Got a health problem you don’t want to talk about? Here’s help
Almost everyone has at some time experienced an embarrassing health problem—leaking urine, profuse sweating or bad breath that won’t go away. Although not life threatening, such problems can affect quality of life. What many don’t realize is that these issues can be cured or managed. Yet people often feel too self-conscious to speak to a doctor— and suffer in silence—even though doctors have heard it all before and are able to deal with these problems.
Bad Breath
Edwin Winkel, professor at the department of period ontology at the University of Groningen and at the Clinic for Period ontology in the Netherlands, has seen patients so embarrassed by their bad breath that they will only work from home or over the phone, to avoid being around people.
Bad breath, or halitosis, can be caused by tooth and gum disease, metabolic disorders, such as diabetes, and eating foods such as garlic, which make the body produce odours that escape through the mouth or nose. Foul breath can also result from throat and sinus infections, smoking or drinking alcohol, and can be worsened by stress. But the major bad breath culprit is the mouth bacteria that form a coating film on the tongue, especially at the back. “About 400 to 500 bacterial species live in the oral cavity,” says Winkel, and some emit offensive-smelling gases.
Mints, gums and most over-the counter mouthwashes freshen your taste, but don’t clear your breath. “Taste has nothing to do with breath,” says Winkel. “You can have a very bad taste and very good breath or a very good taste and very bad breath.” Consistent good oral hygiene is important for clean breath, but adequate removal of the tongue coating may require special tongue-scrapers, visiting a dental hygienist or using prescription mouthwashes containing zinc or chlorhexidine that control the bacteria’s population.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi
Pushpesh Pant, one of India’s pre-eminent food writers, is back with a comprehensive food history of the capital.
Who Wants Coffee?
It’s bitter—but beloved around the world
Prevent The Pain Of Shingles
You don't have to suffer, as long as you take two important steps
The Best And Worst Diets For Your Heart
Dozens of diets are touted as ‘best’, but it’s easy to lose track of the fact that healthy eating needs to be about overall wellness, not just weight loss.
ME & MY SHELF
Journalist Sopan Joshi has worked in a science and environment framework for nearly three decades. His book Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango (Aleph Book Company) synthesizes the sensory appeal of India's favourite fruit with its elaborate cultural roots and natural history. He writes in English and Hindi.
SWITCHED
In 1962, nurses at a small Canadian hospital sent home two women with the wrong babies. Then, 50 years later, their children discovered the shocking mistake.
ECHOES OF THE PAST
A VISIT TO THE ANCIENT BARABAR CAVES IN BIHAR REVEALS A SURPRISING CONNECTION TO A LITERARY CLASSIC
Fathers of the Bride
A young woman finds a unique way to honour the many men who helped her survive her childhood
Fiction's Foresight
British-Bangladeshi author Manzu Islam's works reveal startling parallels to recent political upheavals in Bangladesh, begging the question: Besides helping us make sense of our world, can stories also offer a glimpse into the future?
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
The Divine Defence Picture this: A tractor in Rajasthan‘s Banswara district,a group of loan agents closing in to seize it and the defaulting farmer and his family standing by.