Sleep Apnea Linked to Speedier Memory Loss

Sleep apnea is a common problem, affecting as many as 53 percent of men and 26 percent of women.1 Apnea is a Greek word that means "breathe." Sleep apnea is the inability to breathe properly, or the limitation of breath or breathing, during sleep, which can have serious health consequences.

May 07, 2015 

Story at-a-glance

• Sleep apnea is the inability to breathe properly, or the limitation of breath or breathing, during sleep, which can have serious health consequences
• These breathing disruptions can leave you unusually tired the next day. It also reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood, which can impair the function of internal organs and/or exacerbate other health conditions
• Sleep apnea can speed up cognitive decline. Patients with untreated sleep apnea and/or snoring were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment more than a decade earlier than those who slept well

By Dr. Mercola

Sleep apnea is a common problem, affecting as many as 53 percent of men and 26 percent of women.1 Apnea is a Greek word that means "breathe." Sleep apnea is the inability to breathe properly, or the limitation of breath or breathing, during sleep, which can have serious health consequences.

Central apnea refers to an inability to properly pull air in, whereas obstructive apnea refers to a frequent collapse of the airway during sleep, hindering breathing for periods that can last for several seconds. Mixed apnea is a combination of both.

Snoring is a related problem, caused by a restriction in your airway stemming from either your throat or nasal passageway. It's the vibrations as the air struggles to get through your soft palate, uvula, tongue, tonsils, and/or muscles in the back of your throat that causes the snore.

Not only do these breathing disruptions interfere with sleep, leaving you unusually tired the next day, it also reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood, which can impair the function of internal organs and/or exacerbate other health conditions you may have.

This includes cognitive decline and dementia, as evidenced in a new study.

Sleep Apnea May Hasten Memory Loss and Alzheimer's

Published in the journal Neurology, the study2,3,4 found that patients with sleep apnea and/or snoring were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment more than a decade earlier than those without sleep apnea.

On average, those with untreated obstructed sleep apnea started experiencing cognitive impairment at the age of 77, compared to 90 among those without breathing problems.

Those who used a CPAP machine to address their sleep apnea started declining mentally at the same age as those who did not have sleep apnea.

Onset of Alzheimer's disease was also more rapid among those with untreated sleep apnea. On average, they were diagnosed about five years earlier than those slept well. According to coauthor Dr. Andrew Varga:

"This study is adding to the emerging story that sleep apnea may be contributing in some way to the acceleration of cognitive decline as you age, and that is potentially another good reason to get evaluated and treated."

Reduced oxygen levels isn't the only reason sleep apnea may hasten cognitive decline. Lack of sleep also promotes Alzheimer's by preventing critical detoxification. In a nutshell, your brain's waste removal system, known as the glymphatic system, only operates during deep sleep.

The glymphatic system allows your brain to clear out toxins, including harmful proteins called amyloid-beta, the buildup of which has been linked to Alzheimer's. Without proper sleep, harmful waste begins to accumulate in your brain.

Not Sleeping Well? Check Your Breathing…

Unfortunately, sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed and untreated. As reported by NBC News:5

"'The message has to be loud and clear to family practitioners, primary care physicians, and ob-gyns that sleep apnea should be screened for,' agreed Dr. Alon Avidan, a professor of neurology... and director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center.

'Unfortunately, sleep apnea doesn't hurt like chest pain. It doesn't bring up a specific complaint. The patient may be a little sleepy or confused. People often fail to make the correlation that the daytime sleepiness may be related to disrupted sleep at night,' Avidan added."

So what are some of the tip-offs that you may be suffering with sleep apnea? One way is to check for posture compensations. It would be easiest to ask a partner to look at how you're laying while sleeping.

At night, your body constantly shifts and compensates to keep you breathing. One sign that you're having trouble breathing is when your body compensates with increased forward head posture during sleep.

The worse your apnea gets, the more pronounced this forward posture becomes, because pulling your head forward helps compensate for the lack of room behind the back of your tongue.

Another common compensation that can indicate sleep apnea is frequent tossing and turning at night, because when you're laying on your back, gravity will pull your jaw and tongue further into your throat, which can obstruct breathing.

Snoring can also be an indication of sleep apnea, as can waking up with heart palpitations and a sense of distress, feeling like you're choking or suffocating.

A simple test to check whether or not you're breathing properly is to stand with your back against a wall, with your heels, buttocks, shoulder blades and head touching the wall.

Say "Hello," swallow, and then breathe. If you can speak, swallow, and breathe easily and comfortably in this position, then your mouth and throat are clear. If you can't perform those three functions, your breathing is probably obstructed, which may be exacerbated when lying down to sleep.

Other Helpful Tools

There are also technologies available that can help you determine whether or not you have a breathing problem that may require seeing a specialist. For example, you can:

• Measure your snoring with iPhone apps
• Record the sounds of you sleeping using Audacity, a free software program available online
• Measure your blood oxygen levels with an oximeter. Oftentimes, if you have sleep apnea, you're going to have a drop in blood oxygen. When it drops to a certain level, it indicates you have a problem

Treatment Options

If you suspect you may be suffering from sleep apnea, your next step would be to identify a qualified sleep specialist. It's worth doing your homework here, as many have nothing in their tool bag besides the conventional treatment using a CPAP machine, which is little more than a band-aid.

CPAP (an acronym for "continuous positive airway pressure") is a machine that mechanically opens up your airway using air pressure so that you can breathe. But while it may provide symptom relief, it does not in any way address the root cause of the problem. Many also find them difficult to use, clean, and maintain, not to mention it takes some getting used to sleeping with a mask strapped to your face. Bedroom partners may also be disturbed by the sound. That said, for severe sleep apnea, a CPAP may be a wise choice, at least to start.

Ideally, you want to find a specialist that can help you address your sleep apnea at the foundational level. Obesity can be a significant contributing factor, but it's not the only one. An increasingly common root cause today is related to the shape and size of your mouth, and the positioning of your tongue. Diet is also important. Dr. Weston Price's pioneering work showed how diet can affect your entire mouth, not just your teeth.

According to Dr. Arthur Strauss, a dental physician and a diplomat of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, our mouths have progressively gotten smaller through the generations due to lack of breastfeeding and poor nutrition. Breastfeeding actually helps expand the size of your child's palate and helps move the jaw further forward – two factors that help prevent sleep apnea by creating more room for breathing.

If your sleep apnea is related to your tongue or jaw position, specialty trained dentists can design a custom oral appliance to address the issue. These include mandibular repositioning devices, designed to shift your jaw forward. Others help hold your tongue forward without moving your jaw.

The oral appliance approach has been recognized as part of the standard of care for sleep apnea since about 1995, and oral appliances are typically recommended as the first line treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea. One source where you can find a treatment specialist familiar with oral appliances is the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.6

How Oral Myofunctional Therapy Can Relieve Sleep Apnea

Relief may also be found in the form of oral myofunctional therapy, a form of facial muscle therapy that helps "reshape" your oral cavity and promotes proper placement of your tongue. It also addresses functional posture, and all of your facial muscles, including the muscles in your head and neck. Importantly, it teaches you to breathe through your nose, resting your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

Grinding and clenching your teeth is one common sign indicating you may have a sleep disorder and/or need to retrain your orofacial muscles. Teeth grinding specifically is an indication of an upper airway obstruction. Your body tries to compensate by attempting to move your jaw to help open the airway.

Getting all your oral-facial and neck muscles to work correctly can make a big difference in this case. In one recent meta-review7 of nine studies that included a total of 120 patients with obstructive sleep apnea, myofunctional therapy reduced the severity of sleep apnea by about 50 percent in adults, and 62 percent in children.

Another recent pediatric study8 reveals why addressing the tongue is so important for resolving sleep apnea. As explained in this study, having an abnormally short lingual frenulum can result in impaired orofacial growth in early childhood, reducing the width of the upper airway. The upper airway is very pliable, so this increases the risk of it collapsing during sleep. They found that children with untreated short frenulum developed abnormal tongue function early in life, which also impacted their orofacial growth and led to disordered breathing during sleep.

The researchers suggest that pediatricians and otolaryngologists should systematically examine the lingual frenulum in children exhibiting difficulties such as trouble sucking, speech impediments, snoring, or other breathing problems. They also note that while a frenectomy (removal of the frenum) is helpful, it’s often insufficient to resolve all abnormal breathing patterns, and recommend incorporating oral myofunctional therapy post surgery to restore normal nasal breathing.

To find a qualified therapist, see the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy’s (AOMT) website.9

Learning to Breathe Properly (While Awake) May Also Be Helpful

The Buteyko Breathing Method—named after the Russian physician who developed the technique—is another powerful approach for reversing health problems associated with improper breathing, including sleep apnea. By learning to consistently breathe through your nose rather than your mouth, your breathing volume will be brought back to normal. This will allow for optimal oxygenation of your tissues and organs, including your brain.

When it comes to how you breathe, diet may again play a role. Processed foods, which tend to acidify your blood in an attempt to maintain normal pH, will make you breathe heavier and can lead to chronic overbreathing. (The reason for this is because one of the roles of carbon dioxide, which is in your blood, is to regulate pH.) Besides water, raw fruits, and vegetables have the least impact on your breathing, followed by cooked vegetables. Processed, high-protein, and high-grain meals have the greatest adverse effect on the way you breathe.

Typical characteristics of overbreathing include mouth breathing, upper chest breathing, sighing, noticeable breathing during rest, and taking large breaths prior to talking. If you recognize these signs, I would suggest taking a look at the Buteyko breathing method, because if you're not breathing correctly while awake, you're at increased risk of breathing problems while sleeping as well.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/07/sleep-apnea-memory-loss.aspx

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Change Your Sleep Position...

May 1, 2013

To relieve pain, acid reflux, snoring and more.

 

When you slip into bed at night, you probably go straight to your favorite sleep position—perhaps on your side or on your back. But sleep positions can sometimes be tricky. Certain positions can help—or worsen—common health problems.

 

The best—and worst—sleep positions for seven common ailments...

 

SHOULDER PAIN

 

Sleeping on your back is often a good option if you have shoulder pain. To avoid compressing shoulder nerves, tendons and/or joints, make sure that your head, neck and shoulders are in a neutral position. Put a small pillow under your head (with a rolled-up towel under your neck, if needed). You may even want to put a small towel roll or pillow under your shoulder to give it more support, if needed.

 

Should you sleep on your side when your shoulder hurts? And if so, which side? It depends on the cause of your shoulder pain.

 

For sprains and rotator-cuff injuries: When opting for side-sleeping, most people with this type of shoulder pain are most comfortable hugging a pillow with the painful shoulder up.

 

Some people, however, are more comfortable—and hurt less in the morning—if they sleep with the painful side down. The joint will be supported by the mattress, and your weight will keep the affected shoulder from moving. Just be sure to place a pillow in front of your chest and under the painful shoulder for support.

 

For arthritis: The irritation and inflammation can worsen if you sleep on the painful shoulder. Keep pressure off the affected joint by lying on your back or on the other side with the arm supported by hugging a pillow.

 

KNEE PAIN

 

Do not lie on your stomach if you have knee pain—whether it’s from arthritis, an injury or a surgical procedure. The pressure on the kneecap can be painful. Also, people who sleep on their stomachs often stretch out the back of the knee joint. This can cause an overextension of the hamstring and the knee joint, leading to pain in the knee or hamstring.

 

Better: Sleep on your side with a pillow between your knees. The pillow should be thick enough so that the top leg remains in alignment with the hip. This prevents the top hip from dropping down, which can stress the leg and the spine. The pillow reduces friction and pressure on the knees and keeps the legs in proper alignment.

 

Another choice: Sleep on your back. You may want to sometimes use a small pillow or towel roll under your knees. Caution: If you have arthritis or any acute injury and use a pillow in this way often, it can increase swelling in your knees and limit the knees’ range of motion. For this reason, you might need to alternate between side-lying and sleeping on your back throughout the night or on different nights.

 

BACK PAIN

 

Back-sleeping is a good position for people with back pain. However, if you’re lying flat on your back, you may feel more comfortable with a pillow under your knees. This will keep your back in a more natural position and eliminate an excessive arch between your lower back and the mattress.

 

Self-test: If you can easily slip your hand into an open space between your lower back and the mattress, raise your knees a little more. Your lower back should be flat against your hand.

 

For back pain, you may also find it comfortable to sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs.

 

NECK PAIN

 

If your neck is tight and/or painful, do not sleep on your stomach. Reason: Unless you sleep with your face pressed into the mattress, you’ll need to turn your head to the side. This puts a lot of stress on the neck joints as well as the muscles and soft tissues in the neck and upper back.

 

Better: Sleep on your side with a pillow under your neck. The pillow should fill the distance between your neck and shoulder. You can use a special pillow for side- sleeping with more support for your neck and a cutout for your head (available online or from home-goods stores). Alternately, you can use a rolled-up towel to give your neck more support. You also can sleep on your back as long as you don’t prop up your head too high, which will strain your neck. (Usually one pillow is enough.)

 

FOOT PAIN

 

If you have extreme pain on the sole of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis. This condition causes painful inflammation of the tissues on the bottom of the foot. If you have plantar fasciitis, it will likely worsen if you sleep on your stomach. Reason: You generally point your feet when you’re on your stomach. This shortens the muscles of the calf and soles of the feet and can cause painful cramps.

 

You will do better if you sleep on your back or side using a pillow between the legs. If you must sleep on your stomach, at least hang your feet over the end of the bed so that your feet and ankles are in a more neutral position.

 

SNORING AND SLEEP APNEA

 

Even people who do not usually snore will often do so when they sleep on their backs. Gravity pulls downward on the tongue and other structures in the throat, partially blocking airflow and causing snoring.

 

Sleeping on your back also can cause obstructive sleep apnea, in which breathing intermittently stops and starts during sleep. If you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea or if your partner reports that you gasp, snore or snort during sleep, try sleeping on your side or stomach. If you are on your side but tend to flip onto your back during the night, place a pillow or two behind you. This will stop you from rolling onto your back.

 

ACID REFLUX

 

If you suffer from heartburn, also known as acid reflux, how you sleep can determine whether you’re comfortable or suffering from that unpleasant “burning” sensation. Lying flat on your back makes it easier for stomach acid to surge upward into the esophagus—the cause of heartburn.

 

You’ll feel better if you elevate the upper half of your body with a wedge pillow, often made of foam.

 

There are also special pillows that slip between the box spring and mattress (or under the mattress on a platform bed) to elevate the head of the bed. Risers for the head of the bed also can be used.

 

If you have heartburn: Sleeping on your left side often is advised. In this position, the esophagus is higher than the stomach to help prevent the backwash of stomach acid.

 

HOW TO CHANGE HOW YOU SLEEP

 

Suppose that you are a side-sleeper, but you know that you should be sleeping on your back. Before you go to sleep, think about the position that you want to maintain and start in that position. Remind yourself of this whenever you happen to wake up and return to the desired position.

 

It may take a few weeks (or even months), but the mental reminders and time in the desired position will eventually change the way that you sleep most of the time.

 

IS IT TIME TO REPLACE YOUR MATTRESS?

 

If you can’t remember when you bought your mattress, you’re probably due for a new one.

Mattresses start to sag and lose their support after about eight or 10 years.

 

Choose a mattress that’s on the firm side or firm, but with some cushioning on top, such as a plush-top mattress. About every three months, rotate the mattress. Flip it over if it has two sleep sides.

 

Also: Invest in more pillows. You can use them in different ways when you need more support or padding—for example, between your legs, for hugging and under your knees. Depending on the size of the pillows, two to four will generally be enough to provide added support for your body.

 

Source: Mary Ann Wilmarth, PT, DPT, chief of physical therapy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and former director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program at Northeastern University, where she was the assistant dean for the College of Professional Studies. She is also the founder and CEO of Back2Back Physical Therapy, a private practice based in Andover, Massachusetts. www.Back2BackPT.com

 

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/change-your-sleep-position#at_pco=cfd-1.0

How to Prevent Erectile Dysfunction

May 1, 2013

Erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs have become so popular in the US—about 20% of American men over age 45 have used them—that the most obvious and safest solution to the problem is now being largely overlooked.

What works best for ED: Instead of taking a medication that can bring on side effects ranging from vision problems to headaches, it’s much smarter to prevent the condition from developing.

Good news: Recent research shows that there are simple yet effective techniques to prevent ED. Men who already suffer from ED can improve their symptoms, too, by addressing these health issues.

THE NEW THINKING

While doctors have long known that ED can sometimes be caused by emotional factors, such as depression, there’s now a growing body of evidence that shows how closely this problem is related to the same physical problems that can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension) and stroke.

Example: The main artery in the penis is only about 0.02 inches in diameter. A man with atherosclerosis (plaques in the arteries) will often develop impotence years or even decades before he’s diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

What men need to know about the underlying causes of ED…

BELLY FAT

Men who are overweight or obese have a high risk of developing ED, particularly if they also have diabetes, hypertension or heart disease—all of which can damage the blood vessels and/or nerves that are needed for erections.

The risk is even higher in men who have excessive belly fat. That’s because fat that accumulates in the abdomen, known as visceral fat, converts testosterone to estrogen. Men with a low testosterone-to-estrogen ratio frequently suffer from ED. Low energy is another warning sign.

What to do: Men who have excessive belly fat should lose weight. If weight loss does not eliminate the ED, it then makes sense to get a hormone test. Your doctor can check your testosterone-estrogen ratio with blood and/or saliva tests. Men with this hormone imbalance often improve when taking an aromatase inhibitor (such as Arimidex). This class of medications blocks the conversion of testosterone to estrogen.

Important: I don’t recommend testosterone supplements because they could disrupt the balance between testosterone and estrogen, creating more visceral fat.

GUM DISEASE

Scientists have known for years that men with periodontal (gum) disease tend to have more cardiovascular disease, but gum problems also have recently been linked to an increased risk for ED.

It’s possible that bacteria from infected gums can get into the bloodstream and cause inflammation in the arteries in the penis. Inflammation can, in turn, accelerate arterial obstructions that can lead to ED as well as heart disease.

What to do: Take better care of your gums with daily brushing and flossing. Important: Dentists recommend brushing for at least two minutes twice daily—most people do not brush for nearly that long.

HEART DISEASE

There’s now strong evidence showing that ED is often a marker for undiagnosed heart disease.
Here’s what happens: When the narrow arteries in the penis become blocked by plaque (leading to ED), this is a good indicator that arteries in the heart also could be obstructed. It’s crucial to recognize that arterial blockage in the heart can occur long before a man develops chest pain, shortness of breath or other cardiovascular symptoms.

What to do: I advise men with ED to see a cardiologist first. They should assume, until testing proves otherwise, that ED is an early sign of heart disease. You’ll probably be given an echo stress test. With this test, you’ll use a treadmill or bicycle while a technician monitors your heartbeat and uses ultrasound to show the heart’s movements.

If you have early-stage heart disease, you can save your life—and your sex life—with a combination of lifestyle changes (such as regular exercise) and, if necessary, medication to lower cholesterol.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Both high blood pressure and the drugs used to treat it are among the most common causes of ED.
If you have high blood pressure, damage to the arteries from excessive blood pressure can interfere with erections. Unfortunately, the problem can get worse if you take blood pressure medication.

What to do: In addition to reducing high blood pressure—by lifestyle changes (such as getting more exercise, dropping some pounds if you’re overweight and eating less salt) and taking medications, if needed—tell your doctor right away if you’re suffering from ED. He/she might be able to switch you to a different antihypertensive medication that doesn’t itself cause you to have ED. Every man responds to blood pressure drugs differently.

Also important: Prescription antidepressants are notorious for causing ED in some men. As with blood pressure drugs, switching to a different antidepressant is sometimes enough to solve the problem. Drugs for male pattern baldness, such as finasteride (Propecia), also may cause ED.

SLEEP APNEA

Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing intermittently stops and starts during sleep. It causes a decrease in oxygen in the blood and an increase in carbon dioxide that can lead to hypertension, heart disease—and ED.

Obesity is among the main causes of sleep apnea. Apnea also can be caused, or increased, by excessive alcohol consumption, medications (such as sedatives) and smoking.

What to do: If you are a loud snorer or your partner reports that you frequently gasp or snort during sleep, you might have sleep apnea. Other symptoms include morning headaches and extreme daytime fatigue.

Ask your doctor if you should have a sleep test. If you’re diagnosed with sleep apnea, you’ll probably be advised to lose weight if you’re overweight and perhaps be prescribed treatment such as a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device. It delivers pressurized air to the nose and/or mouth while you sleep and can sometimes eliminate both apnea and ED.

Source: Sheldon Marks, MD, associate clinical professor of urology at The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, and adjunct assistant professor of urology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He is the medical director for the International Center for Vasectomy Reversal (DadsAgain.com), directs the men’s health and erectile dysfunction community at WebMD.com and is the integrative urologist for DrWeil.com. Dr. Marks is also the author of Prostate & Cancer (Da Capo).

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/how-to-prevent-erectile-dysfunction

Five Warning Signs of Heart Problems

21 February 2013

Chances are, you’re aware of the obvious signs of a heart attack: chest pain, extreme weakness or fatigue, nausea, clamminess and pain in other parts of the body like the jaw or back (particularly in women). Experiencing these symptoms could mean that you’re having a heart attack, and you should seek medical treatment right away.

Unfortunately, these are all signs of an imminent heart attack. If only your body could give you some warning signs in advance that a heart attack or other heart issues was headed your way! Being given alert that problems could be on the horizon could at least buy you some time to try to avert the issue.

The good news is, there are. Research has uncovered some symptoms that, on the surface, seem unrelated to the heart—and often are blown off as insignificant or “not that big of a deal” by many patients. But, upon closer examination, they can be predictors of heart problems and should be taken seriously. Let’s take a look at five of these little-known warning signs of heart problems.

Erectile Dysfunction

Difficulty maintaining an erection can affect more than your sex life. It can be a sign of atherosclerosis—a buildup of plaque in the arteries, which reduces blood flow to organs.

In the earlier stages of atherosclerosis, smaller arteries (like those in the penis) often get blocked up before larger arteries (like those supplying blood to the heart). The plaque deposits reduce blood flow to the penis, making it difficult to get an erection.

One study published in January 2013 highlights just how much of a heart disease predictor erectile dysfunction can be. Researchers followed 95,038 men, 10,159 of whom were treated for or died of cardiovascular disease. They found that the risks of cardiovascular disease and death increased steadily with the severity of erectile dysfunction. They noted that their findings “give support for [cardiovascular disease] risk assessment in men with erectile dysfunction.”¹

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which a person’s breathing is interrupted while sleeping. This interruption is most often caused by an airway blockage—usually when tissue in the back of the throat collapses. People with this condition can stop breathing repeatedly throughout the night—sometimes up to hundreds of times—which causes oxygen deprivation to the brain and body.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to a variety of heart conditions, like high blood pressure and heart attack, due to the fact that the reduced oxygen intake leads to less oxygen feeding the heart. Sleep apnea also increases inflammation in the body—another risk factor for heart conditions.

According to a recent study, a certain group of men with sleep apnea seem to be at higher risk for heart problems than women. Researchers followed 1,927 men and 2,495 women who were free of heart disease and heart failure at baseline. After almost nine years, they found that sleep apnea was a significant predictor of heart disease (including heart attack and death) in men ages 40 to 70, but not in women or older men.²

Bleeding Gums

We often associate bleeding gums with not flossing enough or, more seriously, gingivitis—inflammation of the gums due to long-term buildup of plaque (a substance made of bacteria and food debris that is completely unrelated to the arterial plaque associated with heart disease). But if you have a consistent problem with bleeding gums, it’s time to talk to your dentist and your doctor about your heart health.

There are a couple reasons why the health of your gums is connected to the health of your heart. First, the poor circulation often seen in patients with heart disease could contribute to bleeding gums and gingivitis.

Second, research supports the idea that oral bacteria can spread into the bloodstream and contribute to arterial plaque.

In one study of 657 people, researchers analyzed 4,561 oral plaque samples (an average of seven samples per person) and assessed them for 11 different types of bacteria. They also conducted cardiovascular assessments and testing on the participants.

They found that, overall, higher levels of periodontal bacteria were related to greater carotid artery intima-media thickness (thickness of the innermost layers of the arterial walls). In addition, white blood cell values were higher in those who had more bacteria in their systems. They concluded that there is a “direct relationship between periodontal microbiology and subclinical atherosclerosis.”³

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to keep your gums healthy and reduce your risk of gingivitis is to floss every day. Flossing removes plaque from teeth and prevents it from accumulating. Visiting your dentist for regular teeth cleanings is also an excellent idea.

Edema

Sometimes, our bodies retain water, which causes swelling—a condition known as edema. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including allergic reactions, low levels of certain proteins in the body, injuries or infections, a blockage in the lymph system, pregnancy and the use of certain medications.

On a more serious level, edema can also be an indicator of heart disease. When the heart weakens as a result of disease, it pumps blood less efficiently. This causes fluid to build up, especially in the legs and feet—the areas furthest from your heart, which take the most work to pump blood to.

Shortness of Breath

While shortness of breath, along with other symptoms, could indicate that a heart attack is currently happening, it could also be a sign of future heart troubles. This is because a weak heart pumps less oxygen through the body, which could result in shortness of breath.

The feeling of constantly feeling out of breath should not be ignored because of its sheer significance in predicting heart disease risk. In one study of almost 18,000 participants, researchers found that the rate of death from cardiac causes was significantly higher in people who reported shortness of breath than in those patients who did not. And among the participants who had no history of heart problems, those with shortness of breath had four times the risk of sudden death from cardiac causes, as compared to patients with no shortness of breath.⁴

What To Do

If you have any of these symptoms or conditions—especially two or more of them—visit your doctor as soon as possible. Consider these symptoms your body’s way of telling you something larger and more serious could be wrong…but with swift and proper medical treatment, serious consequences can be prevented.

And even if no underlying heart issues are found, there are treatments for these bothersome health issues that will allow you to live a more active and/or fulfilling life.

The bottom line: See your doctor. Don’t wait.
 
References:

1. Banks E, et al. PLoS Med. 2013 Jan 10(1):e1001372. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001372. Epub 2013 Jan 29.
2. Gottlieb DJ, et al. Circulation. 2010 Jul 27;122(4):352-60.
3. Desvarieux M, et al. Circulation. 2005 Feb 8;111(5):576-82.
4. Abido A, et al. N Engl J Med. 2005 Nov 3;353:1889-98.

Source:  Five Little-Known Warning Signs of Heart Problems