Interesting.  I didn't have gum disease but I did have GD.  SIL didn't have
GD with the first one but did with the next two.  I know she had a lot of
tooth problems, but not sure about gum disease.

It doesn't just apply to GD. I wrote a blog article some
time ago on the relationship between type 2 and periodontal
disease:
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/11/teeth-gums-diabetes-and-death.html

In that, I mention this paper from 2001:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11887455?dopt=abstractplus
which includes this:

"Within this context, periodontitis may contribute to
elevated proinflammatory cytokines/serum lipids and
potentially to systemic disease arising from chronic
hyperlipidemia and/or increased inflammatory mediators.
These cytokines can produce an insulin resistance syndrome
similar to that observed in diabetes and initiate
destruction of pancreatic beta cells leading to development
of diabetes. Thus, there is potential for periodontitis to
exacerbate diabetes-induced hyperlipidemia, immune cell
alterations, and diminished tissue repair capacity.

It may also be possible for chronic periodontitis to induce
diabetes."

The abstract of the paper being referred to in the
healthscout article is:

"Periodontal disease and gestational diabetes mellitus.
http://tinyurl.com/3zjzyl or
http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/ajog/abstract.00000447-200610000-00032.htm;jsession
id=LgmQnWYP9JR104fjh7D86wy1NDxv90tZNL42kMSNhh6TdNWdvh27!-1696092046!181195628!80
91!-1

Transactions of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
195(4):1086-1089, October 2006.
Xiong, Xu MD, DrPH a,*; Buekens, Pierre MD, PhD a;
Vastardis, Sotirios DDS, MS b; Pridjian, Gabriella MD c

Abstract:
Objective: We examined the relationship between periodontal
disease and different types of diabetes in pregnant and
nonpregnant women.

Study design: This study was based on the data from the
third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES III), including 256 pregnant and 4234 nonpregnant
women. Women were classified into those with gestational
diabetes mellitus (GDM) in current pregnancy, with GDM in
previous pregnancy, and with type 1 or 2 diabetes.

Results: In pregnant women, the prevalence of periodontitis
was 44.8% in women with GDM and 13.2% in nondiabetic women,
with adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 9.11 (95% confidence
interval [CI] 1.11-74.9). In nonpregnant women, the
prevalence of periodontitis was 40.3% in women with type 1
or 2 diabetes, 25.0% in women with previous history of GDM,
and 13.9% in nondiabetic women, with aOR of 2.76 (1.03-7.35)
for women with type 1 or 2 diabetes.

Conclusion: We found an association between periodontal
disease and GDM."

Look after those pearly whites, folks.

Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e, metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com
Latest:What to Eat Until You Get Your Meter.
and Cambodia
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/2008/03/cambodia.html