You don’t need psychic abilities to predict your future health. Just use your five senses. Research shows that many conditions and diseases start with physical changes you may not recognize as problematic. But if you know which seemingly unrelated signs predict trouble, you can spot issues early to get prompt diagnoses and treatments. Familiarize yourself with these five ways your body can signal common health hazards.
1. Bad Breath Can Be an Unpleasant Erectile Dysfunction Alert
Dragon breath is a telltale sign of gum disease, which research has linked to erectile dysfunction (ED). A Turkish study found that men between 30 and 40 years old with severe gum disease were over three times more likely to suffer from erection problems than those with healthy gums. Lower your risk by brushing twice and flossing once per day. Also visit your dentist two times a year. If your ED symptoms persist, seek a medical diagnosis. Prescription Tadalafil relaxes vital muscles while increasing blood flow to the penis.
2. Your Aging Reflection Could Reveal Heart Disease
Looking older than your age increases your heart disease chances, according to Copenhagen University Hospital researchers. Subjects with three or four visible signs of aging — gray hair, wrinkles, baldness, and/or cholesterol deposits on their eyelids — had a 40-percent higher heart disease risk and a 57-percent increased heart attack likelihood over 35 years, compared to people without aging indicators. Discuss your warning signs and other heart disease risk factors with your doctor.
3. Hair Changes Might Signify Altered Thyroid Function
When your thyroid, the butterfly-shaped endocrine gland in your neck that churns out hormones, isn’t working properly, it affects hormones throughout your body — including those that affect hair growth. Thyroid-related hair loss may involve other changes such as your hair becoming dry or coarse before it starts falling out. An underactive thyroid can thin your eyebrows. Request blood tests to pinpoint hyper- or hypothyroidism.
4. Dwindling Sense of Smell May Predict Alzheimer’s Disease
A decline in your nose’s ability to detect scents is one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Mice that scientists bred to produce high levels of the amyloid precursor protein, which leads to Alzheimer’s disease, had higher nerve cell death rates in their noses than control mice. Alzheimer-related changes in your olfactory system may appear much sooner but be similar to those that affect other brain regions. Alert your doctor if your sense of smell decreases suddenly or much younger than age 70.
5. Hearing Loss Can Whisper Diabetes
Researchers at Niigata University in Japan found that high blood sugar levels can damage your ears’ blood vessels. Study participants with diabetes were more than twice as likely to experience hearing loss as those without this metabolic disorder. Surprisingly, younger diabetics under age 60 had an even higher risk for developing hearing impairment than their older counterparts. Seek a blood glucose test and hearing evaluation to diagnose both conditions.