Attention! Throat problems may increase the risk of heart disease! Most people ignore...

Compiled by: Gong Zixin

Although the heart and throat have different functions,

But there is a common nerve——

Vagus nerve

A new study shows

Throat problems

May "crush" the vagus nerve

The study, published in JAMA Otolaryngology, is the first to observe that people with problems at the junction of the air and food passages have reduced baroreflex sensitivity and are less able to regulate blood pressure.

The baroreflex is an important part of the autonomic nervous system responsible for detecting changes in blood pressure and adjusting heart rate and vascular tone accordingly to maintain a stable blood pressure. It prevents us from fainting when we stand up. The researchers believe that this finding can be explained by the vagus nerve (which controls the autonomic nervous system) prioritizing the protection of the airway over less urgent functions (such as blood pressure regulation).

"Our immediate survival depends on the throat being able to separate the passage of air and food every time we swallow," said lead author Reza Nouraei, Professor of Laryngology and Clinical Informatics at the University of Southampton.

“The throat does this through delicate reflexes, but when these reflexes are disrupted, for example due to a viral infection like COVID-19 or exposure to reflux that affects the nerves in this area, control of this critical connection point is impaired, producing symptoms such as a lump in the throat, throat clearing and coughing.”

"To compensate for the larynx defect, the autonomic control system has to expend a lot of energy to maintain a safe airway. We found that people with larynx problems had less good control of the heart, specifically a function called the baroreflex," said Dr. Sven-Göran, who is also a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "The problem is that this could affect long-term survival, as patients with a reduced baroreflex function are more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke in the next few years."

The researchers compared heart rate, blood pressure, and baroreflex sensitivity in 23 patients with aerodigestive (laryngopharyngeal) symptoms undergoing ear, nose, and throat surgery and 30 gastroenterology patients with digestive (esophagogastric) symptoms.

Compared with patients in the digestive group, more patients in the aerodigestive group had voice or throat symptoms and fewer had typical reflux symptoms. Other causes, such as thinning of the vocal cords, also appeared in the aerodigestive group.

The research team found that patients in the aerodigestive group had higher average resting heart rate, lower resting blood pressure, and lower baroreflex sensitivity compared with the digestive group.

Professor Nouraei noted: "Now, especially since the coronavirus damages the nerves, we are seeing more and more patients presenting with throat symptoms. Reduced baroreflex sensitivity affects survival independent of other cardiovascular risks, so if the association we found is confirmed by future studies, it will become even more urgent to make a timely and accurate diagnosis and provide early and definitive treatment."

This research adds to the growing interest in the vagus nerve and overall health. In addition to regulating blood pressure through the baroreflex, the vagus nerve controls our heart rate, digestion, breathing, mood, and many other bodily functions that affect our health and well-being.

Professor Nouraei said this study helps us understand our patients more fully. As a clinician, if we can address a problem in the throat that may be taking away bandwidth from the vagus nerve, it will free up the nerve to provide energy to other parts of the body.

“If there is the potential for throat problems to affect functions such as the baroreflex, or have a wider impact on overall health, then this needs to be considered more.”

The researchers will now study the long-term effects of the throat condition on autonomic health and the effectiveness of treatment.