WE are taught to brush our teeth from a young age for a bright smile and fresh breath.
And while those things are true, there is more to it than that.
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Oral hygiene is also linked to chronic disease.
Our mouths are home to millions of bacteria, and poor oral hygiene allows harmful bacteria to multiply and cause infections such as gum disease.
The bacteria and inflammation they cause can travel through the bloodstream to other parts of the body.
Research has shown strong links between gum disease and heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart attack and stroke.
It is a two-way street, where poor oral health can worsen existing conditions and vice-versa.
Sometimes it is hard to look after ourselves well when there are other, potentially more urgent health woes at stake.
But visiting the dentist regularly and brushing twice a day, plus flossing, is a simple yet powerful act of self-care.
So, next time you pick up that toothbrush, remember it is an investment in your overall health.
Here’s a selection of what readers asked me this week…
Lost his zest for life
Q) MY husband, who is 54, was diagnosed with Barrett’s oesophagus five years ago.
Despite medication, he has persistent and excessive burping, particularly in the evenings, which makes it difficult to sleep.
Beyond the Barrett’s, he’s struggling with other unexplained symptoms – he’s often nauseous, has very little energy and poor memory.
He has also developed unusually sensitive skin and has lost all his sex drive and zest for life.
Six months before his diagnosis, he had a virus that lasted three weeks but didn’t see a doctor for it.
We’ve had repeated blood tests, but our GP hasn’t been able to find a cause for these symptoms.
We’re both at our wits’ end. We don’t know what to do next.
A) Barrett’s oesophagus is a condition where the normal cells lining your oesophagus (food pipe) change into cells that are more like those in the stomach or intestine.
It is caused by long-term exposure to stomach acid, often due to gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).
It needs to be monitored and managed, usually with medication to reduce acid reflux because there is a small increased risk of these altered cells developing into cancer.
Sleeping with the head elevated can help with night-time symptoms, so this would be worth trying if your husband doesn’t already.
If symptoms are not managed, it is important to inform his specialist team to assess if additional treatment is required, or if there are additional stomach issues contributing.
The other symptoms you describe may require further investigation as they are unlikely to be caused by Barrett’s oesophagus alone.
If the GP hasn’t already, it might be worth checking testosterone levels, thyroid function and for nutritional deficiencies (iron, B12, folate, vitamin D, magnesium), which long-term anti-acid medications can contribute towards.
The viral illness may be relevant. It gets me thinking about auto-immune conditions, which can be triggered by a viral illness, so you could request an autoimmune screen.
How is your husband’s mental health? An open conversation about this may be worthwhile as poor mental health, either as a primary issue or secondary to his physical health problems, could be responsible for this list of symptoms, too.
I hope this helps guide you with some next steps to consider.
TIP OF THE WEEK
GET to know your family history of disease.
Alzheimer’s, diabetes and certain cancers, including prostate, breast and ovarian, are among those with strong hereditary links.
Knowing this, and any symptoms, may help you get an earlier diagnosis, which can mean more effective treatment.
Q) I AM a 76-year-old man and I believe myself to be fit and healthy.
I’ve never had a problem at my annual check-ups.
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But I seem to be very forgetful and absent-minded.
I live alone and, normally, things are in their own place in the house – but lately, seemingly not so.
Also, I was very good at pub quizzes but not so much any more. Is it just me getting older?
A) I definitely think you need to have this issue properly assessed by your GP.
Explain it to your doctor exactly how you have done here and they will likely ask lots of questions to find out a bit more.
There are many reversible causes of memory problems and reduced cognitive function, which your GP will likely want to test for, and this will include a blood test.
A couple of examples include vitamin B12 deficiency and abnormal thyroid function, which can both be corrected with medication.
And the expectation would be for your brain function to return to normal.
Your GP might also want to do a short test with you, to assess just how your brain is working.
This could involve asking you to remember something over a minute or give you some instructions to perform certain tasks there in the room.
You may be concerned about dementia and, if so, this is understandable and something else that your GP will likely consider, too.
But it is important to rule out the reversible causes first.
The thing about dementia is that the sooner it is diagnosed, the better it can be managed and treated.
A lot of the drugs that we have for dementia work best when started very early.
Symptoms of dementia can include misplacing things frequently or difficulty remembering where things are.
It may be difficult to retain information, remember names or faces or your way around places that are familiar.
You talk about struggling at the quiz more often.
People with dementia may struggle to find the right words or lose interest in activities they used to enjoy.
So while I don’t want to worry you, it is important to take action sooner rather than later – no good at all can come from delaying getting help, whatever the cause turns out to be.
Numb hand after rotator cuff tear
Q) EIGHT months ago, I tore my rotator cuff muscle quite severely. I had agonising pain for three weeks.
I have had two new knees and lower spine surgery, but nothing came close to this pain.
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It has gone now, and rotating my shoulder is not a problem.
But I have weakness and numbness in my right hand. I have type 2 diabetes and I’m on Mounjaro.
A) From what you describe, the initial severe pain followed by persistent weakness and numbness in the hand suggests there may be some nerve involvement as well as the rotator cuff muscle tear.
The rotator cuff muscles don’t directly cause hand numbness – that usually comes from the nerves that travel from the neck, down under the shoulder and into the arm and hand.
Since you’ve had lower spine surgery before, it’s worth noting that similar issues can happen in the cervical spine (neck).
A compressed nerve root in the neck can cause weakness and numbness further down the arm and in the hand.
Type 2 diabetes can cause neuropathy, which increases the risk of nerve damage and can reduce recovery if nerves have been injured by trauma or compression.
The fact that your shoulder rotation is good suggests the joint itself and repaired tissues may be functioning reasonably well, which is good news.
The persistent hand weakness and numbness is the red flag here – that’s not normal for a rotator cuff tear alone.
It would be a good idea to ask your GP to refer you to the MCATs, or musculoskeletal service, who will decide if you need imaging or nerve conduction studies and help guide your treatment moving forwards.
This seems to have been a problem for a while, so it’s not a “wait and see” situation.
Nerves can sometimes recover, but if they stay compressed or injured for too long, the weakness and numbness can become permanent.
FAT JABS ‘FOR KIDS AGE 6’
WEIGHT-LOSS jabs are effective for children as young as six years old, a new study suggests.
Youngsters lost an average of 3kg in six months, which increased to almost 5kg in those deemed obese, the findings show.
However, they experienced side effects like adults do. Scientists in the US reviewed the results of 18 trials involving 1,400 kids aged six to 17.
The children were either on GLP-1 medication, which includes Wegovy and Mounjaro, for obesity or type 2 diabetes, or they were given a placebo.
The drugs “significantly improve” glycaemic control, blood pressure and weight, the study suggests.
While the total weight loss achieved might sound small, it is considered clinically significant as five to 10 per cent reduction can lead to major health benefits.
In adults, Wegovy and Mounjaro can help reduce body weight by up to 15 and 20 per cent respectively.
The review found “gastrointestinal adverse events”, which can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation, were “significantly more common” among those on the drugs.
Writing in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, the researchers added that longer follow-up periods in future trials and more real-world studies are “essential” to establish any long-term effects.
More than one in five children in Year 6 in England are obese, the latest NHS stats show.
CHEMIST MED SWAP BID
PHARMACISTS are sounding the alarm over “commonplace” drug shortages, which they say put patients in danger.
A National Pharmacy Association poll reveals frustration among pharmacists who lack the authority to make simple, safe changes to prescriptions when a drug is out of stock.
Currently, if a patient’s prescribed medication is unavailable, pharmacists must send them back to their doctor for a new prescription, even if a safe alternative is on hand.
For example, if a patient is prescribed two 10mg tablets of a drug, but only 20mg doses are available, currently a pharmacist has to refer them back to the GP.
This can lead to delays, sometimes forcing patients to wait weeks for a new prescription. One pharmacist described how an eight-year-old with a water infection was forced to visit A&E because a substitution for an antibiotic could not be made.
Olivier Picard, chairman of the NPA, described the situation as “madness”.
He said pharmacists are highly trained medicines experts who already advise GPs on clinically suitable alternative medicines, adding: “The status quo is not only frustrating for patients, it is also dangerous.
“Medicine shortages are now becoming commonplace and pharmacists are delivering more clinical care than ever before.”
The NPA is calling on the Government to change the laws, which have been in place since 1968.
