Abstract
Objective To provide a systematic overview of the evidence available from prospective epidemiological studies of coronary heart disease (CHD) and Helicobacter pylori, dental disease, Chlamydia pneumoniae or cytomegalovirus.
Data sources Computer-assisted searches, scanning of relevant reference lists, hand-searching of cardiology, epidemiology and other relevant journals, and discussions with relevant authors.
Study selection Prospective studies published before 1999 in any language that reported on the correlation between CHD and the presence of H. pylori, C. pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus or dental infection.
Results Five prospective dental studies were identified involving 2369 cases, a weighted mean age of 55 and a weighted mean follow-up of 12 years. All but one study adjusted for smoking and standard risk factors but only three adjusted for social class. There was no significant heterogeneity between the five. The combined risk ratio for CHD was found to be 1.24 (95%CI, 1.10–1.38).
Conclusions Published prospective studies provide no good evidence to support the existence of strong epidemiological associations between CHD and H. pylori, dental disease, C. pneumoniae or cytomegalovirus. Because the available evidence is still sparse, further studies are needed.
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Danesh J. Coronary heart disease, Helicobacter pylori, dental disease, Chlamydia pneumoniae, and cytomegalovirus: meta-analyses of prospective studies. Am Heart J 1999; 138:434–437
Address for reprints: Dr J Danesh, University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK. E-mail: johh.danesh@balliol.ox.ac.uk
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Joshipura, K., Niederman, R. No good evidence for a strong association between dental disease and coronary heart disease. Evid Based Dent 2, 64 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ebd.6400039
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ebd.6400039