Abstract:

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most critical area of medical sciences. Mortality data show that CVD accounted for 32.8% (811,940) of all 2,471,984 deaths in 2008 in the United States alone. CVD was estimated to cost the EU €169B a year (2007), making it the largest cause of sickness and morbidity in the EU as well. Significant advances in CVD area are crucial, specifically due to the increased prevalence with age. Despite meaningful progress in the identification of risk factors and the development of highly effective clinical tools, myocardial infarction and stroke continue to occur in as many as two thirds of all patients.

The accumulated so far epidemiological, seroepidemiological and animal model evidence overwhelmingly suggests infections as a major risk factor for vascular inflammations. The general public is not informed however it has no access to the majority of the professional journals covering the contribution of chronic infections to vascular inflammations. To support the clinician’s work and to achieve the therapeutic goals, patient compliance is indispensable. This leaves the responsibility for health education to the media, to the family doctor and treating physician and dentist.

The education of health care professionals has to cover the latest investigations concerning the link between infections and CVD. The success of treatment and even more important, of prevention of disease mandates relevant teaching curricula in the medical schools. The doctoral students, both in medical and dental degree programs, have to be knowledgeable regarding the impact of the infections on the systemic health. The formal training must include a discussion on the communication with the patient and how to reinforce the information so that a relevant compliance with the prescribed treatment is achieved. In particular, the link between oral infections and atherosclerotic inflammations deserves special attention.

The authors are experienced in the presentation of this important not only for the oral health, but for the general health field, and are open for collaborations. Moreover, in order to develop novel diagnostics and treatments, we have recently described for the first time a cellular immunology, genomics and metagenomics-based technology for identification and quantitation of bacterial pathogens in atheromas from patients. This advancement in the field of disease number one brings about an entirely novel set of technology development opportunities in personalized cardiovascular medicine, addressing the most pressing public health concern as well as the largest burden on the governments’ healthcare budgets.

Keywords:

Atherosclerosis, medical education.