Popcorn Causes Man To Have Open Heart Surgery

Sometimes Living A Happy And Healthy Life Takes A Little Effort

Popcorn Causes Man To Have Open Heart Surgery

Every now and then I run across a story I find hard to believe. Who would believe that eating popcorn would cause a man to have open heart surgery, but it obviously did or did it?

It seems a 41-year-old British man who attempted to dislodge a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth using various objects claims he later developed a life-threatening infection that required him to undergo open-heart surgery.

The man from Cornwall, England, said he noticed the piece of popcorn stuck in a back tooth after he and his wife watched a movie in September. For three days, he was unable to remove the popcorn. He claims to have used multiple objects — a pen lid, a toothpick, a piece of wire and even a metal nail — to remove the food, but was unsuccessful, and even damaged his surrounding gum when doing so.

(I find that part a little hard to believe, a simple floss job would have cleaned that out.)

A week later, he began to suffer from night sweats, fatigue, headaches— all of which he initially thought were signs of the flu but would later learn were signs of endocarditis, or an infection of the endocardium, “the lining of the interior surfaces of the chambers of the heart.”  The infection occurs when bacteria from the mouth, skin, intestines and other areas of the body enters the bloodstream.

By October, his symptoms had yet to subside, leading him to see his doctor, who diagnosed him with a mild heart murmur and sent him home. But when he continued to feel unwell, he went to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Scans of his chest showed his heart was damaged due to the infection. He was then transferred to a different hospital, where he reportedly underwent seven-hour open-heart surgery to repair his mitral valve and replace his aortic valve.

 

All that from a piece of popcorn? I have my doubts, I think he might have had heart problems for some time, but I could be wrong.

 

So I did a little snooping around about heart health and dental health, this is what I found.

Poor oral health has been debated as a possible cause of heart disease for many years. In 2012, experts from the American Heart Association reviewed the available scientific evidence and concluded that poor oral health hasn’t been proved to cause heart disease — and that treating existing gum disease hasn’t been proved to reduce the risk of heart disease. Still, studies have shown:

  • Gum disease (periodontitis) is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease.
  • Poor dental health increases the risk of a bacterial infection in the bloodstream, which can affect the heart valves. Oral health may be particularly important if you have artificial heart valves.
  • Tooth loss patterns are connected to coronary artery disease.
  • There is a strong connection between diabetes and cardiovascular disease and evidence that people with diabetes benefit from periodontal treatment.

 

Look to be safe you should always use proper dental hygiene, taking care of every part of you from head to toe is important if you want to live a happy and healthy life.

 

 

 

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