Mouth is a window to the body’s health

While the eyes may be the window to the soul, the mouth is a window to the body’s health. The state of one’s oral health can offer lots of clues about a person’s overall physical state of being; indexed, oral health and overall health are more connected than you might realize. Sometimes, the first sign of a disease shows up in the mouth. In other cases, oral infections, such as gum disease, can cause problems in other parts of the body.

Most people are aware that lifestyle choices, such as eating right, getting enough exercise and quitting smoking, can help prevent cardiovascular disease, but they may not know that by just brushing and flossing their teeth each day, they might also be avoiding this potentially lethal condition.

Researchers have found that people with periodontal disease (gum disease) are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without periodontal problems. One theory is that oral bacteria can affect the heart when they enter the bloodstream, attaching to fatty plaques in the coronary arteries (heart blood vessels) and contributing to clot formation. Read more

Dental Health- Whitening The Teeth With Natural Teeth Whiteners

In the last few years, teeth whitening has become extremely popular and most dental offices as well as cosmetic dentists are offering professional whitening services starting at a couple hundred dollars. If you prefer popular at-home treatments in strips, pens or gel trays, they are slightly cheaper than professional applications and most are under $100, but they can strip your teeth by using harsh chemicals and add to the sensitivity of both teeth and gums. Natural remedies have been around for years and most are better for your teeth and your checkbook.

Found in most cupboards, the most popular home remedy for tooth health is baking soda. I remember brushing with baking soda as a kid but I didn’t understand the benefits. I just knew that I didn’t like the gritty, bitter feel of the white paste when I was so used to the delicious three-color mint of my favorite Aquafresh. Baking soda is good for taking plaque off the teeth and making them shine however, the fridge-friendly freshener can be abrasive and can hurt the enamel with use over time.

Strawberries have been in the media lately, appearing on the Tyra Banks Show this season, the suggestion that rubbing a fresh cut strawberry across your teeth whitens them instantly. While this quick remedy has some truth, the malic acid in strawberries turns into an astringent that removes surface stains from your teeth. Read more

Security in Windows 7, User Account Control (UAC) and You

Some people just love Vista; others hate it with a passion. Most of the haters fall into two main groups. The first group upgraded to Vista from XP, possibly without running the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor to make sure their hardware and software would be compatible. They spent hours trying to get printers to print, accounts receivable programs to account, fax modems to fax, and so on, and they heartily blame Vista for their woes. Many of those in the second group think Vista is the cat’s pajamas…except for those blasted User Account Control pop-ups.

The Problem

Vista was designed to be significantly more secure than XP, and UAC is a cornerstone of its security scheme. The point of UAC is to make sure no system-level changes occur without your knowledge and without an Administrator’s permission. Even if you’re an Administrator user, all of your day-to-day activity happens at the low-privilege Standard level. Before a nasty virus (or a useful application) can do something scary, like write to the Windows folder, it has to get permission.

UAC popups in Vista can be especially shocking because of what’s called “secure desktop mode.” The screen blanks out briefly, then everything except the UAC pop-up goes dim. Vista’s UAC holds all your other interactions hostage until you respond to the pop-up. The purpose of this measure is to prevent sneaky programs from spoofing or manipulating the UAC prompt, but it’s jarring and unpleasant. Read more

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 Won’t Ship Until 2009

It doesn’t look like Microsoft will make its goal of releasing Internet Explorer 8 by the end of this year.

Microsoft will release one more public beta of the browser software in the first quarter of 2009, according to a blog posting Wednesday by Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer general manager at Microsoft. That “release candidate” will be followed by the final release, Hachamovitch said.

Microsoft first demonstrated the new release of Internet Explorer 8 at the vendor’s Mix conference in March, followed quickly by the product’s first beta. That was followed by the second beta in August and that’s the version the Microsoft community has been testing. The final release of the software was widely expected by the end of 2008.

Hachamovitch’s blog didn’t offer any specifics about the reason for the delay, other than to emphasize that Microsoft is being extra judicious in giving beta testers time to try out the software and incorporating their feedback into the product. Hachamovitch said Microsoft “received a lot of feedback about how we transitioned from the IE7 beta releases to the IE7 final release, and as a result we want to be clear about the plan for IE8.” Read more

Two Solutions for Childhood Obesity

The School Health Action, Planning and Evaluation System (SHAPES) collaborated with the Bluewater District School Board, Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board, Grey Bruce Health Unit and the Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation at the University of Waterloo have been research project of students.

Research show improving the health of children in Grey-Bruce requires immediate action. The findings illustrate that although children understand the importance of eating well and being active, this is not reflected in their behaviour. The issue requires two solutions in the combination of healthy eating and physical activity to create a culture of wellness.

According to Dr. Steve Manske, lead investigator for the research project, of the 2,255 students surveyed in Grades 5-12 the results indicate:

-Only 25 per cent of students typically consume sufficient fruits and vegetables.

-40 per cent of students reported eating “junk foods” four or more times per day.

-Less than 50 per cent of children are having breakfast each morning before school. Read more

Childhood Obesity, Problem at Both The Governmental and Parental Levels

Obese children and teenagers with arteries like those of middle-aged adults ought to be a wake-up call for anyone interested in public health.

The disturbing findings were documented in a study presented this week at an American Heart Association conference in New Orleans. The findings suggest that obese children have a significant risk of heart disease as they grow older.

It’s heartening that presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain made prevention a plank in their health care reform platforms.

Consensus is a good start. Any overhaul of the nation’s health care system should address prevention in a meaningful and systemic way.

It is imperative that this country deal with physical inactivity and childhood obesity both at the parental and, yes, governmental levels. Read more

Childhood Obesity in Talk Show Host Larry King

To overcome the health crisis in childhood obesity in the United States, we need to change the culture symbolized by drive-through, supersized value meals, agreed panelists at the Nov. 14 Southern California Health Leadership Panel.

Speaking at the Aresty Conference Center on the USC Health Sciences campus, health policy leaders joined CNN talk show host Larry King in discussing the causes, consequences and possible solutions to childhood obesity.

The cause of increasing obesity over the last 20 years, panelists said, is the change in lifestyle – a decrease in exercise and an increase in consumption.

“If your parents both work and you don’t have dinner at home cooked by your mom or your dad, you tend to go out to fast-food places,” said Bill Van Antwerp, distinguished scientist in the Science and Technology Organization at Medtronic. “Kids who are at home alone don’t go out and play any more. Read more

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