Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Interesting

Medical Mysteries: What was causing a woman’s chronic digestive distress?

Small intestine bacterial overgrowth can apparently be detected by breath tests.

Maybe that's what those narcolepsy diagnosing dogs are smelling...

The Guinea Pig Generation

Obesity risk rises if antibiotics given before age two
More than two thirds of the kids studied were exposed to antibiotics before age two. The increase in obesity risk ranged from two to 20 percent and was seen particularly in children who had been treated with antibiotics four or more times by age two.
Those given broad-spectrum antibiotics, which target a range of bacteria, were also at higher risk of weight problems in childhood.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching!!!

Hypothalamic orexin prevents hepatic insulin resistance via daily bidirectional regulation of autonomic nervous system in mice
Circadian rhythm is crucial for preventing hepatic insulin resistance, although the mechanism remains uncovered. Here we report that wake-active hypothalamic orexin system plays a key role in this regulation. Wild-type mice showed a daily rhythm in blood glucose levels peaked at awake period; however, the glucose rhythm was disappeared in orexin knockout mice despite normal feeding rhythm. Central administration of orexin A during nighttime awake period acutely elevated blood glucose levels but subsequently lowered daytime glucose levels in normal and diabetic db/db mice. The glucose-elevating and -lowering effects of orexin A were suppressed by adrenergic antagonists and hepatic parasympathectomy, respectively. Moreover, the expression levels of hepatic gluconeogenic genes, including Pepck, were increased and decreased by orexin A at nanomolar and femtomolar doses, respectively. These results indicate that orexin can bidirectionally regulate hepatic gluconeogenesis via control of autonomic balance, leading to generation of the daily blood glucose oscillation. Furthermore, during aging, orexin deficiency enhanced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver, and caused impairment of hepatic insulin signaling and abnormal gluconeogenic activity in pyruvate tolerance test. Collectively, the daily glucose rhythm under control of orexin appears to be important for maintaining endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis, thereby preventing insulin resistance in the liver.
Mercy mercy me.  What a day.   That is the most beautiful thing I have seen since late last night.    And published by the ADA no less.
Thanks Japan!  I love you guys!!!!

Cha Ching!

Pneumonia-induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome: an experimental mouse model of gram-positive sepsis.
Streptococcus pneumoniae, a gram-positive bacteria, is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia. It is a common cause of septic shock with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) resulting in significant mortality. Gram-positive mouse models of sepsis with MODS are required to examine mechanisms of immune responses in severe sepsis. To assess whether lung infection due to S. pneumoniae in a nonventilated mouse model can induce multiple organ dysfunction.
...
S. pneumoniae-induced pneumonia resulted in neutrophil infiltration into the lungs and increased lung bacterial load. Although relatively few bacteria gained access to the blood stream, the pneumonia was accompanied by increased intestinal epithelial barrier permeability, increased plasma creatinine, and decreased cardiac output and stroke volume. These data clearly show that intratracheal S. pneumoniae induced not only pneumonia but also MODS, despite the fact that few organisms gain access to the blood stream. This model can be used as a good gram-positive model of sepsis and MODS for further studies.
Now THAT is what I am talking about.
Drops microphone.  Goes to bed.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Pet Zombies

Fun with Science

Meet the animal that refuses to die
A new video from NPR reporters Robert Krulwich and Adam Cole profiles the seemingly immortal Hydra.

Told Ya

BRCA Gene Mutations Linked to Salivary Gland Cancer
The genetic mutations that put people at high risk for breast cancer may also be linked with an increased risk of salivary gland cancer, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzed information from 187 people with breast cancer who had mutations in the BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes — which are linked with a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The researchers also examined several generations of patients' close relatives, some of whom had also been tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
Of the 5,754 people in the study, three had salivary gland cancer, and all three were relatives of the breast cancer patients. The overall rate of salivary gland cancer in the study families was 0.052 percent. This is much higher than the rate of salivary gland cancer in the general population, which is three cases per 100,000 people, or 0.003 percent, the researchers said.       citation
  uh huh.

As I was saying

Why Don't We Treat Teeth Like the Rest of Our Bodies?
Dental care is excluded from most insurance plans for a bizarre and antiquated reason, and millions of people suffer as a result. 

Gotta flag this quote:  "It’s not like antibiotics or insulin."

So backwards it actually makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

Friday, September 26, 2014

"Non Communicable" Diseases

Severe periodontitis: Sixth most prevalent health condition in the world
In 2010, severe periodontitis was the sixth most prevalent condition in the world affecting 743 million people worldwide. Between 1990 and 2010, the global age-standardized prevalence of severe periodontitis was static at 11.2%.

Apparently those numbers have never been calculated before.  Puts them in the top ten.
The most prevalent conditions, as established by the World Health Organization: iron-deficiency anemia, hearing loss, migraine, low vision, asthma, diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis (OA), and unipolar depressive disorders.
Not to put too fine a point on this- but all of those can be caused by chronic periodontal infection.   Which is communicable dammit.

Go Figure

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 'has illness'
An anonymous source - said to be "familiar with North Korea affairs" - quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, said he understood Mr Kim was "suffering from gout, along with hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure".
The agency said some people attribute the deterioration in Mr Kim's health to frequent drinking and overeating.
But its source said gout runs in Mr Kim's family, with his grandfather Kim II-sung, his father Kim Jong-il and his elder brother Kim Jong-nam all suffering from the disease.
I am shocked, shocked to think that man has a sugar metabolism problem.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Why Posttraumatic Stress Could Make Women More Susceptible To Food Addiction
Previous studies have found that people with PTSD are at increased risk for obesity, and the new study provides one explanation for that link: People with PTSD may use eating to cope with psychological distress, the researchers said.
"Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that observed links between PTSD and obesity might be partly explained by a tendency to use food to self-medicate traumatic stress symptoms," the researchers, from the University of Minnesota, wrote in the Sept. 17 issue of the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Ummm. No.  CDNIC.  (correlation does not imply causation.) Neither one of these causes the other.
This is the expected behavior of someone with chronic infectious illness.   Infection causes hyperinsulinemia and an increased stress response.  This manifests as anxiety and weight gain. 

Monday, September 22, 2014

Making an Effort

Things that caught my eye-

New Tracking Technologies Aim to Prevent Sloppy Handling at U.S. Biolabs
Thank you, thank you very much.

Artificial sweeteners linked to abnormal glucose metabolism
Maybe.

Meet the man who refuses to shower for 128 days
The circle of insanity.


A mycotoxin present in many types of food deteriorates neuroregeneration
Researchers at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at CEU-UCH, in cooperation with colleagues of University of Valencia, showed through in vitro as well as in vivo experiments on lab animals the potential negative effect on neuroregeneration caused by Ochratoxine A, a mycotoxine found in many types of food, especially cereals and their derivatives. The study showed that Ochratoxine A deteriorates the formation of new neurons in the brain, a process called neurogenesis that, in particular, takes place in the subventricular zone, which in the adult brain is the largest of the neurogenic zones.

How pneumonia bacteria can compromise heart health
Mice with severe invasive pneumococcal disease showed elevated levels of troponin, a marker for heart injury, in their blood. They also had abnormal EKGs. When the researchers examined the hearts of the mice, they found microscopic sites of injury (called microlesions) in the heart muscle. S. pneumoniae were found within these microlesions, indicating the bacteria were able to invade and multiply within the heart. Looking in more detail, the researchers identified dying heart muscle cells in the tissue surrounding microlesions.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Home Improvement

Sorry I have been slacking off here lately.  Been working on my kitchen.
I don't know why, but I keep ending up with pink houses.   The last one had 1600 sq ft of pink carpet and a pink fireplace- this one has pink countertops.

I don't feel like ripping out this kitchen right now though.   Been there, done that.
After much research into tiling over the counter, I decided I don't like these cabinets enough to put that much time and money into the counter either.
So I did a bunch more research into coating it.  There are some products for that, but I don't like the look they produce.
But I did find this related product for wall tile that I did like...
So I decided to color outside the lines a bit and experimented with that in my coffee zone.

It was pretty simple, didn't make a huge mess, but did take a few days to wait for all the coats to dry and me to obsess on every speck.  But it turned out so great I can hardly stand it.   It's pretty and seems durable.  It makes me so happy to think there's an easy and affordable solution to my pink dilemma.  
I'm posting the pictures immediately without even finishing the rest... (gotta paint those sad cabinets!)
I love a product that does exactly what it says it will.

update:

The Spreadstone product is kind of expensive considering how little you get.  I think that if you're crafty, the same thing can be done on your own for half the price.   After many years of wearing paint on my clothes and skin- I'm pretty sure it's just acrylic paint with something white in it for texture.   It doesn't set up like concrete or plaster though.   After some research, I think it's lightweight joint compound.  It wasn't much thicker than paint though, so there wasn't very much in it.  Had I known, I could have used a bunch of my extra brown and tan paint instead...  If you're curious, do some experiments on a piece of wood or something. 

The technique was one base coat using a smooth fabric roller.
Then two highlight colors very gently applied using a sponge roller.  if you don't like it, you can sand it or sponge over with another color.   I also sponged by hand and used small art brushes to nitpick.

I still have to figure out what that first waterproof bond coat is.   It must be available.   Ooh, here.  Topcoat Sealers are available everywhere.

The key really was the prep.   Making sure everything was taped off, repaired, sanded and clean.










Friday, September 19, 2014

The American Dream

The Stained Glass Sleeper Driverless Car of the Future

Yep, one of those, and one of these... and some drive-thru restaurants...

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Exhibit B

See the progressive pathology. 

Grandmaster Clash
One of the most amazing feats in chess history just happened, and no one noticed.
As the tournament began on Aug. 27, Carlsen was mired in an ongoing faceoff with FIDE, the international governing body of chess. There are a few things you should probably know about FIDE—or the Federation Internationale des Echecs, if you’re feeling continental. FIDE is, by all accounts, comically corrupt, in the vein of other fishy global sporting bodies like FIFA and the IOC. Its Russian president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who has hunkered in office for nearly two decades now, was once abducted by a group of space aliens dressed in yellow costumes who transported him to a faraway star. Though I am relying here on Ilyumzhinov’s personal attestations, I have no reason to doubt him, as this is something about which he has spoken quite extensively. He is of the firm belief that chess was invented by extraterrestrials, and further “insists that there is ‘some kind of code’ in chess, evidence for which he finds in the fact that there are 64 squares on the chessboard and 64 codons in human DNA.”
Long but Good Article by an obviously obsessive observer.

Nobody Could have Predicted

Crest 'microbeads' might cause gum disease
Dentists say it gets trapped under people's gums

Shoppers Ditching Colgate Total Amid Triclosan Fears

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Been There, Done That

It’s All Connected
What links creativity, conspiracy theories, and delusions? A phenomenon called apophenia.
...
In statistics, a problem akin to apophenia is a Type I error, or false positive. It means believing something is real when it isn’t, based on a misleading pattern in the data. The equal and opposite misstep, a Type II error, involves attributing a true relationship to chance.
Oh, something snarky about the delusional idea of voices coming from dental fillings seems appropriate here...

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Yeah

Smoking, schizophrenia linked by alterations in brain nicotine signals
Schizophrenia is associated with increased rates and intensity of tobacco smoking. A growing body of research suggests that the relationship between schizophrenia and smoking stems, in part, from an effort by patients to use nicotine to self-medicate symptoms and cognitive impairment associated with the disease.
 Uh huh.
"This finding adds to evidence that brain nicotine-related signaling might play a role for new medications developed to treat schizophrenia."
Ummm, what about nicotine- since it's so effective?  Like Ecigs?   That is the obvious direction this conversation should have gone.   Oh, that goes against all your "health directives" and is not patentable...  I see...

Monday, September 15, 2014

Offhand Hypothesis

Whatsamatter with people in Arizona?

Dehydration of the nose and mouth.
In the winter it's really dry outside, but in the summer when it's humid, everyone stays inside with their air conditioning on, which really chaps your skin.
All our old white heads are crispy on the inside. No wonder we're cranky.

Christina will have to figure out Florida.  I'm not going there.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Kills the Germs Too

11 Successful Products Originally Invented for Something Else
omigod. number 5...

Breakfast of Champions

Shocking Amounts of Sugar People Eat Around The World
2 min video from Buzzfeed.

Pig Lipstick

FDA approves diet pill made from old medicines
Contrave, for better or worse, is a combination of two drugs that have been around for a long time. One is bupropion, an antidepressant sold as Wellbutrin, that’s also been used to help people stop smoking. The other is naltrexone, a medicine that’s prescribed to help people stay off drugs and alcohol.
Just another excuse for a patent.
Just another way to take your money until you qualify for lapband surgery.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fascinating

Tipping the balance of behavior: Neurons found that control social behavior may have implications for autism
Anderson and his colleagues discovered two intermingled but distinct populations of neurons in the amygdala, a part of the brain that is involved in innate social behaviors. One population promotes social behaviors, such as mating, fighting, or social grooming, while the other population controls repetitive self-grooming -- an asocial behavior.
Interestingly, these two populations are distinguished according to the most fundamental subdivision of neuron subtypes in the brain: the "social neurons" are inhibitory neurons (which release the neurotransmitter GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid), while the "self-grooming neurons" are excitatory neurons (which release the neurotransmitter glutamate, an amino acid).
That is not at all what I would expect... need to think about that some more.

But I am guessing the switch has something to do with immune response.
Healthy animals are social, unhealthy animals are not.

Friday, September 12, 2014

The Circle of Insanity

Man Builds 100 Yards of Catwalks into His House

Thereby Insuring Maximum Spore Dispersal.

Microbial Whak-a-Mole

Intestinal bacteria needed for strong flu vaccine responses in mice
Mice treated with antibiotics to remove most of their intestinal bacteria or raised under sterile conditions have impaired antibody responses to seasonal influenza vaccination, researchers have found.
The findings suggest that antibiotic treatment before or during vaccination may impair responses to certain vaccines in humans. The results may also help to explain why immunity induced by some vaccines varies in different parts of the world.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Bruce needs a Boat

or two or something

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc - (NASDAQ:JAZZ) CEO Bruce C. Cozadd sold 5,000 shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc – stock on the open market in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.32, for a total transaction of $851,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 574,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,767,597.

Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

You can classify words in your sleep
In collaboration with the University of Cambridge, the researchers recorded the EEG of human participants while they were awake and instructed to classify spoken words as either animals or objects by pressing a button, using the right hand for animals and the left hand for objects. The procedure allowed Kouider and his colleagues to compute lateralized response preparations—a neural marker of response selection and preparation—by mapping each word category to a specific plan for movement in the brain. Once that process had become automatic, the researchers placed participants in a darkened room to recline comfortably with eyes closed and continue the word classification task as they drifted off to sleep.
Once the participants were asleep, the testing continued but with an entirely new list of words to ensure that responses would require the extraction of word meaning rather than a simpler pairing between stimulus and response. The researchers' observations of brain activity showed that the participants continued to respond accurately, although more slowly, even as they lay completely motionless and unaware.
I used to do research in my head all night long.   Rolling through my thoughts like a slot machine.
Good thing, otherwise I'd still be doing it.

That's the part that's fractally annoying.  Having to figure all this out while under the insidious mind altering influences...

HeadDeskHeadDeskHeadDesk

PTSD, respiratory illness: A signature long-term problem of 9/11 responders

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Brain Saving Information of the Day

Drugs used for anxiety, sleep are linked to Alzheimer's disease in older people
The benzodiazepines specifically considered by the researchers were the short-acting anti-anxiety medications alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), oxazepam (Seresta) and diazepam (Valium), and the longer-acting anti-seizure and "hypnotic" drugs frequently used to treat insomnia: clonazepam (Klonopin), flurazepam (Dalmane), midazolam (Versed), nitrazepam (Mogadon), temazepam (Restoril) and triazolam (Halcion).

The authors of the study created an index that gauged the intensity of a participant's benzodiazepine use and found that at the end of a five-year period following an initial prescription, Alzheimer's risk mounted steadily. Those who took the cumulative equivalent of daily doses for three to six months over a five-year period were roughly 32% more likely than those who took none to develop Alzheimer's. Those who took the cumulative equivalent of a full daily dose for more than six months were 84% more likely to do so.

They only gave you half the story though.
Here, this took me one minute to find:
Benzodiazepines induce hyperglycemia in rats by affecting peripheral disposal of glucose

Peripheral-type benzodiazepines  inhibit glucose-induced insulin secretion,

These results suggest that a benzodiazepine, in particular clonazepam, may alter insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity after a single administration in healthy volunteers.

Their solution to anxiety:  Induce Diabetes.  Way to Go Psychs!!!!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Zombie Shopping

Cute little dehydrator that works great, truly is silent, and isn't too expensive.
And the trays fit in the dishwasher.

Mmmm, sugar-free beef jerky...

Don't Do This

Camper Sleepwalks off Red River Gorge
"The campers who were with him found him at the bottom of a 60 foot cliff. The individual has a history of sleepwalking. So camping on a cliff ledge, that's probably what led to this incident," May said.

Hot Spots

Correlation Games.

That's Ukraine there on the right of the dark blue.
And Israel and Egypt and Iraq and Syria are all dark blue too...

Monday, September 8, 2014

Intestinal Interference

Just sayin...
Maybe playing in a professional football game two weeks after having a septic appendix removed isn't such a great idea.

Interesting

Many in West Africa May Be Immune to Ebola Virus
Small studies of household contacts of Ebola victims show that some people are infected without ever falling ill — perhaps because of some unknown genetic advantage.
But many Africans who have never seen a victim also have antibodies.
...
One of France’s leading Ebola experts says he believes that many rural villagers are “vaccinated” by eating fruit gnawed on by bats.
Well, that's promising.   Apparently they can harvest those antibodies to treat sick people...
And it sounds like some kind of attenuated virus can be used for vaccination.

Their Vision of Your Future

Plug into the Matrix.

Scientists pioneer two techniques to combat obesity

Prof Steve Bloom and team working on 'intelligent microchip' and treatment combining two hormones to reduce appetite.
He wants to implant a chip in your vagus nerve.   That's what controls your heart.  Can't imagine what might go wrong.
He's got another miracle weight loss drug too.

Or you could eat more protein and less carbs.

Joseph Lister is Weeping

How to Get Sick.  Go to the hospital.


Each Day a Patient Is in the Hospital Raises the Risk of a Drug-Resistant Infection
Medical University of South Carolina researchers evaluated data from 949 cases of Gram-negative infections. They found that the percentage of those types of infections within a few days of hospitalization was about 20 percent, which increased for four or five days. At 10 days, it went up significantly, to more than 35 percent.
Gram-Negative Infections on the Rise
Gram-negative bacteria cause infections including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections, and meningitis in healthcare settings. Gram-negative bacteria are resistant to multiple drugs and to most available antibiotics. These bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways around antibiotics and can pass along genetic materials that allow other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well.
"At the very least, this observation argues against both unnecessary hospitalization and unnecessarily long hospitalization."

This is promising though-
Study shows nationwide declines in central line infections and ventilator pneumonias
"When you use devices such as these in clinical care it makes children more vulnerable to infections. Over the last several years in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units around the country, we began to pay attention to the high rates of hospital-associated infections. Complications from these infections are serious, including death and long-term neurological injury and they are also costly to the health care system. For all of these reasons, hospitals began to develop protocols to reduce hospital-associated infections. For this study, we wanted to see how effective these efforts have been nationally in reducing these infections."
The study concluded that among the hospitals there was substantial decline in some infections during the investigation period. NICUs and PICUs both saw a 61 percent decline in central line-associated bloodstream infections. NICUs also saw a 50 percent reduction in ventilator-assisted pneumonias while PICUs rates dropped by 76 percent. Rates fell among neonates of all birth weights and among children.
"This is a success story of multidisciplinary teams coming together to think, 'how do we make health care safer for America's children?' Our study shows these efforts appear to have been successful in reducing harm and saving millions of dollars for our health care system."
Yes, well if you could reduce your rates that much, you were just being sloppy.  So all of us would like to thank all of you ever so much for finally bothering to make the effort to do your job correctly.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Michael Lorber

Family troubles tied to poorer dental health, study discovers
Family oral health may suffer because "noxious" behaviors such as hitting, kicking, insults and threats create an emotional environment that undermines organized routines such as regular tooth brushing or promotes stress eating, according to the study, published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association.
"There's a pretty good history in the [medical] literature of lousy family environments being associated with bad health, so I guess our findings aren't surprising in that regard," said study author Michael Lorber. He's director of developmental research for the Family Translational Research Group at NYU's College of Dentistry.
"We had a really consistent set of findings that the more your partner is nasty to you, the more lesions are on your teeth," Lorber added.
You sir, you have discovered nothing.  You even discuss the fact that there is a long history of people making the same observation and assumption as you...
Documenting the obvious and repeating existing dogma is not science.
Lorber noted that in addition to disrupting healthy eating and oral health routines, noxious family environments may also impact the immune system, potentially leading to greater tooth decay.
You know what impacts the immune system and causes stress?  Infection.   Like tooth decay.   You are looking directly at the answer and still can't see it.

One of my favorite things

How fun.  High carb authoritarian fantasies.

A previously unpublished chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Vanilla Fudge Room is from an early draft of Roald Dahl's most famous novel. With new illustrations by Quentin Blake

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

My kind of fun

Bloodletting, Bone Brushes, and Tooth Keys: White-Knuckle Adventures in Early Dentistry

Aaahhh, a little leisure reading...
The video is awesome if you have twenty minutes.

For the Geeks

Correlation Games...

Abnormal calcium homeostasis in peripheral neuropathies

Mitochondrial malfunction and Ca2+ dyshomeostasis drive neuronal pathology in diabetes.

Sensory neurons derived from diabetic rats have diminished internal Ca2+ stores linked to impaired re-uptake by the endoplasmic reticulum.

(more in the right side "related articles"  links)

Will someone please figure out if Strep pneumonia, which pumps calcium out of cells, could cause this??   I don't want to...

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Passive Aggressive Public Service Announcement #3

Since y'all seem to be paying attention now... New and Improved advice on Dental Care.


I have been recommending this book for the last couple years... and I have found the information in it to be enlightening (my dentists never told me any of it).  I still recommend it for the overall education- but I have found some of her techniques may not be suitable to our specific needs.

After a couple years of experimentation, here are the things I have found that worked the best:   (I am not a dentist and you should consider this advice accordingly)

First order of business-
No sugar.  No acid.  No fruit juice.  No soda.  All you apple cider vinegar freaks need to cut that out too.   Carbs and acid is what the bacteria want you to eat.

Also crucial -  Vitamin D3
Between 2000 and 5000 IU per day.
Your infections and your bones won't heal properly without it.

Then you really want to lower the inflammation when you clean your teeth.  You will be able to remove more debris and cause less damage.  I take two ibuprophen and wait before brushing.

Toothpaste is probably the cause of your dental problems.  It was invented by beauty product companies, not dentists.   It's about convenience, not efficacy.
You definitely do not want to put ground up rocks and industrial cleaning solvents masked with sweetener and menthol in your mouth and scrub your most sensitive tissues with it.
The reason you hate brushing your teeth is because it hurts.   It doesn't hurt acutely or on the surface because mint is an anesthetic and it masks those symptoms..  But it is abrasive and causes inflammation and dryness.    You just get headaches instead.

Their core assumption is flawed.  Your GUMS are the place where the plaque comes from, not your teeth.   The goal is not a "clean mouth".   You don't want to scrub mercilessly and kill all the germs.  That's actually not really possible, but it's not even desirable.  It's a matter of controlling the balance.  You want your mouth to HEAL.

Use Baking Soda instead of toothpaste.  It neutralizes acid and keeps strep bacteria from metabolizing sugar.   Is also gently abrasive, so removes stains.   Is also antifungal, unlike other antibacterial products that may promote fungus.  Doesn't taste great, but you won't mind because your mouth actually feels better afterwards.

Use a soft toothbrush.  Scrubbing your teeth vigorously with a hard brush is truly terrible for your gums.  If you use the proper techniques, you won't have stuff on your teeth that needs to be scraped off.   Since we have sensation and drainage problems, you must remember to brush your cheeks and gums and tongue area too.
These are the best.  Feel so good.  Totally worth the bother of ordering online.
Behind your molars is crucial.   You need this brush for that.  The small head makes all the difference.

Use warm water and swish thoroughly afterwards.  At least twice, the debris in your cheeks needs removing too.  
And some kind of oil to lubricate your gums  and cheeks and lips afterwards.  Coconut, olive, butter.

Wooden picks to remove particles stuck between teeth.    After that, chew and soften the end a little and clean out the gum pockets and rub the plaque off.  Organic molecules in wood are antibacterial and help fight germs.
Also very nice for plaque removal- cotton swabs on the tooth surfaces .
You can also use cotton shirt fabric over your finger to get awkward places.  
I do not use floss.  I believe it cuts the gums and perpetuates periodontitis.
Remember- Puncture wounds are not the goal.
If you use a water pick- it must be on low with warm salt water.   No cold sharp streams cutting your gums please.

Rinses are the key to keeping your mouth healthy.  Rinse early and often.
  • Nothing with alcohol.  No Listerine, no Scope, none of that stuff.
  • Nothing with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Triclosan.
  • Hydrogen peroxide-  big no-no.  Dries out the tissues. 
These are good-
  • White Tea-  is antibacterial and raises pH.   The best stuff for bad teeth and sore throats.  We should drink it after meals but I am a coffee addict and usually don't.  Coffee is somewhat antigingival, though.
  • Salt water.   If you have a goopy mouth, salt water is the best thing to rinse it with.   It breaks up the biofilm.   You can also use a little baking soda and water too.   Raises the pH of your mouth, and shuts down the bacteria.
  • The book recommends Xylitol rinse.  It is very effective for bacterial control but it seems many of us are sensitive to sugar alcohols too and cannot tolerate it even in small quantities.  If your head gets worse, stop using it.
  • Fluoride- If you have cavities or your tooth enamel is damaged you will probably need some of this.  Don't overdo it though.   Too much fluoride will mess up your calcium metabolism.  You also want to do this when your teeth are clean.
  • Antibacterial rinse-  on the shelves as "anticavity" or "antigingivitis" rinse.   These contain an antibacterial ingredient which helps at first, but I think over time it just creates resistant strains.   
  • Olive or coconut oil.   Oleic acid is antimicrobial.

I started off with the commercial rinses and metal scrapers, and had some professional work done in the beginning when my teeth were really bad.  Got some bad crowns fixed.  It's taken years, but things have gotten to the point where I just need to brush with baking soda once a day and use the wet brush otherwise.  And tea and toothpicks.

for the record, I would like a different book to recommend if anyone has a suggestion...

Update-   after ten years, I have finally found a toothpaste I can recommend:
Cleure Natural Baking Soda Toothpaste

I like the flavorless, and am thrilled to have found it.   It tastes and works better than actual baking soda.   Fine grained so it removes stains better.   Totally worth the price.

By the way

If you're cranky, your eyebrows are pinched and your lips are always chapped...

You have a mouth infection.

Monday, September 1, 2014

See the Apocalypse

Perfect Sense (IMDB)
A chef and a scientist fall in love as a mysterious epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
Starting with Sudden Olfactory Syndrome...  which makes you cry...  uh huh.

I liked the movie, it had a lot of clever food and insanity references, but if you are feeling oversensitive, this might not be the time to watch it.   It's zombies.  It's dystopian.  It doesn't have a happy ending.  Wait til you feel better.