Dr. Bob's Mouthly Report

A good night's sleep is incredibly important for your health. In fact, it’s just as important as eating healthy and exercising. Unfortunately, the Western environment is interfering with natural sleep patterns. People are now sleeping less than they did in the past, and sleep quality has decreased as well.

Here are 10 reasons why good sleep is important.

Poor Sleep Can Make You Fat

Good Sleepers Tend to Eat Fewer Calories

Good Sleep Can Improve Concentration and Productivity

Good Sleep Can Maximize Athletic Performance

Poor Sleepers Have a Greater Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

Sleep Affects Glucose Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Poor Sleep Is Linked to Depression

Sleep Improves Your Immune Function

Poor Sleep Is Linked to Increased Inflammation

Sleep Affects Emotions and Social Interactions

Read more at Healthline

(Reuters Health) - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may affect as many as 37% of adults in North, Central and South America, according to a review of epidemiological studies presented June 9 at Sleep 2019, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in San Antonio, Texas.

The finding was no surprise to the review’s senior author, Dr. Adam Benjafield of ResMed, a manufacturer of medical breathing devices in San Diego, California. In an email to Reuters Health, he pointed to the rising rate of obesity, a risk factor in OSA, and recent changes in scoring rules from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

“This research highlights that there is a large burden of disease that may not be widely appreciated and speaks to the need to leverage new technology and efficient clinical pathways to diagnose and treat these patients,” Dr. Benjafield said.

Read more at Reuters

(Reuters Health) - Preventing falls among elderly patients who’ve just left the hospital is an important part of keeping them safe, a large U.S. study shows.

When elderly patients are discharged, one of the major reasons they end up back in the hospital is that they’ve suffered a fall, researchers found.

“Hospitals spend a lot of time thinking about fall risk while the patient is in the hospital, but there’s much less attention to the patient after discharge,” said principal investigator Geoffrey Hoffman of the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

Fall prevention efforts need to continue as the patient moves from the hospital to home, or elsewhere, he said.

Read more at Reuters

Many of us maintain good oral hygiene to prevent cavities and avoid the embarrassment of bad breath. Well, you may be thrilled to discover that your efforts to brush twice daily and floss regularly are preventing deadly diseases.

Your oral health and overall health are interlinked. Sometimes cavities or gum disease are a sign your health is in jeopardy. Below are the deadly health conditions linked to poor oral health.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Diabetes

Heart Disease

Cancer

Infertility

Read more at Care2

The study, by researchers at Queen's University Belfast, analysed a large cohort of over 469,000 people in the UK, investigated the association between oral health conditions and the risk of a number of gastrointestinal cancers, including liver, colon, rectum and pancreatic cancer. Models were applied to estimate the relationship between cancer risk and self-reported oral health conditions, such as painful or bleeding gums, mouth ulcers and loose teeth.

Whilst no significant associations were observed on the risk of the majority gastrointestinal cancers and poor oral health, a substantial link was found for hepatobiliary cancer.

"Poor oral health has been associated with the risk of several chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes", explained Dr. Haydée WT Jordão, from the Centre of Public Health at Queen's University Belfast and lead author of the study. "However, there is inconsistent evidence on the association between poor oral health and specific types of gastrointestinal cancers, which is what our research aimed to examine."

Read more at MedicalxPress