What your tongue says about your heart health

Your eyes may be the window to your soul, but your tongue mirrors your health, particularly heart health. Yes, there is a reason why your doctor asks you to stick your tongue out. Consider it as a report card of your health.

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A study presented at HFA Discoveries, a scientific platform of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), earlier found a strong link between tongue and heart health. The researchers found that microorganisms on the tongue could help diagnose heart failure.

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How the tongue holds the answer to your heart health

"The tongues of patients with chronic heart failure look totally different to those of healthy people. Normal tongues are pale red with a pale white coating. Heart failure patients have a redder tongue with a yellow coating, and the appearance changes as the disease becomes more advanced," study author Dr. Tianhui Yuan, No.1 Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine said in a statement.


Dr. Yuan added, “Our study found that the composition, quantity and dominant bacteria of the tongue coating differ between heart failure patients and healthy people," she said.

Previous research has shown that the tongue coating can help distinguish between patients with pancreatic cancer and healthy people. The researchers of that study said that it is an early marker to diagnose pancreatic cancer. They said that a microbial imbalance could stimulate inflammation and disease. Inflammation and the immune response also play a role in heart failure

This study looked at the composition of the tongue microbiome in participants with and without chronic heart failure. The study involved 42 patients in a hospital with chronic heart failure and 28 healthy controls. None of them had oral, tongue or dental diseases, suffered an upper respiratory tract infection in the past week, had used antibiotics and immunosuppressants in the past week, or were pregnant or lactating.

Using stainless steel spoons they collected samples from the tongue coating in the morning, prior to the participants even brushed their teeth or had breakfast. They used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to identify bacteria in the samples.



The researchers found that the participants with heart failure shared the same types of microorganisms in their tongue coating. On the other hand, healthy people also shared the same microbes. There was no overlap in bacterial content between the two groups. Five categories of bacteria distinguished heart failure patients from healthy people ones.

"More research is needed, but our results suggest that tongue microbes, which are easy to obtain, could assist with wide-scale screening, diagnosis, and long-term monitoring of heart failure. The underlying mechanisms connecting microorganisms in the tongue coating with heart function deserve further study.,” Dr. Yuan said.

See more: Fish oil supplements linked to increased heart disease risk, study
These findings may pave the way for non-invasive diagnostic tools that are accessible, affordable, and effective in early detection of cardiac issues.
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