4 Most Common Health Problems And How To Deal With Them

Got a health problem you don’t want to talk about? Here’s help

- Lina Zeldovich

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.