Heart Week 2014 – By Christine Fischer-Stoess

• April 9, 2014
• Dr. Catherine-Anne Walsh

Did you know that Heart Week in Australia is from the 4-10 of May this year? I didn’t! Heart month in Canada is in February and I know this because I spent a period of several years as one of those people who came door to door to ask for donations for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

In February.

In Canada.

When it is approximately 20 degrees below centigrade.

My favourite memory was the house where someone didn’t answer the door and as I stood there in sub-zero temperatures hoping for a response, I saw a hand reach out from behind the edge of the curtain and I heard the bolt being secured on the door. I never thought I looked intimidating but perhaps this is also the reason that I was randomly selected for the full security screening on our last trip. But I digress!

I have just received in the office a series of information packs discussing warning signs of heart attacks and strokes and what to do in the event that you may be having one. Do you know what to do for yourself or for someone else? Check out the Australian Heart Foundation at link 1 below.¹ There is also some really helpful information about diet and weight management as well as an app that you can download to help you track your heart health.²

How does this relate to dentistry? The American Academy of Periodontology has stated that “periodontal disease increases the risk of heart disease.”³  It is important to know that the relationship is not fully clear, but that an association between the two conditions exists.

We have always tried to encourage our patients to approach their health from a total body standpoint, and we feel that healthy hearts are an important part of general health. So, if that’s not one more tick in the “pro” column for flossing, come and see us and we can talk further about how oral health is important to your total body health!

1)      http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/Pages/default.aspx

2)      www.myheartmylife.org.au

3)      http://www.perio.org/consumer/heart_disease