Tag Archives: hearthealth

Poor Dental Health Linked to Increased Risk of Heart Disease in Women

March 20th is World Oral Health Day, and in recognition of this our post today will examine the relationship between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women.

Statistics from the CDC indicate that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S., accounting for nearly 1 in 4 female deaths. It is estimated that heart disease costs the U.S. about $200 billion annually.

For this study, researchers enrolled 57,000 females from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, between the years 1993-1998. The women were from 40 health centers nationwide, between the ages of 50 to 79. The participants periodontal status was assessed by a questionnaire at five years. There was also annual follow-up through 2010.

Results of the study demonstrated that total mortality risk was significantly higher in women with either edentualism or periodontitis. Also, women who were edentulous had a significantly higher risk of coronary vascular disease and coronary heart disease. These higher risks held even after data was adjusted for potential confounding factors.

This is a very robust study- a large group of post-menopausal women, a cohort that is generally underrepresented in medical research. Given the results of the study, good oral hygiene may be worthy of consideration as a way to potentially lower risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

On World Oral Health Day, please remember to thank your dentist and hygienist for all their efforts on behalf of your health!

“You don’t have to brush your teeth- just the ones you want to keep.”– Anonymous

(Source- Journal of the American Heart Association, 2017)

This bog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Good Oral Hygiene May Prevent High Blood Pressure

In recognition of World Oral Health Day on March 20th today’s post will examine the relationship between periodontal disease and prehypertension, as well as hypertension.

According to statistics from the CDC, more than 25% of the adults in the U.S. have untreated tooth decay. In addition, almost half of U.S. adults have some signs of gum disease. Periodontitis is defined as the inflammation of the gums and support structures of the teeth. It is caused by certain bacteria, and in turn these bacteria cause inflammation. It is thought that perhaps if this inflammatory state becomes chronic, it may have implications for inflammation elsewhere in the body, such as in cardiovascular health.

A research group in Japan performed a prospective cohort study on a group of university students, examining whether periodontal disease was related to the development of prehypertension, or to hypertension. Over 2500 students enrolled in the study, ages 18-27 years.

Dentists assessed the oral health of each student. Periodontal health was evaluated using the Community Periodontal Index (CPI), which is commonly used to measure periodontal disease. The CPI is an objective measure of periodontal health, and also suggests the proper treatment for the given CPI score. In addition to the CPI, the dentists also measured the Bleeding Upon Probing (BOP), which is felt to be a simple way to assess inflammation. While dentists assessed oral health, the resting blood pressure and body mass index of the subjects was also measured. The participants also completed a questionnaire, which assessed both dental and general health measures.

The Japanese university students were followed over a period of three years. What the researchers discovered was that the risk of developing hypertension over the three years was significantly associated with periodontal disease.

Given the results of this study, consider practicing good oral health as a way to lower your risk for developing high blood pressure. And don’t forget to thank your dentists and hygienists on World Oral Health Day, or the next time you see them.

“I told my dentist my teeth are going yellow, he told me to wear a brown tie.” – Rodney Dangerfield

(Source- American Journal of Hypertension, March 2016)

This blog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Eat Your Veggies- Help Your Heart

In recognition of registered dietician nutritionist day, our post today will look at how some dietary factors impact cardiovascular health.

A recent study examined a group of Swedish women and their dietary habits. Nearly 39,000 women completed a 96 item food frequency questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about how certain food or beverages had been consumed over the prior year. Researchers then calculated estimates of the total antioxidant capacity of each respondents diet. Four categories including fruit and vegetable consumption, whole grain consumption, and coffee consumption were used. The participants in the study were followed for approximately ten years. Women in the highest ranking group of total antioxidant capacity of diet, compared to the lowest ranking group, had a 20% lower risk of a heart attack.

This study is an interesting one as it examines a group of women. Women have been typically underrepresented in medical research. This was also a large study of nearly 39,000 subjects, and large is better in this regard.

Finally, which one of us has not encouraged our children to “eat more vegetables”? Now we can add that it is good for their heart as well!

“I eat more vegetables than the average vegetarian.”– Dr. Robert Atkins

(Source- American Journal of Medicine, Vol 125, No. 10, Oct. 2012)

This blog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

 

 

Sauna Lowers Risk of High Blood Pressure

This is the second post in recognition of Helsinki Sauna Day, which is March 9th. In this post we will examine research regarding sauna bathing and subsequent development of hypertension.

Sauna is a part of life in Finland, and an important element in Finnish culture. Saunas go back at least 2000 years, and perhaps even much longer. The first saunas were simply dug into embankments, and later free-standing log structures were developed. There are more saunas than cars in FInland.

A prospective cohort study was completed as part of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Study, this was the same study group that was discussed in our last post. The sample size included over 1600 men, ages from 42 to 60 years. It is important to note that these men did not have high blood pressure at baseline.

The subjects were enrolled in the study between 1984 to 1989. Information such as smoking habits, body mass index, serum creatinine (kidney function), glucose and cholesterol were collected. Sauna bathing habits were assessed via a self-administered questionnaire. The median age was 52.9 years. The average duration of a single sauna session was 14.4 minutes.

The mean time of follow-up was 22 years. During this time, subjects were monitored for the development of hypertension. The researchers discovered that the higher frequency of sauna bathing was independently associated with a lower risk of the development of high blood pressure, in a dose-response manner.

This is an important study- none of the subjects had hypertension when they enrolled into the study. Also, the more sauna sessions a participant had each week, the lower the risk of developing hypertension.

While this study shows impressive results in an all-male study, it should be repeated in a population of female participants to see if the results would still apply. Also, it would be interesting to see if the results would apply in a more diverse population, such as we have in the United States. In any case, taking a sauna bath certainly seems like a low risk endeavour that could potentially lead to the prevention of high blood pressure.

“Build the sauna, then the house.”–  Finnish Saying

(Source- American Journal of Hypertension 30(11), November 2017)

This blog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Sauna Is Good For Your Heart

March 9th is Helsinki Sauna Day, and in recognition of this day our post will review research related to Finnish sauna bathing and cardiovascular events. This will be our first of three posts on the benefits of sauna bathing.

The sauna is an important part of Finnish culture. One of the first recorded writings on sauna baths are from the monk Nestor the Chronicler in 1112. Some versions of the Finnish sauna are thought to go back at least two thousand years. There is an average of one sauna per household in FInland, where saunas are a place to relax with family and friends. A traditional Finnish sauna usually has warm (80-100 C), dry (10-20% humidity) air.

A recent study looked at the association of the frequency as well as duration of sauna bathing and several cardiovascular markers, such as sudden cardiovascular death and fatal cardiovascular diseases. A prospective cohort study was performed by enrolling over 2300 men, ages 42-60 years, from eastern Finland. Subjects were from the Finnish Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.

The subjects were subdivided into groups based on the frequency of sauna bathing (1, 2-3, and 4-7 times each week) and also the duration of the sauna sessions (<11, 11-19, and >19 minutes per session). Baseline evaluations were conducted beginning in 1984 through 1989. On average, participants were followed for 18.8 years.

Results of the study demonstrated that the subjects with a higher frequency of sauna bathing per week had a lower risk of both fatal coronary heart disease and fatal cardiovascular disease. In fact, the risk of fatal coronary heart disease was 23% lower for 2-3 sauna sessions per week, and 48% lower for 4-7 sauna bathing sessions per week.

In addition, the frequency of sauna bathing was also inversely associated with all-cause mortality, with a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality when comparing 4-7 sessions per week of sauna bathing to one session per week.

The mechanism by which sauna bathing confers these protective cardiovascular benefits is not entirely clear. Heart rate may rise to 100-150 beats per minute during a sauna bath, which is comparable to some types of low and moderate exercise training. It is also believed that sauna bathing is beneficial for the endothelial lining of the blood vessels.

It would be helpful to perform this same study in a population of female participants, to see if the results would be comparable.

While sauna bathing may not be for everyone, again we have a simple low risk intervention that may yield great benefits. Happy Helsinki Sauna Day!

“The ideal sauna is a small building made of logs, set near a lakeshore, facing towards the sunset.”  Bernhard Hillila

(Source- JAMA Internal Medicine 2015: 175(4):542-548)

This bog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

 

Worried About Your Heart? Don’t Skip Breakfast!

Today’s post is another in recognition of American Heart Month. Many of us can recall being reminded by our mother to “eat your breakfast” when we were young, usually as teenagers. It turns out that as is usually the case, mom was giving us good advice.

An interesting study from a research group primarily located in Spain and the US used data from PESA (Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis) and looked at the association of breakfast styles and cardiovascular risk factors and the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis.

The PESA study is an ongoing observational investigation of over 4000 employees who work at the Bank Santander Headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Female and male participants in the study were ages 40-54, and were free from cardiovascular disease at the time of enrollment in the study. The participants were asked to complete a computerized food questionnaire, which included over 800 food items. Based on this data the “energy consumed during breakfast” was calculated.

Three different categories of breakfast patterns were established. First were the “breakfast skippers”, whose breakfast intake did not exceed 5% of the their total daily energy intake. The next category was the “low energy” breakfast group, who consumed between 5% and 20% of their total daily energy intake at breakfast. The third group was the “high energy” breakfast group which consisted of those who consumed more than 20% of their total energy intake at breakfast. Of the over 4000 study subjects, 3% were in the “breakfast skipper” group, 69% were in the “low energy” group, and 28% were in the “high energy” breakfast group.

Ultrasound was used to assess for atherosclerotic plaques in the carotids, the abdominal aorta, and the illiofemoral arteries. The prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis for the PESA subjects was 62.5% in the “breakfast skippers” group, 60.3% in the “low energy” group, and 13.4% in the “high energy” group.

Importantly, regularly skipping breakfast was associated with 2.57 higher odds for generalized atherosclerosis, and 1.55 higher odds for noncoronary atherosclerosis, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors (such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking).

So, make some time in the morning for breakfast. It turns out mom was right, again.

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”. Lewis Carroll

(Source- Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 70, No. 15, 2017)

This blog is a review of published medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Adding Sugar Increases Cardiovascular Events

February is National Heart Health Month. In honor of heart health, and Valentine’s Day, this post is about cardiovascular disease

In this study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 researchers looked at the effect of added sugar in the American diet and its relationship to cardiovascular disease. Participants who consumed 17-21% of calories from added sugar had a 38% higher risk of cardiovascular mortality, compared to those who only consumed 8% of calories from added sugar. For those who consumed 21% or more of calories from added sugar, the relative risk was doubled.

Much of the added sugar in the American diet is from soda, other sources include desserts, fruit juices and candy. Just one soda a day constitutes 7% of the total calories of a 2000 kcal/day diet.

The reason for increased cardiovascular risk with increasing sugar intake is probably due to several causes, such as obesity, increased blood pressure, worsening cholesterol, and higher inflammation in the body.

This is a robust study which looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) which is felt to be a nationally representative sample of US adults. It provides more solid evidence of the harms of sugar and simple carbs to cardiovascular health. Happy Valentine’s!

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”  Confucius

(Source- JAMA Internal Medicine, April 2014, Volume 174, Number 4)

Chocolate May Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke

February is National Heart Health Month. In recognition of heart health, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, this post is about research on chocolate, specifically chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

For this study, researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) enrolled a group of nearly 21,000 healthy men and women. The participants chocolate consumption was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. This group was followed for over 11 years, with the clinical outcomes of interest heart attacks, stoke, and angina monitored during this period.

The researchers found that higher chocolate consumption was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of angina, heart attack, and stroke.

Interestingly, the chocolate consumed in the UK is generally of the high fat and sugar variety, not dark chocolate. In general it is felt that dark chocolate offers more benefits than milk chocolate.

So on Valentine’s Day enjoy some chocolate with those you love. You might want to make it dark chocolate to get the best heart benefits. Happy Valentine’s!  

(Source- Heart 2015)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

 

Let’s Help Prevent Diabetes in Women-Just Say No to Soda for 2018 Part 3

On Wear Red Day 2018, we will review a recently published study that examined the relationship between beverages, both artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened, and subsequent development of diabetes, in a group of menopausal women. This is our third recent post regarding the ill effects of drinking soda.

The research group examined data from the Women’s Health Initiative, a massive study of more than 90,000 women spread out at over 40 clinical centers throughout the US. Nearly 65,000 women were eventually part of this prospective observational study, with over 8 years of follow-up on average.

Participants were queried about their intake of artificially sweetened beverages, sugar-sweetened beverages, and plain water, via questionnaires. Subjects were assessed for diabetes at enrollment, and at annual follow-up.

Even when researchers controlled for other risk factors such as body mass index or total energy intake, their analysis showed both artificially sweetened beverages and sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, in this group of post-menopausal women.

Both artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages showed a dose-dependent increase risk of diabetes. The more soda one drank, the higher the risk of developing diabetes.

One of the most interesting “take-home messages” from this study was that while the risk of developing diabetes was a bit lower in the artificially sweetened group, compared to the sugar-sweetened group, there still was an increased risk. This casts doubt over whether or not artificially sweetened beverages are a safer alternative to the sugar-sweetened ones. Both should be avoided.

Data from the American Heart association show that adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes. In addition, of those 65 and older with diabetes, 68% will die from some sort of heart disease. So on Wear Red Day 2018 let’s take a step in avoiding diabetes and heart disease by eliminating or avoiding entirely soda, both the artificially and sugar-sweetened varieties.

(Source- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2017; 106)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create a physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.

Just Say No to Soda for 2018- Part I

As 2018 begins a common inquiry from patients at the start of a new year is what can be done to improve health going forward. Often these questions fall into discussion about proper diet or exercise regimens, or some combination of these. The onset of a new calendar year gives us another opportunity to reflect on what we can do to improve our overall health status.

One area of diet that offers a fairly simple and painless way to better health is to limit or eliminate soda (aka soft drinks), both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened.

A study from 2016 supports the limiting of sodas. Korean researchers looked at the association of both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages with the risk of development of hypertension. The research group identified six studies, with over 246,000 participants, for their analysis of sugar-sweetened beverages and hypertension. For artificially sweetened beverages and hypertension, a total of 4 studies involving over 227,000 subjects were identified. Most of the studies were conducted in the US, while one was conducted in Spain. Most of the studies included were considered to be of “high quality”.

The age at initiation into the study ranged from 18 to 84 years, while the duration of follow-up ranged from 4 to 38 years. Both men and women were included. Food frequency questionnaires were used for dietary assessments.

What the researchers found was a positive association between both sugar-sweetened beverages and hypertension, and artificially sweetened beverages and hypertension as well. More telling, when the lowest intake groups for sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially sweetened beverages were compared to the highest intake groups, it was found that each additional serving of sugar-sweetened beverage per day was associated with an 8% increased risk of hypertension, while each additional serving of an artificially sweetened beverage per day was associated with a 9% increased risk of hypertension. When researchers analyzed the groups based on gender, body mass index, and duration of follow-up period these positive associations continued to hold.

Recent figures indicate Americans consume an average of nearly 500 cans of soda each year. The US is second only to Argentina in per capita soda consumption. 500 cans of soda per year is a staggering total. Cutting back or going soda-free may be a great first step in making 2018 a healthier year for you.

(Source- Archives of Cardiovascular Disease (2016) 109)

This blog is a review of medical and scientific literature, and should only be used for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical or health advice, nor does it create an physician-patient relationship with anyone. Discuss any health concerns with your personal physician.