How going to the Dentist could be bad for your heart health
Although not exactly an enjoyable experience that most of would look forward to, how often do you stop and wonder if it could actually be harmful to your heart, or even fatal ?
We all have many different kinds of bacteria living inside our mouths, and under normal circumstances, and with good oral hygiene these usually pose little threat to our heart, or general health. However, when we have surgical dental work done, some of these resident bacteria may find their way through the incision into the bloodstream.
Whilst this in itself it not usually a problem for most people, as the these bacteria are usually killed off by the body’s own defence system, for some it can be the trigger for a heart condition known as Endocarditis.
What is Endocarditis ?
This is an inflammatory heart condition that affects the inner lining of the heart (known as the Endocardium)
Who is at risk ?
People most at risk of developing dental related Endocarditis are those who have existing damaged or leaking heart valves. For reasons not entirely understood, the oral bacteria tend to be attracted to, and cluster around the site of the leaking or damaged valve. Other groups of high risk people are those who have previously had replacement heart valves fitted, and those with congenital heart disease.
Can the condition be fatal ?
The build up of bacteria around the heart valve can cause it to malfunction, (in addition to the infection of the Endocardium). In some cases the heart valve will actually be prevented from opening and closing properly due to the ‘crust’ of bacterial matter around the edge of the valve, and this is the most dangerous part of the condition, and it can be fatal.
Secondary bacterial infection
A secondary problem is that part of the bacterial ‘crust’ can break away from the heart valve, due to the force of the flow of blood, and travel round the body in the bloodstream. This can cause secondary infections in other organs such as the liver, kidneys and even the brain.
Precautionary measures prior to dental surgery
People in the high risk groups should already be aware (from their doctor) of the potential risk of Endocarditis. If you have any questions regarding this condition, you should always seek qualified medical advice from your doctor before you contemplate having any invasive dental work performed.
The usual medical advice for at-risk dental patients is to take anti-biotic medication approximately one hour prior to the scheduled surgery. This should kill any stray oral bacteria before they can reach a heart valve. However the United Kingdom ‘National Institute for Clinical Excellence’ (NICE) seems to cast doubt whether pre-surgery anti-biotic treatment is effective at preventing Endocarditis.
The condition is relatively rare
Although there may be a small minority of people who do not know they are in one of the ‘at-risk’ groups, this condition is relatively rare. In the united Kingdom, the number of diagnosed cases has fallen by 80% in the past 65 years, thanks largely due to improved heart related diagnostic equipment and procedures. However there are still over 200 deaths each year in the United Kingdom, so it is well worth educating yourself about the condition.
Royal Berkshire Hospital achieves record low waiting times for heart attack surgery
If you’re unfortunate enough to suffer from a heart attack, and you live in Berkshire, you’re in the best place you can possibly be.
The Royal Bershire Hospital, renowned for it’s pioneering work in the field of cardiac medicine, and recent innovations such as the new high definition CT Scanner, has now been commended for having the lowest wait time of any hospital in the United Kingdom for the treatment of heart attacks.
The critical one hour period between having a heart attack and getting professional medical treatment is sometimes known as the ‘golden hour’, because treatment administered during this time has a much greater influence on the patient’s outcome, and chances of a return to full health.
The Royal Berkshire has achieved an amazing average of only 19 minutes response time between admission time and potentially life saving Angioplasty treatment (which is surgery that is used to widen a blocked or clogged artery that may have caused or contributed to the heart attack) – the lowest wait time for any hospital in the United Kingdom.
We’d just like to offer our congratulations to all the staff who have made this possible through their hard work and dedication, especially at this difficult time of spending cutbacks.
Can insomnia cause early death in males?
Can a lack of sleep, – or insomnia as it is commonly known, cause premature death amongst males?
Well, apparently we’re all supposed to be having between seven and eight hours of sleep per night. This is the golden quantity of sleep that is supposed to assure our health and well-being.
Now, one of the risk factors for insomnia is developing high blood pressure, and this is why this research caught the attention of the lower blood pressure team here at Lower Blood Pressure
Also of interest is that If you are a man, and you find yourself unable to sleep enough hours during the night, you may apparently end up dying earlier as well, according to scientists.
This is specifically a male problem, as women who suffer from lack of sleep do not appear to be as prone to the problem.
A study was carried out by the University of Pennsylvania State College of medicine, headed up by Dr Alexandros Vgontzsas, and published in the medical journal ‘Sleep’. It investigated the sleeping patterns of nearly 2000 men and women, dating back nearly 2 decades. The research also made allowances for certain complicating factors such as illnesses, and other conditions (smoking, diabetes, depression, elevated blood pressure). It is supposedly the first research that links death rates to sleeping disorders.
The people who volunteered to take part in the study gave a detailed history of their sleeping patterns, and also took part in a laboratory experiment where they were studied whilst asleep by researchers.
The study team classified those as having less than six hours sleep per night as suffering from insomnia. Out of the survey volunteers more than twice as many women as men actually suffered from insomnia.
But the research team discovered that men who fell into this category, were four times more likely to die than other men who slept for between seven and eight hours per night.
However, there is an interesting twist to the story, as the monitoring period for the men was 14 years, whereas for the women it was only 10 years. This has led other experts to question the validity of the study.
Although the conclusions from the study have failed to explain why men are more vulnerable than women to health problems caused by lack of sleep, this research should highlight to doctors and medical personnel that chronic insomnia must be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
Are men working themselves literally to death?
If you’re male, unfit and are working long hours regularly at the Office, then listen up, because this article is for you!
The United Kingdom suffers from the unenviable statistic of having one of the highest heart attack rates per capita in the world – with someone somewhere suffering from one every two minutes, throughout every hour of every day – that’s 275,000 heart attacks every year.
It is also a fact according to European Union Statistics, that British Workers who are in full time employment work some of the longest hours in the EU – an average of over 41 hours per week – which is 1.5 hours more than the EU average.
A study published in the medical journal ‘Heart’ shows the results of data gathered over a 30 year period for 5000 men ranging in age from 40 to 59 years old. The research was conducted by the National Research Centre for the Working Environment, in Denmark. The male volunteers were selected from fourteen different companies, and their health and fitness levels were tracked over the three decades of the study period.
Nearly three quarters of the men worked between 41 and 45 hours per week, with about a fifth working even longer hours.
During the study, there were 587 deaths caused by the effects of cardiovascular disease – hardening and narrowing of the arteries – leading to heart attacks.
However, the researchers discovered that the men who were the most unfit, and worked the longest hours had the highest risk of dying from heart disease – more than double.
However the men who had high levels of physical fitness and worked longer hours were nearly 50% LESS likely to die from heart disease. Even those volunteers that had only medium levels of fitness and worked long hours had a noticeably lower risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.
The conclusion to be emphasised from this long and comprehensive research is that doing a job of work, irrespective of the type of work causes an unavoidable increase in blood pressure. However keeping fit reduces the negative impact of the effects of working, and leads to a better quality of leisure and sleep time.