Gargling with mouthwash might seem like a harmless routine, but there’s new evidence that the hygiene habit could be raising your blood pressure.
The compound raising blood pressure
According to a team of researchers from Baylor University, a compound in mouthwash called chlorhexidine destroys the “good” bacteria in your mouth that normally helps maintain blood pressure levels by converting dietary nitrate into nitric oxide (NO).
The scientists recruited 26 volunteers to rinse with antiseptic mouthwash twice a day for seven days to see if their oral bacteria and blood pressure levels changed. After the week was up, the volunteers went back to their typical oral hygiene practices.
In order to analyze the effects of the mouthwash, the researchers took saliva and tongue scrapings. In addition, they took blood pressure readings at baseline, after seven days, after 10 days and after 14 days.
“Twice-daily chlorhexidine usage was associated with a significant increase in systolic blood pressure after one week of use and recovery from use resulted in an enrichment in nitrate-reducing bacteria on the tongue,” explains the study’s senior author, Nathan Bryan, Ph.D. “The demonstration that the presence of NO-producing bacteria in the oral cavity can help maintain normal blood pressure gives us another target to help the more than 100 million Americans living with high blood pressure.”
High blood pressure in the United States
As Bryan points out, more than 100 million people in the United States are living with high blood pressure. Currently, two of out three patients who are prescribed medication for their high blood pressure don’t have it adequately managed. The results of this study may help researchers create a treatment for high blood pressure in the future.
Understanding the importance of nitric oxide may also lead scientist to other discoveries about its impact on health beyond just blood pressure. Just knowing that 200 million Americans may be rinsing away “good” bacteria each morning may be a good start to changes we can make.
