Dental link to heart attack

By Philip Chua

Cebu Daily News

GINGIVITIS (inflammation of the gums), dental plaques and other bacterial infection of the mouth are more dangerous to health than commonly known.

The yellowish build up of calcium on your teeth, the swollen, bleeding, and tender gums are not only local oral disease but conditions that are associated with increased risk for the development of other health problems, including heart attack,  Alzheimer’s dementia, diabetes, arthritis, and even premature births.

The observation linking dental infection to heart disease has been known for decades, but somehow it has come to the limelight only the past few years.

While several studies have shown that the bacterial infection of the mouth threatens over-all health, they are not clear about the link and how it adversely impacts on other organs in the body.

Published in the Journal of Periodontology and The American Journal of Cardiology in 2009, the “consensus paper on the relationship between heart disease and gum disease was jointly developed by the American Academy of Periodontology and The American Journal of Cardiology.” This has put the spotlight on a very important public health issue.

A bacterial link?

Some other researches postulate that coronary heart disease, which causes heart attack from the build-up of calcium deposits on the walls of the artery leading to arterial blockage, could be due to bacterial infection and not to high cholesterol. And that the bacterial infection itself is the culprit that triggers inflammation on the inner wall of the arteries which induces cholesterol to cling to the walls of the arteries. Since bacteria travel through the blood stream, they are in the circulation and get to all organs of the body.

Gum disease and diabetes

Patients with diabetes are more prone to gingivitis compared to non-diabetics because diabetics are easier targets for infection, especially when the blood sugar is not well-controlled.

On diabetes, the interesting question is whether subtle chronic bacterial or viral infection of the pancreas, and eventual destruction of its beta cells, which controls insulin production, be the cause of Type II diabetes, especially IDDM (the insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus).

Alzheimer’s dementia

Clinical investigations on Alzheimer’s have revealed that patients with this dementia have amyloid plaques in their brains, much like the cholesterol plaques on the inner walls of the coronary arteries of the heart. Those with high levels of cholesterol by the time they reach age 40 are 1-2 times more prone to develop Alzheimer’s.

The dementia research is still trying to solve the mystery as to what causes Alzheimer’s. Is it the high cholesterol? If it is, the next question is, “Is bacterial infection elsewhere in the body inducing (causing) the cholesterol to destroy the brain tissues and to replace them with amyloid, rendering that damaged part of the brain useless? We are still waiting for the final word on this issue.

Peptic ulcer

Ulcers of the stomach were once thought to be due to intake of spicy foods and alcohol, until it was proven by studies that they were caused by an infection due to Helicobacter pylori bacteria. That discovery revolutionized the management of this disease. Instead of surgery, the treatment for peptic ulcer today is with antibiotic pills. This particular event has inspired many researches on various conditions like heart attack, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, etc., as to the possible role bacterial infection could have in the causation of these disease.

The common denominator in all these studies is bacterial infection and inflammation.

Researches around the world continue to unravel these medical mysteries and hopefully provide us answers that will benefit mankind as a whole.

Queries from readers

Will tinted glasses help relieve my migraine?

Individuals with migraine are highly sensitive to stressful visual stimuli, like bright light, among others, which leads to “excessive activation in the brain’s visual cortex,” and which could precipitate migraine. Prescription tinted glasses may reduce the stimuli, and help minimize migraine.

Does eating red meat increase risk of cataracts?

Yes, red meat is not only associated with heart attack and cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s, but also with the formation of cataracts. Scientists at the University of Oxford in England, found among the 27,670 subjects of their research that “vegetarians and vegans are 30 percent to 40 percent less likely to develop cataracts than people who eat a lot of meat.” Smoking, diabetes and exposure to sunlight are other contributing factors.

Can I really prevent cancer?

As we have stated in this column a few times in the past, to a significant extent, yes, you and I can prevent cancer. Clinical evidences and outcomes tell us that there are three most significant key factors in the development of cancer, all of which, fortunately, are actually within our control.

These three cancer “connections” are summarized in this word: FEW. The letters stand for Food, Exercise, and Weight. To these, we should add two common toxic agents, which statistics show tremendously increase cancer risk: Smoking and Alcohol.

A diet consisting of fish, vegetables (greens and other colorful variety), whole grain, nuts, legumes, and fruits protect us from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, and metabolic illnesses, such as diabetes and arthritis. Red meats, processed food items, and other high cholesterol, high fat items increase the risk of cancer, heart attack, stroke diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s. Lack of daily physical exercise and excess body weight have also been shown to increase the risk for cancer and for the other four diseases mentioned above. A healthy diet, daily exercise, maintenance of normal weight, total abstinence from smoking, and disciplined consumption of alcoholic beverage are essential parts of a healthy lifestyle regimen that prevents diseases and maximizes longevity.

Remembering FEW and applying the principle to our daily life will bring us many rewards and benefits money can’t buy.

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HARDNESS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SIZE OR FREQUENCY

A couple hugs as they share one umbrella in Manila Bay. RICHARD REYES/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines—The long and short of it, gentlemen, is that it’s not the size or the frequency that matters, but the hardness of your manhood.

The latest Ideal Sex in Asia survey conducted by global market research firm, Harris Interactive Asia showed that eight in 10 Filipino men and seven in 10 women deemed erection hardness or the ability to maintain an erection as the most important factor for a optimum sexual experience.

The study was released on Wednesday by Pfizer, a US research-based drug company that brought to the market Viagra or popularly known as the “blue pill” to treat erectile dysfunction (ED).

The drug company has recommended the conduct of the study to provide a better understanding of “ideal sex” in a relationship and assess the impact of “suboptimal” erection to couples.

The 2010 survey comprised of 3,282 sexually active men and women, aged 31 to 74 from 10 Asian countries—China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.

Of the respondents, 255 Filipinos—135 male, 120 female—participated in the study.

The study showed that 79 percent of Asian men and 80 percent of Asian women put premium on the quality rather than the quantity of sex with their partners.

The same figure also agreed that men with “optimum erection” felt happier and more confident with themselves and had fewer sick days.

Women whose spouses achieve such erection also said they were also significantly happy and satisfied than those whose partners could not achieve optimal erection.

Less than a quarter of Asian men and women respondents also agreed that frequency of sexual intercourse is most important to achieve sexual pleasure and only one in three people or 38 percent of the male and 31 percent of female respondents deemed the extent of the deed as most significant.

Doctors present at the briefing explained on Wednesday that “optimum erection” or “Grade 4” Erection Hardness Score (EHS) could be likened to a cucumber while “suboptimum” erection or “Grade 3” EHS could be compared with an unpeeled banana.

The EHS Grades, based on the scale developed by the European Association of Urology, is used by physicians to assess the severity of erectile dysfunction among men, according to Dr. Juliano Panganiban, a urologic surgeon.

A Grade 1 indicates that the penis is larger but not hard; Grade 2 means the penis is hard but not hard enough for penetration, while Grade 3 shows that the penis is hard enough for penetration but not completely hard while a Grade 4 score shows that the penis is completely hard and fully rigid.

But more than achieving sexual satisfaction, an “optimum erection” has been considered an indication of a generally healthy condition among men, said Panganiban.

However, not all men are capable of reaching “Grade 4” erection because of some other health conditions, such as diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases, according to Dr. Anthony Leachon, Pfizer medical director.

“Because of macho mentality, a lot of Filipino men are suffering in silence from erectile dysfunction,” Leachon told the media.

He underscored the importance of men with ED seeking medical help as such condition “can be the start of something more serious.”

Earlier studies showed that 60 percent of male with erectile dysfunction were more likely to have diabetes or heart problems later on in life.

Scientists: Stinky sock smell helps fight malaria

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — What do mosquitoes like more than clean, human skin? Stinky socks. Scientists think the musky odor of human feet can be used to attract and kill mosquitoes that carry deadly malaria. The Gates Foundation announced on Wednesday that it will help fund one such pungent project in Tanzania.

If they can be cheaply mass-produced, the traps could provide the first practical way of controlling malaria infections outside. The increased use of bed nets and indoor spraying has already helped bring down transmissions inside homes.

Dutch scientist Dr. Bart Knols first discovered mosquitoes were attracted to foot odor by standing in a dark room naked and examining where he was bitten, said Dr. Fredros Okumu, the head of the research project at Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute. But over the following 15 years, researchers struggled to put the knowledge to use.

Then Okumu discovered that the stinky smell — which he replicates using a careful blend of eight chemicals — attracts mosquitoes to a trap where they can be poisoned. The odor of human feet attracted four times as many mosquitoes as a human volunteer and the poison can kill up to 95 percent of mosquitoes, he said.

Although the global infection rate of malaria is going down, there are still more than 220 million new cases of malaria each year. The U.N. estimates almost 800,000 of those people die. Most of them are children in Africa.

"This is the first time that we are focusing on controlling mosquitoes outside of homes," said Okumu, a Kenyan who has been ill with the disease himself several times. 

"The global goal of eradication of malaria will not be possible without new technologies."

Some experts worry eradication is unrealistic because of the lack of an effective malaria vaccine and because some patients have developed resistance to the most effective malaria medicines.

"This is an interesting project," said Richard Tren, the director of health advocacy group Africa Fighting Malaria. "But there is no magic bullet. We are going to need a lot of different tools to fight malaria. Certainly we need to solve the problems of insecticide resistance and preserve the effectiveness of malaria drugs that we have at the moment."

Other scientists — including some funded by the Gates Foundation — are also researching equally novel ideas, including breeding genetically modified mosquitoes to wipe out malaria-spreading insects and creating a fungus that would kill the parasite.

Okumu received an initial grant of $100,000 to help his research two years ago. Now the project has been awarded an additional $775,000 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada to conduct more research on how the traps should be used and whether they can be produced affordably.

Okumu said more research was needed to find the right place to put the traps. Too close would attract mosquitoes near the humans and expose them to greater risk of bites, but the devices would be ineffective if too far away.

The current traps are expensive prototypes but Okumu hopes to produce affordable traps that can be sold for between $4 and $27 each. He said they hoped to develop the devices so they would work at the ratio of 20 traps for every 1,000 people.

Edward Mwangi, who heads an alliance of 86 aid groups working to eradicate malaria in Kenya, said keeping costs low was key to developing successful technology in the developing world.

He said the current interventions such as the treated nets and malarial drugs had managed to reduce the child deaths caused by malaria in Africa by 50 percent.

"It's African innovation for an African problem being developed in Africa," said Dr. Peter A. Singer, the head of Grand Challenges Canada, one of the project's key funders. "It's bold, it's innovative and it has the potential for big impact ... who would have thought that a lifesaving technology was lurking in your laundry basket?

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