Brush Your Teeth To Conceive As Gum Disease Affects Fertility

Want to have a baby? Well, brush your teeth regularly, say dentists!

Dental experts say gum disease could affect a woman’s chances of having a baby and hence they should ensure they regularly clean their teeth.

University of Western Australia researchers have found that poor oral health delays conception by about 2 months.

Women with gum disease take 7.1 months on average to conceive as against the usual 5 months.

Experts believe that inflammation is the underlying cause of delayed conception.

Periodontal disease or gum disease, is a chronic infectious illness that develops when bacteria in the mouth causes inflammation around a tooth & can spread into the circulatory system

Earlier studies have linked poor oral health in men with low fertility; hence couples wanting children must brush regularly.

Periodontal disease has been tied to heart disease, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes & pregnancy problems like premature birth and miscarriage.

Since periodontal disease negatively influences fertility, all women must have a dental check-up to rule out gum disease before they try to conceive.

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Eating for Two during Pregnancy Affects Baby’s Health (blubell25.wordpress.com)

Neotropical Blueberries Are The Ultimate Superfruits

According to a study, blueberries are feted as a super fruit, full of disease-fighting antioxidants that help the body eliminate harmful free radicals. However, the “highbush” blueberries that are available in U.S. supermarkets are not as loaded with antioxidants as some blueberry varieties available in Mexico, Central & South America.

Scientists refer to the “neotropcial” blueberries as extreme superfruits that are crammed with almost 11 times the antioxidant punch of ordinary blueberries and are able to afford increased protection against cancer, heart disease and other ailments.

The only catch is that neotropical blueberries are not easy to source in the U.S.

Meanwhile, folks could do worse than have highbush blueberries.

Blueberries have several health benefits – they help protect against urinary infections, cancer and the accumulation of “bad” cholesterol in arteries – which can trigger heart attack & stroke. They’re low in calories, high in fiber & they contain iron, calcium, zinc, potassium, magnesium and vitamins A & C.

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Walnuts – The Healthiest Nut Of All (bluebell25.wordpress.com)

Longer Ring Fingers Signal Neurone Disease

People whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers have higher chances of developing motor neurone disease. 

In a UK study, 110 people had their finger length measured. The volunteers also included 47 afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most prevalent form of this disease.

Experts deem that a fourth finger that’s longer than the index finger may be somewhat determined by the amount of exposure that a baby gets to testosterone (the male hormone) before birth.

In fact, men usually have ring fingers that are slightly longer than their index fingers, whereas women generally do not.

Motor neurons require testosterone for survival & repair, and men born minus the ability to utilize testosterone in the standard way develop a type of motor neuron degeneration.

Nonetheless, finger length cannot be used to screen for ALS & further work is required.

This study brings up some interesting questions regarding how events happening before birth could heighten the risk of developing motor neurone disease in later years.

However, it’s important to bear in mind that exposure to elevated testosterone levels in the womb doesn’t directly lead to motor neurone disease.

Many individuals with longer ring fingers may not develop motor neuron disease because there are several genetic & environmental factors that have to correspond to trigger this disease.

Bank Your Wisdom Tooth and Save Lives

If you feel you’ve lost out on regenerative medicine benefits by not banking your umbilical cord, rest easy. For, you could now make up for that oversight by donating your teeth to a dental stem cell bank – it could help in treating a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in adults.

It’s now possible to store dental stem cells for use in the future.

There are 2 types of adult stem cells – hematopoietic stem cells which form blood cells & mesenchymal stem cells which form connective tissues. The dental cells are mesenchymal cells that could possibly treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Dental stem cells, due to their site of origin, are more versatile than the hematopoetic cells.

The biggest plus point in favor of dental stem cell banking is that it’s a non-invasive procedure & the teeth wouldn’t be of any use to the individual who would, in any case throw them away. Moreover it’s an excellent opportunity for people who’ve passed up the chance of storing their cord blood cells to freeze their dental stem cells, since it’s possible to extract dental stem cells at any stage.

In contrast to umbilical cord cells that are used in treating blood-related diseases such as thalassemia, and leukemia, dental stem cells are capable of treating certain types of cancer, periodontal diseases, heart disease, and could also be used in growing replacement teeth & bone.

The dental cell extraction procedure needs to be carried out while the wisdom teeth are about to be removed or the milk teeth are about to fall. The source of stem cells is the dental pulp of teeth and the pulp tends to be more usable when there’s a blood supply. The dental cells are highly regenerative & multiply fast.

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Spinal Tuberculosis – A Matter of Concern

 

Of the nearly 30 million people worldwide who suffer from the deadly disease – tuberculosis, in India itself more than one and a half lakh people suffer from spinal tuberculosis.

  

Experts say that while tuberculosis of the lungs is quite common, spinal tuberculosis is equally a matter for concern, having terrible and usually irreversible complications. Spinal tuberculosis is known as tuberculosis spondylitis or Pott’s disease.

  

 Back pain, mild fever, a back swelling and, in the worst cases, even paralysis of limbs are the symptoms of tuberculosis of the spine. The tuberculosis bacteria attack the vertebrae & cause damage of the spinal bones, leading to pus formation & instability of the spine & appearance of a back deformity.

  

Often, tuberculosis spondylitis triggers spinal damage, causing the vertebrae to collapse and bones to fracture.

  

Abscesses as well as tissue formation can cause narrowing of the spinal canal, resulting in neurological damage. When it comes to advanced and untreated cases, this causes the spinal cord to compress, leading to total paralysis of both the legs & rarely, the upper limbs.

  

Once a patient reaches the paralysis stage, in spite of fine surgical treatment, it’s not always possible to recover from paralysis.

  

Diagnosis can be carried out with a battery of neurological tests. X-rays and blood tests can be made use of to confirm tuberculosis.

  

At times, MRIs - magnetic resonance images – and bone scans, too, are required. Patients with weakness or a deformity will require surgical treatment for correcting this deformity. Surgery for spinal tuberculosis is complex & carries with it the added risk of complications.

 

Today, effective drugs to fight tuberculosis are available & with timely detection and prompt treatment, tuberculosis of the spine can be completely cured.

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