CHECK Magazin - Gesundheitsmagazin für Männer No.12

CHECK MAG #12
SMOKERS AND PERIODONTITIS
Smoking reduces the blood supply to the gums,
which means they recede more quickly.
Acidity of saliva
Some people are also more prone
to tooth decay than others. This
is due to the individually different
pH value. The lower it is, the more
dangerous the acid attacks are
for the teeth.
Oral and dental hygiene
Oral and dental hygiene is
particularly important for people
with serious ill nesses, because
inflammation in the mouth area
makes it even more difficult to
eat and break up food, which can
also lead to digestive problems.
Especially in patients who are fed
by tubes, the oral flora becomes
drier and more easily inflamed
due to the lack of food intake and
is therefore more susceptible
to mucosal defects, aphthae
and mycoses and the intestinal
activity also suffers.
A tip from holistic medicine:
Freeze a good broth as ice
cubes and let it literally melt
in your mouth!
Fighting Cancer
– Minimising
Side Effects
Patients undergoing chemotherapy
and/or radiation therapy
for cancer are advised to visit
their dentist first because side
effects of treatment may include
dry mouth, inflammation and
loss of taste. Radiation can also
cause problems with the salivary
glands. The healthier your teeth
and gums are before therapy, the
better these side effects can be
avoided. Chemotherapy can also
cause nausea and vomiting. Here
it is important to rinse the mouth
carefully afterwards, because
stomach acid attacks teeth and
gums.
Medications
Some medications that have
a beneficial effect on cancer
metastases in the bones can
affect the stability of the jawbone
as a side effect.
Mouth and throat
cancer
In Germany, there are around
10,000 new cases of malignant
tumours in the mouth and
throat every year. The most
common forms include oral
cavity carcinoma (3 out of 4
patients are men!), which is
usually characterised by white
discoloration on the tongue or
tongue floor of mouth showing.
Sometimes it’s also non-healing
sores or growths in the mouth. If
the symptoms persist for more
than 14 days, a doctor should
be consulted in order to identify
and treat a possible tumour
early on. Since oral cancer cells
divide faster than normal cells,
the cancer cells can grow into
healthy body tissue and thereby
crowd it out. They can also detach
from the tumour and spread to
other areas of the mouth, jaw
or neck lymph nodes and form
new tumours (metastases).
Throat cancer usually manifests
itself as difficulty swallowing.
Persistent hoarseness can also
be a symptom of throat cancer.
With the kind support of
Witzleben pharmacies Berlin
Kaiserdamm 24+26, 14057 Berlin
www.witzleben-apotheke.de
Illustration: ©Daniel Masullo
Good Advice20