Mint Fights Gum Disease, Whitens Teeth

MYFOXDETROIT - Earlier this year, a Florida scientist discovered a natural way to ward off gum disease -- and whiten teeth.

Fox's Lloyd Sowers reported it's a power-packed breath mint now available in stores.

"I'm just a silly scientist," said Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, but he's just being modest.

There's nothing silly about this little pill-sized mint he invented.

EvoraPlus took years of research and testing using "probiotics," boosting natural good bacteria found in your mouth to outnumber and fight off the bad.

Hillman said the product has "three different types of bacteria, two of which address gum disease – they help to maintain gum health – and a third strain which addresses tooth health."

Early results show some people are spending less time in the dentist's chair and having less work done.

"Patients that take a probiotic potentially avoid periodontal surgery and cavity drilling," said dentist Kelly Laird, who is a big advocate.

Businesswoman Fran Bartlett was courted as an investor. She was very skeptical before she tried it.

"Let it melt in your mouth so that it coats your teeth and the inside of your mouth," Barlett advised.

Bartlett said she was taking it during a time when her business was hectic. She missed a scheduled dentist appointment and had gone almost a year without a cleaning.

"There is no plaque. The pockets are not bleeding, and normally you would get a little bit of bleeding when you do a cleaning," Bartlett said.

A side-benefit of this natural probiotic is it creates a safe, low level of hydrogen peroxide in your mouth, which is a bleaching agent, Sowers reported.

"I didn't notice this directly myself. Friends and family and those around me kept saying, you know, 'How do you get your teeth so white?'" Bartlett said.

The FDA approved Evoraplus as a safe "food additive" for sale over-the-counter. It just started to appear on store shelves.

A month's supply costs about $20. You still have to brush twice a day and floss.

"We expect within a month you should start to see an improvement in both breath and whiteness," Hillman said.

A top professor and scientist from the University of Florida Dental School, Hillman hopes this invention and others to follow will help eradicate gum disease around the world, Sowers reported.

There's another formulation for use in dogs and cats. It's a powder you mix in pet food to fight gum disease and bad breath. And there's another one for kids to fight tooth decay.

Source - myFOXdetroit

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010

How do you tell someone they have halitosis?

Every day we all wake up and brush our teeth and tongue to make sure we do not have the bad breath syndrome. However, there are some who suffer from bad breath because they do not brush or still symptomise even if they do.

We all know people who suffer from situational or chronic halitosis. Nobody wants to have bad breath, but people who do usually don't know it because of a phenomenon called acclimation. In essence, the body gets used to the smell of its own breath so it can still smell other things. Sometimes it may be a close friend or relative, or even a complete stranger. The truth of the matter is, it's not only embarrassing for that person to keep going around with bad breath, it is simply socially uncomfortable.

Asking someone if they have eaten garlic can be a hint that their breath is not the best.

Here's what you can do:

Tell one of their close friends or relatives. Most of the time people are not as offended when someone close tells them about their bad breath. If you feel as though you are close enough to that person, then you could possibly be the one to break the bad news. Obviously, anytime someone is told that they have bad breath, it is not always a pleasant time nor will that person always respond positively, but at least they know and they can do something about it.

Just go up to them or near them and say "wow, something smells like garlic, is it you?" Moreover, hopefully they will get the hint that their breath is not the best. Or you can simply offer that person a breath mint after a meal is an easy and relatively inoffensive way to get the message across. By saying that and doing that, you are not directly saying your breath is horrible, but at the same time, you are sending a message

The best way to sympathise with a person who has bad breath is to understand the possible reasons why. One of the main reasons is poor hygiene, such as not brushing and flossing enough or correctly, which leaves food to decay in that person's teeth.

Similarly, bad breath can be caused by respiratory tract infections, such as throat, lung, and sinus infections. Once again, these are possible causes that cannot always be prevented, so it is important to be respectful and understanding of the situation at hand.

Source - Jamaican Observer

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010

Brief History of Fad Diets

Critics say it can also cause high cholesterol and bad breath.) Its success spawned imitators like the popular South Beach Diet, a more lenient version ...

The holidays are upon us, which means 'tis the season to overindulge. But once the calendar turns, we'll have to shed some of those pounds, which is why Dr. Sanford Siegel appeared on the Today show on Dec. 14 to tout a mouthwatering diet plan: eat six cookies a day as part of a limited-calorie diet, and watch that extra weight melt away.

Forgive our skepticism, as these aren't snickerdoodles or chocolate-chip cookies but rather protein- and nutrient-packed biscuits that stretch the definition of cookie. The cookie-meal plan has actually been around since 1975, but the quest for the magic diet solution goes back much further. There's a (possibly apocryphal) story that after becoming too fat to ride his horse, William the Conqueror devised an alcohol-only diet in 1087. The monarch didn't grow thinner; instead, he died later that year after falling from his beleaguered steed, leaving his subjects to struggle with finding a coffin big enough to fit the corpulent king.
(See the 2009 Year in Health.)

Despite its dubious beginnings, fad dieting gained mass appeal in the 19th century. In 1829, Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham touted the Graham diet — centered on caffeine-free drinks and vegetarian cuisine and supplemented by the eponymous graham cracker — as a cure for not just obesity but masturbation (and the subsequent blindness it was thought to cause). The diet became so popular that the students of Oberlin College were forced onto it for a brief period in the 1830s before they successfully rebelled through mass dissent in 1841. Thirty-five years later, an English casketmaker named William Banting became famous by pioneering the concept of a low-carbohydrate diet, which helped him lose 50 lb. He published his results in the 1864 "Letter on Corpulence," and the plan became so popular that banting became a synonym for dieting across Britain.
(See nine kid foods to avoid.)


From there, things got a little strange. In 1903 self-taught nutritionist Horace Fletcher became known as the Great Masticator for advancing the notion that one should chew food exactly 32 times before spitting it out completely. (Pleasant dinner guests, Fletcher's acolytes were not.) In 1928 dieters could choose between eating only meat and fat (sometimes in trimmings bought directly from the butcher) on the Inuit diet, or skim milk and bananas on Dr. George Harrop's aptly named bananas-and-skim-milk diet. As late as the 1960s, Dr. Herman Taller was touting the Calories Don't Count diet, which held that the quantity of food consumed was unimportant provided that you chased it with vegetable oil.

The bizarre early history of planned weight loss makes recent fad diets seem enlightened by comparison. The Atkins diet, a modern-day Banting plan that has eaters eschew carbs in favor of protein-rich meals, was written in 1972 and became in later years a weight-loss plan favored by millions. (Critics say it can also cause high cholesterol and bad breath.) Its success spawned imitators like the popular South Beach diet, a more lenient version that invokes the same low-sugar principle. But other modern diets remain pretty far-fetched. One example is the cabbage-soup diet, which promises that adherents will lose 10 lb. in a week by eating only cabbage soup. A more challenging competitor might be the lemonade diet, which requires dieters to subsist on a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, red pepper and hot water for as long as 10 days. While it may not rely on sound science, Siegal's cookie diet looks that much more appealing by comparison.

Source - Time (Health & Science

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010

Top Holiday 'Bad Breath (Halitosis)' Food

I expected a “Holiday Foods that Cause Bad Breath” list to involve dishes doused in garlic.

But according to Dr. Harold Katz, dubbed the “Dentist to the Stars,” garlic is the least of my worries during the holiday pot luck.

Instead, he claims foods heavy with dairy and sugars are certain to cause rejection under the mistletoe. Apparently, both are incubators for bacteria that builds up in the back of our mouths — the source area for bad breath.

So here’s his list of Top 5 foods that will “cause breath bad enough to strip the varnish off a foot locker,” says Katz.

5. Candy Canes
4. Cranberry sauce
3. Candied Yams
2. Mashed Potatoes (especially if loaded with butter and sour cream)
1. Egg Nog

Source - Orange County Register

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010

Health Care and Kidney Disease

More than 26 million Americans—one in nine adults—have kidney disease. Millions more are at increased risk for getting it, and most don’t know it.

Kidney disease can be found and treated early to prevent more serious kidney disease and other complications.

Chronic kidney disease includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy by doing the jobs listed, according to the National Kidney Foundation. If kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick.

You may develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Also, kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease.

These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time. Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders.

Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse.

When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life. Chronic kidney disease is a growing health problem in the United States.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) determined that 16.8% of all adults above the age of 20 years have chronic kidney disease. 

Thus, according to eMedicineHealth.com, one in six individuals have kidney disease, and over 400,000 patients are on dialysis or have received kidney transplants. About 67,000 people die each year because of kidney failure.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease has increased by 16% from the previous decade.

The increasing incidence of Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), Obesity, and an aging population have led to this increase in kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease is more prevalent among individuals above 60 years of age (39.4%).

Kidney disease is more common among Hispanic, African American, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Native American people.

Much info is located on their website about kidney disease: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/chronic_kidney_disease/article_em.htm .

The kidneys, a pair of bean-shaped organs, are located at the bottom of the ribcage in the right and left sides of the back, according to LabTestsOnline.org. Although the body is equipped with two kidneys, you can function with one reasonably healthy kidney if the other is damaged or removed.

The kidneys receive blood from the aorta, filter it, and send it back to the heart with the right balance of chemicals and fluid for use throughout the body. The urine created by the kidneys is moved out of the body via the urinary tract.

According to LifeOptions.org, many people who have chronic kidney disease don't know it, because the early signs can be very subtle.

It can take many years to go from chronic kidney disease (CKD) to kidney failure. Some people with CKD live out their lives without ever reaching kidney failure.

However, for people at any stage of kidney disease, knowledge is power.

Knowing the symptoms of kidney disease can help you get the treatment you need to feel your best.

If you or someone you know has one or more of the following symptoms of kidney disease, or you are worried about kidney problems, see a doctor for blood and urine tests.

Remember, many of the symptoms can be due to reasons other than kidney disease. The only way to know the cause of your symptoms is to see your doctor.

Note the following 10 symptoms:

1.) Symptom 1: Changes in Urination. Kidneys make urine, so when the kidneys are failing, the urine may change. How?

--You may have to get up at night to urinate.

--Urine may be foamy or bubbly. You may urinate more often, or in greater amounts than usual, with pale urine.

--You may urinate less often, or in smaller amounts than usual with dark colored urine.

--Your urine may contain blood.

--You may feel pressure or have difficulty urinating.

2.) Symptom 2: Swelling. Failing kidneys don't remove extra fluid, which builds up in your body causing swelling in the legs, ankles, feet, face, and/or hands.

3.) Symptom 3: Fatigue. Healthy kidneys make a hormone called erythropoietin (a-rith'-ro-po'-uh-tin) that tells your body to make oxygen-carrying red blood cells. As the kidneys fail, they make less erythropoietin. With fewer red blood cells to carry oxygen, your muscles and brain become tired very quickly. This condition is called anemia, and it can be treated.

4.) Symptom 4: Skin Rash/Itching. Kidneys remove wastes from the bloodstream. When the kidneys fail, the buildup of wastes in your blood can cause severe itching.

5.) Symptom 5: Metallic Taste in Mouth/Ammonia Breath. A buildup of wastes in the blood (called uremia) can make food taste different and cause bad breath. You may also notice that you stop liking to eat meat, or that you are losing weight because you just don't feel like eating.

6.) Symptom 6: Nausea and Vomiting. A severe buildup of wastes in the blood (uremia) can also cause nausea and vomiting. Loss of appetite can lead to weight loss.

7.) Symptom 7: Shortness of Breath. Trouble catching your breath can be related to the kidneys in two ways. First, extra fluid in the body can build up in the lungs. And second, anemia (a shortage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells) can leave your body oxygen-starved and short of breath.

8.) Symptom 8: Feeling Cold. Anemia can make you feel cold all the time, even in a warm room.

9.) Symptom 9: Dizziness and Trouble Concentrating. Anemia related to kidney failure means that your brain is not getting enough oxygen. This can lead to memory problems, trouble with concentration, and dizziness.

10.) Symptom 10: Leg/Flank Pain. Some people with kidney problems may have pain in the back or side related to the affected kidney. Polycystic kidney disease, which causes large, fluid-filled cysts on the kidneys and sometimes the liver, can cause pain.

According to eMedicineHealth.com, although chronic kidney disease sometimes results from primary diseases of the kidneys themselves, the major causes are Diabetes and High Blood Pressure.

Note the following medical issues that can cause kidney disease:

--Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus cause a condition called Diabetic Nephropathy, which is the leading cause of kidney disease in the United States.

--High blood pressure (Hypertension), if not controlled, can damage the kidneys over time.

--Glomerulonephritis is the inflammation and damage of the filtration system of the kidneys and can cause kidney failure. Post-infectious conditions and lupus are among the many causes of Glomerulonephritis.

--Polycystic kidney disease is an example of a hereditary cause of chronic kidney disease wherein both kidneys have multiple cysts.

--Use of analgesics such as Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and iBuprofen (Motrin, Advil) regularly over long durations of time can cause analgesic nephropathy, another cause of kidney disease.

--Certain other medications can also damage the kidneys.

--Clogging and hardening of the arteries (Atherosclerosis) leading to the kidneys causes a condition called Ischemic Nephropathy, which is another cause of progressive kidney damage.

--Obstruction of the flow of urine by stones, an enlarged prostate, strictures (narrowings), or cancers may also cause kidney disease.

--Other causes of chronic kidney disease include HIV infection, sickle cell disease, heroin abuse, amyloidosis, kidney stones, chronic kidney infections, and certain cancers.

If you have any of the following conditions, you are at higher-than-normal risk of developing chronic renal disease, according to eMedicineHealth.

Your kidney functions may need to be monitored regularly if you have any of the following medical issues:

--Diabetes mellitus type 1 or 2.

--High blood pressure.

--High cholesterol.

--Heart disease.

--Liver disease.

--Kidney disease.

--Amyloidosis.

--Sickle cell disease.

--Systemic Lupus erythematosus.

--Vascular diseases such as arteritis, vasculitis, or fibromuscular dysplasia.

--Vesicoureteral reflux (a urinary tract problem in which urine travels the wrong way).

--Problems of the joints or muscles that require regular use of anti-inflammatory medications.

--If you have a family history of kidney disease.

Important treatments for kidney disease are tight control of blood glucose and blood pressure.

Blood pressure has a dramatic effect on the rate at which the disease progresses. Even a mild rise in blood pressure can quickly make kidney disease worsen.

Four ways to lower your blood pressure are losing weight, eating less salt, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, and getting regular exercise.

Not everyone with diabetes develops kidney disease.

Factors that can influence kidney disease development include genetics, blood sugar control, and blood pressure. The better a person keeps diabetes and blood pressure under control, the lower the chance of getting kidney disease.

According to the American Diabetes Association, once kidneys fail, dialysis is necessary. The person must choose whether to continue with dialysis or to get a kidney transplant. This choice should be made as a team effort.

The team should include the doctor and diabetes educator, a nephrologist (kidney doctor), a kidney transplant surgeon, a social worker, and a psychologist.

Kidneys are remarkable organs, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Inside them are millions of tiny blood vessels that act as filters. Their job is to remove waste products from the blood. Sometimes this filtering system breaks down. When our bodies digest the protein we eat, the process creates waste products.

In the kidneys, millions of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) with even tinier holes in them act as filters. As blood flows through the blood vessels, small molecules such as waste products squeeze through the holes.

These waste products become part of the urine. Useful substances, such as protein and red blood cells, are too big to pass through the holes in the filter and stay in the blood. In time, the stress of overwork causes the kidneys to lose their filtering ability.

Waste products then start to build up in the blood. Finally, the kidneys fail - This failure, ESRD, is very serious.

A person with ESRD needs to have a kidney transplant or to have the blood filtered by machine (dialysis) as previously noted. Treatment varies depending on the type of kidney or urinary disease present, according to LabTestsOnline.

In general, the earlier kidney or urinary disease is recognised, the more likely it is to be treatable. 

Dietary restrictions, drug therapy, and surgical procedures may be appropriate. If the kidneys can no longer effectively remove waste and water from the body, a dialysis machine used several times a week can take over kidney filtration.

Also, as previously mentioned, kidney transplant surgery is another option when kidneys fail. If you have diabetes or hypertension, control of your blood pressure and blood sugar is extremely important to prevent or minimise kidney damage.

Your Best Health Care is a blog that was created in 2007 to relay information to readers interested in how to navigate various health care topics. The notes contained on each topic are credited to sources relative to the material.

Not all information is original, but the blog references additional sources that have been edited for the benefit of readers. Over the past 10 years as I have been involved in the health care industry, I have found that good information gives value to people who need help finding out how things work in the health care market place.

This Blog also links to other valuable sources for health care information from sources like the CDC, the Mayo Clinic, Time, CNN, and many other news feeds.

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical advice, which is only available from your doctor or a licensed health care professional.

I hope you find the topics informative and helpful.

Source - Cypress Times

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010

Banish Bad Breath (Halitosis)

Proper brushing and flossing, accompanied by the use of anti-bacterial mouthwash to prevent the formation of plaque and tartar, can prevent halitosis, says Dr Ashok Dhoble

Maintenance of good oral hygiene is the key to the prevention of dental disease. Oral care is not complete only by brushing your teeth twice a day. In addition to being careful about your toothpaste and toothbrush, you should take special care to ensure that you also use a good mouthwash.

Brushing efficiency is generally lower at the gum line between the teeth, under the braces, crowns and prostheses. If germs are left there, brushing efficiency drops. However, the liquid active components of mouthwash reach such difficult spots, getting rid of food particles and germs thereby helping to prevent plaque and tooth decay. The active components of mouthwash reduce plaque in hard-to-reach places and prevent germs from spreading.

Mouthwash is of greater benefit to people who do not floss their teeth, since the mouthwash (especially if it contains antibacterial agents) goes between the teeth and prevents the formation of plaque (bacterial colonies), which are the principal cause of tooth decay and gum disease.

A mouthwash also gets rid of germs which reside on the tongue and other inaccessible areas where the toothbrush does not reach, thereby freshening the breath.

A complete oral care routine of ‘toothbrush-toothpaste-mouthwash’ helps prevent dental disease.

Benefits of Mouthwash

Mouthwash generally contains a liquid vehicle to deliver active ingredients. It is more effective than toothpaste since it can reach the hard-to-reach places in the mouth and effectively fight the bacteria that cause plaque. Mouthwash is a simple delivery system and compromises the active ingredients less, thereby enabling control over the delivery of a higher dose of active ingredients.

It cleanses the mouth effectively and treats diseased states of the oral mucosa, thereby providing therapeutic and cosmetic benefits.

Mouthwashes are sold in a variety of flavours and colours, among which blue or green mint varieties are very common. The protection period offered by mouthwashes is an important criterion to consider while choosing the mouthwash that complements your oral care routine. The best option would be to brush twice a day and choose a mouthwash that offers you a 12-hour protection period, so that you are protected from germs for the period in between brushing.

There are two main benefits offered by mouthwash:

1/ It fights and kills bacteria in hard-to-reach places in the mouth, thereby reducing the incidence of plaque and tooth decay.

2/ It also fights bad breath.

Mouthwashes are designed to eliminate bad breath in three ways.

1/ They relieve Bad Breath (Halitosis) by killing the bacteria responsible for producing the foul odour.

2/ They can prevent bad breath for as long as eight hours.

3/ They help reduce bad breath by masking the odour.

Also read about
Why Therabreath Mouthwash Is Better Than Any Other Oral Care Product

Preventing Halitosis

Halitosis could be a sign of serious systemic disorder. However in 90 per cent of the cases, halitosis is due to dental and gum conditions.

Gum Disease (Periodontitis) causes destruction of bone and soft tissue and formation of pus. The release of sulphur compounds by micro-organisms gives rise to a bad smell, which is characteristic of halitosis. Halitosis is an embarrassing condition for people who suffer from it.

Therefore, it is very important to practice correct method of oral hygiene like brushing and flossing, accompanied by the use of anti-bacterial mouthwash to prevent the formation of plaque and tartar, which is the main cause of gum disease.

Plaque — colonies of bacteria — also form on the tongue. The use of a good toothbrush, anti-bacterial toothpaste and tongue scraper are strongly recommended to prevent halitosis.

However, if gum disease has already been established one must visit a dentist who will treat gum disease and will also teach the correct method of oral hygiene.

In a few cases, halitosis could be due to upper respiratory tract infection like infected tonsils. In some others, it may also be due to gastrointestinal problems.

How to Use Mouthwash

Mouthwash is generally to be used in an undiluted form, before or after brushing. The quantity of mouthwash to use would be 20ml or as specified on the bottle. Take the specified quantity of mouthwash, rinse mouth thoroughly for 1 minute or as specified on the bottle, gargle and then expel the mouthwash.

Tips

For normal use, a mouthwash can be bought over the counter. However, if a mouthwash needs to be used for special problems like sensitivity it should be after proper professional supervision. Mouthwash used in proper quantity is not harmful. Dentists advise parental supervision for patients under the age of 8-10 years.

To find out about how what mouthwash to get, click here!

Source - Deccan Herald

Discover how I cured my nasty Bad Breath here.

Copyright 2010