Flossing to stop heart attacks

The reason you floss is to protect your heart.

You know that - right !

However many reasons you might have for not flossing - remember that your heart needs it.

I was convinced about this several years ago and now I floss twice a day - as close to 12 hours apart as possible. Usually 9.30am and 9.30pm.

Now there is the news that there is an underlying genetic link.

Vienna, Austria: The relationship between the dental disease periodontitis and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been known for several years. Although a genetic link seemed likely, until now its existence was uncertain. Now, for the first time, scientists have discovered a genetic relationship between the two conditions, a researcher told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday 25 May).

"These factors already indicated a possible mutual genetic basis underlying the two diseases", said Dr. Schaefer. Now we know for sure that there is a strong genetic link, patients with periodontitis should try to reduce their risk factors and take preventive measures at an early stage", he said. "We hope that our findings will make it easier to diagnose the disease at an early stage, and that in future a greater insight into the specific pathophsyiology might open the way to effective treatment before the disease can take hold."