HEALTH WATCH

Waiting for the PS,UC,MC to clean up

Nadira Gunatilleke

Dengue is on the rise without any control and part of the responsibility goes to the Sri Lankan public, especially the citizens who turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the continuous appeals made by the health and environmental authorities. There are some important facts revealed during various presentations done by doctors on the subject recently

It seems that no dengue control program reach the roof tops with concrete slabs and gutters in homes and other buildings especially construction sites. This is one of the main problems that affect the programs.

Although almost all homes and buildings have gutters and sometimes roofs that harbour water, there is no habit or mechanism to clean them. No pesticide or anything reach gutters and roof tops with concrete. It seems even the families, who lost a member or two to dengue are ignorant and do not wish to avoid similar death. It is a well-known fact that the families which lost members to dengue do not make any contribution to curb the epidemic.

Certain facts that earlier valid for dengue mosquitoes are not valid any more. According to the latest findings the dengue mosquitoes can bite you at any time of the day and they can breed in any type of water. Therefore, there is no point of concerning the specific behaviours or breeding habits of dengue mosquitoes. You can get dengue if the dengue mosquito bites a dengue patient and then bite you. A lot of people do not know this. This means dengue can spread if there is a dengue patient in a places where there are dengue mosquitoes.

If there is a place that harbours still water all the time and there is no way of preventing water coming into that place, you can use kerosene oil to prevent mosquito breeding in that place. Kerosene oil stay as a layer on the top of still water. This was mentioned by a team of Indian doctors who visited Sri Lanka recently. This can be done very easily in homes.

Kerosene oil is not harmful for the health and environment as much as other types of insecticides. Therefore using kerosene oil to control dengue mosquito breeding is cheap, easy and healthy (when comparing with the use of other strong insecticides). The other problem is searching for dengue mosquitoes in your home after you get dengue from your school/workplace or searching for dengue mosquitoes from your school/workplace after you get dengue from your home!

Often people get the disease from one place and blame it on another place. It is very easy to blame others but it is very difficult to prevent dengue. It is adequate if there is even one dengue mosquito breeding place left in one area. That place can produce dengue mosquitoes for a area of 500 metres. Therefore, one ignorant property owner/family can destroy the lives of many innocent children and adults.

Since the recent past, a lot of media reports appeared on using the juice of papaya leaves to increase the platelet count of dengue patients. But according to the Epidemiologists of the Epidemiology Unit, Health Ministry, nothing has proved scientifically yet. Scientific studies have been conducted on rats in this regard but no studies have been conducted on human beings yet. Hence, using papaya leaf juice on human beings as a main treatment for dengue is not acceptable.

In the medical world, everything should be scientifically proved and only after that it can be used for human beings (as an accepted treatment).

The question is why worry about drinking papaya leaf juice and platelet count when you can easily save yourself from dengue by destroying mosquito breeding sites located around you.

There are many other small facts that should be taken into consideration. Even after hundreds of lives were taken from dengue, still the public is not taking the problem seriously. Even to date there are parents who let their children play, attend school and even tuition classes when they have fever.

Still there are many adults who take two tablets for fever and work as usual no matter it is dengue or a viral fever.

It is very pathetic to see that still many persons do not understand the importance of following doctors’ advices and taking a rest during a sickness.

If you are ignorant and lazy to fill the cut bamboo tree with sand and do not feel like resting while you have fever, what can the health authorities or environmental authorities do about it?

You are responsible for your life than the others!

Protecting your smile

Susan Brady

Is your mouth a breeding ground for cavity-causing bacteria? You may be surprised to find out that despite your brushing and flossing regimen, it probably is.

Tooth decay is a common health problem in the US, second in prevalence only to the common cold. The majority of Americans have at least one cavity and three-quarters have their first cavity by the age of five.

Take control of your dental health by checking out the top 5 things you can do to maintain a healthy smile, provided by Smile Reminder.

Become a regular. Semi-annual visits to the dentist are crucial to maintaining your dental health. Not only does a regular tooth cleaning by a dental hygienist keep your smile bright, but it’s also an important preventative measure.

Most dental issues will not become painful or noticeable until they are highly advanced, which means regular check-ups are critical to your dental health.

Don’t believe the myths. Eating too much sugar is not the primary cause of cavities. It’s all about neutralizing pH levels in your mouth. The actual cause of cavities is a disease called dental caries, a bacterial infection that develops when your mouth becomes too acidic. Brushing and flossing alone will not prevent decay.

In order to maintain healthy teeth one must fight the caries-causing bacteria by neutralizing pH levels in the mouth.

Chow down. There are a number of foods that fight caries-causing bacteria in the mouth. Cheese, celery, shitake mushrooms, onions and wasabi all fight these harmful bacteria. Pair these with a pH balancing maintenance program and you’ll be well on your way to a set of healthy teeth.

Drink up. Drinking plenty of water keeps your gums hydrated and stimulates the production of saliva, which in turn helps fight bacteria. Green tea is another superdrink which totes a number of health benefits, one of which is the catechins it contains that fight a number of different strands of bacteria.

Learn what xylitol is. Then make sure you’re getting plenty of it. Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener that’s found in plants and fruits that cannot be broken down by bacteria into harmful acid. It boasts a number of other smile-boosting benefits as well, such as protecting tooth enamel, preventing bacteria from adhering to teeth, and controlling the number of acid-producing bacteria in the mouth. You should shoot for 6-11 grams per day in the form of select fruits, chewing gums, toothpastes, and mouthwashes.

Health News

Centenarian Monk reveals his fitness status at old age

Edward Arambewala

A 102 year old Centenarian Monk in conversation with Sri Lanka Welfare Association for Centenarian (SLAWC) President Prof. Colvin Gooneratna last week about his physical fitness at his age in life, said the secret for it was his daily habit of well water bathing at the temple’s well in the morning.

Prof. Colvin was meeting the monk at Rajamaha Viharaya in Pahalagama, Gampaha in a SLAWC program of listing them with their health status and other details.

Watch out for the next HealthWatch to read Prof. Colvin’s view about this centenarian Monk, and what possible things could be taken up by others to keep in physical fitness at old age.

Vastu Consultant Quintin Devanarayana also accompanied the SLAWC team to their visit to meet the centenarian Monk.

Healthy heart helps for a healthy brain

While many believe keeping the brain active is the key to keeping it from going to mush, that isn’t the only thing that is a contributing factor. There is now a direct link between a healthy heart and a healthy active brain.

Research conducted by a team from Boston University and published in this week’s issue of Circulation, showed that blood volume had a correlation to the size and activity of the brain.

Studying approximately 1,500 mostly heart-healthy individuals (substantial cardiovascular issues precluded inclusion in this study), researchers found that those hearts that pumped less blood were associated with brains that appeared older and smaller in size.

Even those individuals with a normal cardiac index and blood volume showed signs of early aging in brain scans. “These participants are not sick people. A very small number have heart disease.

The observation that nearly a third of the entire sample has low cardiac index and that lower cardiac index is related to smaller brain volume is concerning and requires further study,” lead researcher Dr Angela Jefferson said.

While the average age of participants was 61, even the younger members of the study showed a link between reduced blood volume and an older, smaller brain. Poor cardiac output aged the brain by nearly two years on average, according to researchers.

However, the researchers did note that participants with smaller brain volumes on magnetic resonance imaging did not show obvious clinical signs of reduced brain function.

Health News

Early childhood caries

Dr Dilum Perera, Consultant Community Dental Surgeon, Health Education Bureau

Continue to help your child to brush their teeth until they have mastered this skill – usually around 6/7 years old. Thereafter, generally they are skillful and capable to brush on their own

Early Childhood Caries (ECC) refer to the presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries) or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a pre-school-age child between birth and 71 months of age.

ECC is a particularly virulent type of dental caries that can destroy the primary dentition of babies and pre-school children. It is characterized by early onset and very rapid progression. The caries develop quickly, usually right after the teeth erupt.

Identification of ECC

Several teeth may be affected, beginning with the upper front primary teeth, at the junction near the gums, followed by the back tooth in upper jaw.

There are mainly three stages in the development of ECC. The early stage is characterized by the appearance of chalky, opaque lesions on the smooth surfaces of the upper front primary teeth adjoining to gum margin when the child is between the ages of 15 and 20 months, or sometimes even younger.

The second stage (moderate ECC) occurs when the child is between the ages of 16 and 24 months. The white lesions on the teeth develop rapidly, causing the enamel (the outer layer of the tooth) to collapse. The dentine is exposed and appears soft and yellow. At this stage, the child begins to complain of great sensitivity to cold. The parents sometimes notice the change of colour on their own and become concerned.

The third stage, (advanced stage) which occurs around the ages of 30 and 48 months, is characterized by breaking tooth particles due to weakness of the tooth. Remaining brown/ black colour crown parts of the teeth are seen emerging through the gum margin.

Some young children suffer but are unable to express their toothache complaints. They experience sleep deprivation and refuse to eat. Contrary to popular belief, the effects of caries in young children extend beyond the mouth. Tooth loss is sometimes inevitable, and it can cause not only malocclusion (teeth are not in line) and esthetic problems, but more importantly, difficulties in pronunciation. Esthetic problems and pronunciation difficulties may result in psychological and relationship problems later in life.

Reasons for ECC

ECC is also known as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (BBTD) and nursing caries. As these names imply, the disease is associated with prolonged use of sugar added formula milk in a baby bottle at bedtime or even during the daytime.

Baby bottles predispose to ECC because their nipple blocks the access of saliva to the upper front teeth, whereas lower teeth are close to the main salivary glands and are protected from liquid contents by the bottle nipple and the tongue.

During the night the salivary flow is low. As a result, the capacity of salivary neutralization of acid produced by the action of bacteria on sugar is also low. Absence of movements from lip, tongue and cheek during sleep would also cause food stagnation on and between the teeth and prolonged exposure to sugar. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that infants with ECC sleep less at night, wake up more frequently, and receive more bottle-feedings as a way to manage their sleep problems.

The other factors concerned with ECC are frequent consumption of snacks (toffees, chocolates, biscuits, cake and so forth) in between meals and acquiring high levels of cariogenic bacteria from their caregiver – primarily mother.

Research shows that children are not born with the bacteria that cause decay, but are infected with it, usually at an early age, from their caregiver – primarily mother. Mothers/caregivers with untreated cavities have high levels of bacteria in their mouth and are more likely to pass bacteria to their children through certain practices, for example, tasting the baby’s food with the same spoon or kissing the baby.

ECC is a preventable, infectious disease caused by certain types of bacteria (bugs) that live in your mouth. Bacteria stick to the film on your teeth called plaque. The bacteria feed on what you eat, especially sugars (including fruit sugars) and cooked starch (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta). About 5 minutes after you eat, or drink, the bacteria begin making acids as they digest your food. These acids can break down the tooth’s outer surface and dissolve valuable minerals. The result is cavities. Children who snack frequently, have a high level of bacteria, or go to sleep with a bottle containing milk or fruit juice are more likely to have ECC.

How to prevent ECC

Proper feeding techniques and cleaning your child’s mouth will help to prevent ECC.

Practice breast feeding as much as possible. Do not add sugar to formula milk. Always use a cup and spoon to feed formula milk.

Avoid bottle feeding as much as possible especially during night. If a bottle is needed, use only water at nap/bed time. If you do breast or bottle feeding during night, remove the breast or bottle when baby falls asleep and wipe off baby’s teeth/gums with a damp washcloth.

Stick to a feeding schedule and limit between meal snacking. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Parents may play an important role in the early detection of decay. Lift your child’s lip to look for early signs of decay – white spots. If you see white spots, especially on your child’s upper front teeth, avoiding aforementioned risk behaviours and brushing teeth may reverse the condition favourably.

Maintaining a caries free healthy mouth by mothers/ caregivers will avoid transmission of cariogenic bacteria to the child.

Start brushing your child’s teeth since the first primary tooth erupts around 9 to 12 months. You may use a specially designed soft toothbrush that can be wearing onto your index finger and a smear layer of fluoride tooth paste.