond to the pituitary ACTH, the inner layer adrenal cortex will respond with a direct feedback and produce increased amounts of adrenal estrogen and androgen.
Note: This condition will occur if the cortisol is deficient, bound or defective.
Even if the amount of cortisol is elevated, whether it is recognized by the pituitary gland or not, will depend on the amount of adrenal estrogen that is produced. The fact that a hormone is present in normal or elevated amounts, does not guarantee that the hormone is active and can work in the body without doing a comparison. Empirical values may mean very little because the real truth lies with comparative values. This can be determined by doing the recommended blood test listed under my GET HELP section and the Human and Animal Protocol.
When this cortisol imbalance occurs, an elevated amount of adrenal estrogen is produced, and the following results may develop.
- The elevated amounts of estrogen will deregulate the immune system, which will no longer protect the patient, whether human or animals. It will also cause the immune system to lose recognition of self-tissue and cause the immune system to react and damage various tissues in the body causing autoimmunity. Genetics may determine the region of tissue where this damage might occur.
- This elevated amount of estrogen will also bind the receptor sites for thyroid hormone and cause a metabolic hypothyroidism and many other systemic diseases. Read about Metabolic Hypothyroidism and HORMONES on this website.
- This elevated amount of estrogen will also cause the B-lymphocyte to reduce its production of antibodies including its production of IgA, which will also no longer protect the gingival tissue in the mouth and will CAUSE periodontal disease or periodontitis.
- This deficiency of the mucous membrane antibody can lead to many other types of systemic diseases that need to be protected by this mucous membrane antibody. This includes the Respiratory tract, the Digestive tract and the Uro-Genital tract and any other organs or tissues in the body. The B-lymphocyte production of antibody IgA needs to be normal in order to protect these various systems. Please think about all those diseases of these various systems that have an IgA deficiency!
- This elevated amount of estrogen can cause uncontrolled tissue growth referred to as cancer.
Note: It has been recognized by the medical profession, that normal tissue will grow if subjected to estrogen. It is VITAL for both you and your pet, to have your health care professional measure total estrogen and not just the three ovarian estrogens for women and only estradiol for men and male and female canines, otherwise, the IgA deficiency will continue as will the disease it has caused.
If any of these thoughts seem to be of interest to you, and you or your pet has periodontal disease, you can look under Get Help on this website which lists the Human and Animal Protocol, which will help you correct this problem. I also have an article on this website, under Specific Diseases, called Gingival Flare.
Evidence of periodontal disease in your pet can be seen in the mouth of your dog or cat as a red line where the gum reflects upon the enamel of the tooth. This often will give your pet a very bad breath and if you are told that your pet needs their teeth cleaned, even if their teeth look clean, this may not solve the problem. Unfortunately, if the teeth are cleaned, the bad breath will still remain because the teeth were not the problem in the first place but rather the gums.
Please realize that periodontal or periodontitis comes from an IgA deficiency and may be the sign of a more serious systemic disease.
These just some of my thoughts and I do hope they help.
