The Risk of Cardiometabolic Conditions Among Patients With Oral Candidiasis: A Global Large-Scale Population-Based...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Endocrinology
• Oral Medicine

Background:

• The cardiometabolic implications of oral candidiasis (OC) remain incompletely understood.
• Investigating the link between OC and long-term health outcomes is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the long-term risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in patients diagnosed with oral candidiasis (OC).
• To compare the risk of these outcomes in OC patients against those with herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS).

Main Methods:

• A global retrospective cohort study design was employed.
• Two analyses compared patients with OC to those with HSV and RAS, assessing risks for 11 cardiovascular and 4 metabolic outcomes.
• Propensity score matching was utilized to ensure comparability between study groups.

Main Results:

• Patients with OC showed a significantly higher risk of stroke, sudden cardiac death, congestive heart failure (CHF), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and obesity compared to those with HSV.
• Compared to RAS, OC was associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, peripheral vascular disease, atrial fibrillation, CHF, hyperlipidemia, DM, and obesity.

Conclusions:

• Oral candidiasis (OC) is demonstrably linked to an elevated risk of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes.
• Clinicians should maintain heightened awareness of these associated cardiometabolic risks when treating patients with OC.