CLEVELAND, Jun 2, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Patients suffered fewer rheumatoid
arthritis symptoms when their gum disease was treated, U.S. researchers found.
The study, published in the Journal of Periodontology, found treating gum
disease was linked with reduced joint pain, fewer swollen joints and less
morning stiffness in patients suffering from a severe form of rheumatoid
arthritis.
The researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine
and University Hospitals of Cleveland studied 40 patients with moderate to
severe periodontal disease and a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis.
"It was exciting to find that if we eliminated the infection and inflammation in
the gums, then patients with a severe kind of active rheumatoid arthritis
reported improvement on the signs and symptoms of that disease," study
researcher Nabil Bissada said in a statement. "It gives us a new intervention."
The study results should prompt rheumatologists to encourage their patients to
be aware of the link between periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis, study
researcher Dr. Ali Askari, chairman of the department of rheumatology at
University Hospitals, says.
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