If you’re not brushing after your meals, you could be doing a lot more than giving yourself bad breath and yellow chompers.

A new study confirms the evidence that has been building for years: People who brush their teeth the most have the lowest risk of heart disease. And people who brush the least may be setting themselves up for a lifetime of cardiovascular woes.

That’s in addition to being the most unwanted partner during “spin the bottle.”

Researchers asked roughly 12,000 Scots about their teeth- brushing habits, and found that over the course of eight years, people who said they “rarely or never brushed” (turns out some people will admit to that, at least in Scotland) had a 70 percent increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack or stroke than those who brushed at least twice a day.

Those who seldom brushed also had higher levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart problems, according to the study published in BMJ. Some docs even prescribe cholesterol meds based on CRP levels, and not cholesterol.

Turns out these people don’t need statins–just a new toothbrush.

Other studies have made a similar connection between bad teeth and grimy gums and poor cardiovascular health. One recent study found that periodontal disease boosts heart disease risk by 19 percent, and up to 44 percent in patients under the age of 65.

Your own mother probably taught you the basic keys to a clean mouth years ago, and her advice still holds up today: Brush after meals and floss daily. But don’t stop there– you can also get a boost with green tea, which has been found to lower the risk of gum disease, and fish oil.

One recent study found that people with the lowest levels of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA were 1.5 times more likely to have periodontal problems such as tooth decay and gum disease than those who got the most.

Of course, the best oral hygiene habits in the world won’t make much of a difference if you’re constantly brushing off the residue of cola, candy, cake and anything that comes from a drive-through window–so make sure your healthy lifestyle begins with what you put in your mouth in the first place.

Then, get a firm grip on some soft bristles and take better care of your beak. Your heart will thank you… and so will your spouse.

Waking up often to use the toilet is more than just a sleep-interrupting inconvenience–it can also be an indication of a more serious problem.

And it might even kill you, too.

Two new studies show how people who wake up frequently to urinate have an increased risk of death, and that the risk remains high even after adjusting for the chronic conditions that can cause those wee-hour visits, known as nocturia.

And while these problems tend to be associated with older people, the researchers in one study say younger adults who visit the toilet in the middle of the night face an even higher death risk.

In that study, researchers looked at the health records of 15,988 men and women aged 20 and older, and found that those who woke up to use the bathroom two or more times each night were 20 to 30 percent more likely to die prematurely overall.

But nocturia patients between the ages of 20 and 64 years old actually had double the death risk of those who managed to sleep without potty breaks.

And while diabetes and cardiovascular problems can lead to those moonlit toilet trips, the researchers found that those conditions didn’t account for all of the deaths.

Overall, the study presented at a recent meeting of the American Urological Association found that 15.5 percent of men and 21 percent of women experienced the condition, and that the odds of getting it increase as you age.

In another study, Japanese researchers found that elderly patients who suffer from nocturia are more likely to die than those who don’t. The study on 788 men and women aged 70 and older found that the more often the patients woke up to use the bathroom, the higher their death risk. And once again, that risk was higher even after adjusting for other risk factors.

The researchers speculate that there’s some other undiagnosed condition causing both the bathroom breaks and the premature deaths… and that’s a safe guess.

It’s also a reminder of how even relatively minor changes in our lives and habits at any age could be warning signs of larger problems–from disease to poor diet to nutritional or hormonal deficiencies.

At the end of the day, no one knows your body like you do… so pay attention to these changes. And if you find yourself heading to the bathroom more often at night, get to the bottom of it so you can get your rest.

The alternative may be not waking up at all.

How do you sell a bad drug? With great marketing–and Big Pharma has some of the best marketing in the world.

They’re so good they can market their meds without actually naming the drug… or even mentioning that there is one. And they can start months or even years before the drug is even approved.

Take the not-so-subtle “education” campaign that’s been leaving women from coast to coast questioning their sex lives.

The ads and Web site feature soap star Lisa Rinna, who’s been known to provide way too much information about her intimate moments with husband Harry Hamlin. This campaign has some women believing that anyone who is not engaging in steady sexual fantasy is suffering from “hypoactive sexual desire disorder.”

There’s no FDA-approved treatment for the condition, so you won’t hear about any in the ads. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll see that this campaign is being funded by Boehringer-Ingelheim, makers of flibanserin–a drug sitting in the FDA’s queue right now, waiting to be approved as the first female sex med.

“It’s like priming the market,” Lisa Schwartz, associate professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, told US News & World Report. “Disease awareness is a very important part of [preparing for] an upcoming ad campaign.”

Like I said, these guys are good.

Visit the Web site mentioned in the ads, but take a look at the privacy policy before you sign up for any “educational” materials. Hidden in the fine print is permission to let “BIPI” send you marketing materials. “BIPI” sounds so much nicer than Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated, doesn’t it?

Sign up, and you can bet the bank that you’ll start getting flibanserin mailings about five minutes after the drug is approved.

That’s why they make the big bucks–but the money they’re making now is nothing next to what they could earn if this med turns into the so-called female Viagra, which has been Big Pharma’s holy grail for years.

I’ve told you a little about this drug before–it was designed to be an antidepressant, but failed during clinical trials. And even as a sex med, it didn’t exactly have people lining up to replace worn-out mattresses.

Women in clinical trials reported an average of 2.7 satisfying sexual encounters per month before taking flibanserin. Afterwards, they reported 4.5–a modest increase that gets much less impressive when you see that those on the placebo also got a boost, up to 3.7 encounters per month.

That extra .8 of a sexual encounter per month between the placebo and the med can come with a not-so-sexy cost: Side effects of flibanserin include fatigue, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, urinary infections and–ironically, for a supposed sex med–headaches.

And since it’s a new med, there’s no indication at all of what the long-term side effects may be. But I’m pretty sure they have a long-term marketing plan already laid out.

In Big Pharma’s world, your health will always be secondary to that marketing.

If you prefer a sex life with a soundtrack, stay away from dangerous erectile dysfunction pills.

A whopping one out of three men who take Viagra and similar sex meds suffer from more than just erection problems– they’re also battling hearing loss, according to a new study.

I guess foreplay is getting louder… and not in a good way.

Researchers looked at data on 1,525 men 40 years old and older, and found that one out of every six reported some form of hearing loss. But patients who were taking sex meds like Viagra had double the risk–with a third of them reporting hearing loss, according to the study in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.

That confirms research in mice, which found that high doses of Viagra damaged hearing in the rodents. It also confirms something men have been complaining about since these drugs first reached the market.

And it’s not just the type of deafness that only seems to affect men around their wives, especially when she has a list of errands or complaints.

In fact, the FDA has received dozens of reports of hearing loss in men who use these meds–enough that many of these drugs have been forced to carry a warning about the possibility since 2007.

But this study is the first to put a real number on the problem… and it’s a pretty big number.

Viagra seemed to have the strongest links to hearing loss– but the researchers say it may be because more men take it.

Fortunately, sex meds aren’t the only way to light your love life. They’re not even the best way, because in addition to hearing loss, these drugs have been linked to vision problems, breathing difficulties and more– including a painful, dangerous and potentially deadly erection that won’t go away.

If you’re overweight and having sex problems, the first step to bedroom satisfaction is getting your waistline back under control. All that extra fat can give your body an estrogen boost, which doesn’t exactly help men in that all- important region below that expanding waistline.

Obesity and circulatory problems can also kill erections.

That’s why many overweight men who suffer from sexual problems find that those issues vanish along with the pounds, no drugs needed.

If you’re already at an ideal weight and having sex problems, you might need some testosterone. Talk to a naturopath who knows how to use safe, natural hormones to get your body back on track.

You can do it right, or you can take those dangerous pills –-and learn to live with a lot of silence.