Daily Factoid

Did you know earwax has a connection to Heart Disease? According to Harvard Health, we all have different types of earwax, also known as cerumen (pronounced "suh-ROO-men"). Wet earwax, which is brownish and sticky, contains about 50 percent fat and 20 percent protein. Dry earwax, which is gray and flaky, contains 18 percent fat and 43 percent protein. The type of earwax a person has is genetically determined.

In the early 1960s, a study revealed a connection between wet earwax and atherosclerosis- a condition in which fatty material collects along the walls of arteries. This fatty material thickens, hardens (forms calcium deposits), and may eventually block the arteries.

Taking the research further, in 1993, a Lithuanian study found that people with wet earwax were more likely to have higher levels of apolipoprotein B, a protein that travels with particles of LDL (bad) cholesterol, while those with dry earwax were more likely to live longer.
In 2009, Japanese researchers discovered that the gene that determines your earwax type also codes for a transport protein called ABCC11 that may play a role in breast cancer. Women with wet earwax were more likely to have breast cancer than those with dry earwax. The research suggests that your earwax type could determine your breast cancer risk.

As gross as it sounds, is it just me or does this make you want to go check your ear wax?