A bothersome sore throat could leave patients at higher risk for heart attack and stroke, a new study says.
Researchers at the University of Southampton found that patients with throat problems, caused by a viral infection or acid reflux, were less able to regulate their blood pressure and heart rate.
They believe the link is due to damage to the nerves in the throat that affects the baroreflex, a crucial part of the nervous system responsible for detecting changes in blood pressure and adjusting heart rate accordingly.
Patients with throat problems were less able to regulate their blood pressure and heart rate.
When the body is fighting a viral infection, the vagus nerve in the throat (critical for separating the air and food passages) can become overloaded.
This may feel like a lump in the throat and the urge to clear your throat or cough. To compensate for the damage to this reflex, the body’s nervous system has to expend large amounts of energy to keep the airways safe.
As a result, less energy is spent controlling the baroreflex, leaving the body’s blood pressure and heart rate poorly regulated.
More than 100,000 people in the UK suffer heart attacks every year, and a similar number suffer a stroke.
That number has risen since the Covid-19 pandemic, with an average of 500 additional deaths from cardiovascular disease each week.
And while the Covid virus itself has been shown to damage the heart, scientists now believe some of these deaths could be due to damage to the nerves in the throat caused by viral infections such as the flu.
“If there is a possibility that throat problems affect functions such as the baroreflex… then more attention needs to be paid to them,” says Professor Reza Nouraei.