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That thesis would assume that we all live in some sort of bubble were the environment we live in and the foods we consume don't impact our bodies... Heart Dise

That thesis would assume that we all live in some sort of bubble were the environment we live in and the foods we consume don't impact our bodies... Heart Disease is mainly caused by a lifetime of poor behaviour in this regard, for example.

defen 16y ago
Yep. But as an example, there is currently research looking into the connection between dental hygiene and heart disease. It's all hypothesis at this point, but a lifetime of eating sugary/starchy foods and poor dental hygiene can lead to gums the inflame/bleed easily, which can lead to bacteria more easily getting into your bloodstream, which may contribute to atherosclerosis. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/periodontal-disease-heart-health http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/periodontal-dise...
- carbocation 16y ago
  From that article: "And one study found that the presence of common problems in the mouth, including gum disease (gingivitis), cavities, and missing teeth, were as good at predicting heart disease as cholesterol levels." From the cardiovascular perspective, it's far simpler to conclude that poor vascular perfusion of the mouth can amplify oral disease than it is to postulate an entirely new paradigm upending decades of established research. Vascular disease predisposes you to infections of the limbs; why would we not expect the same in the mouth? If offered the ability to bet on one vs the other, this is the situation where I'd use my assets as collateral so I could put the maximum possible wager on the line in favor of vascular disease being the causal entity here, not periodontal disease.
  - defen 16y ago
    That was just an example - another potential bad guy could be Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Of course something like heart disease is probably caused by a myriad of interacting factors, so I wouldn't want to take your wager. I definitely don't assign a lot of confidence to the established research in health and nutrition though - for example, I think the food guide pyramid is bad advice and based on bad science, but it's been officially promulgated by the U.S. government for close to two decades now.
    - AnthonBerg 16y ago
      That's interesting, can you throw me a link or two about the food guide pyramid and fixes thereto?
      - defen 16y ago
        I thought Good Calories, Bad Calories was very good. It's about the bad science behind the high-carb, low-fat diet advice. From there you can get into things like paleo diet etc. I'm not recommending any particular diet - there are plenty of people who think Taubes is full of it (http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/bray-review-of-gcbc.pdf http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...), and I'm not a doctor and have no training in the field. Just an interested observer, since diet, nutrition, and exercise is the base for anything else you're going to do in your life. Amazon link - http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/1400040787 http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/14000... Google Books preview - http://books.google.com/books?id=Xdm40JUD9HwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=Xdm40JUD9HwC&printsec=f...
  - rsheridan6 16y ago
    Are inflamed, bleeding gums really poorly perfused?

defen 16y ago

Yep. But as an example, there is currently research looking into the connection between dental hygiene and heart disease. It's all hypothesis at this point, but a lifetime of eating sugary/starchy foods and poor dental hygiene can lead to gums the inflame/bleed easily, which can lead to bacteria more easily getting into your bloodstream, which may contribute to atherosclerosis. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/periodontal-disease-heart-health http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/periodontal-dise...

carbocation 16y ago
From that article: "And one study found that the presence of common problems in the mouth, including gum disease (gingivitis), cavities, and missing teeth, were as good at predicting heart disease as cholesterol levels." From the cardiovascular perspective, it's far simpler to conclude that poor vascular perfusion of the mouth can amplify oral disease than it is to postulate an entirely new paradigm upending decades of established research. Vascular disease predisposes you to infections of the limbs; why would we not expect the same in the mouth? If offered the ability to bet on one vs the other, this is the situation where I'd use my assets as collateral so I could put the maximum possible wager on the line in favor of vascular disease being the causal entity here, not periodontal disease.
- defen 16y ago
  That was just an example - another potential bad guy could be Chlamydophila pneumoniae. Of course something like heart disease is probably caused by a myriad of interacting factors, so I wouldn't want to take your wager. I definitely don't assign a lot of confidence to the established research in health and nutrition though - for example, I think the food guide pyramid is bad advice and based on bad science, but it's been officially promulgated by the U.S. government for close to two decades now.
  - AnthonBerg 16y ago
    That's interesting, can you throw me a link or two about the food guide pyramid and fixes thereto?
    - defen 16y ago
      I thought Good Calories, Bad Calories was very good. It's about the bad science behind the high-carb, low-fat diet advice. From there you can get into things like paleo diet etc. I'm not recommending any particular diet - there are plenty of people who think Taubes is full of it (http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/bray-review-of-gcbc.pdf http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...), and I'm not a doctor and have no training in the field. Just an interested observer, since diet, nutrition, and exercise is the base for anything else you're going to do in your life. Amazon link - http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/1400040787 http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/14000... Google Books preview - http://books.google.com/books?id=Xdm40JUD9HwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=Xdm40JUD9HwC&printsec=f...
- rsheridan6 16y ago
  Are inflamed, bleeding gums really poorly perfused?