Teach your children to chew!
It’s during the first years of life that our jaws really develop…. by being stretched and gradually moulded. And our dietary habits play a crucial role in the way our jaws are formed. So if you want to avoid your children having orthodontic treatment later in life and having to wear a brace, get them into good eating habits. Begin early – starting with breastfeeding!
Sucking offers a bit of a challenge and when combined with the natural firmness of the breast it encourages the development of infants’ lower jaws. Then, little by little, teach your child to chew. As soon as the milk molars appear – between 12 and 18 months – give your child soft food mashed with a fork, softly cooked meat cut into small pieces rather than minced, and stewed fruit…
By the age of 3 children are able to chew solids. They can then eat the same things as adults, in appropriate amounts. Don’t feed your child on a diet of beef burgers and chips, which require hardly any effort to chew. Instead give them steak cut into pieces and sautéed potatoes. Likewise, at teatime some crusty bread and chocolate are preferable to soft pastries which can be swallowed without chewing. It’s really not complicated at all and it will give your children every chance of developing jaws that are capable of accommodating all their teeth.
Is maternal stress in pregnancy a “social allergen” for babies?
Ladies, try to avoid stress, especially during pregnancy. It seems that stress can interfere with the healthy development of the unborn baby’s immune system and therefore place the child at greater risk of developing asthma. This is the theory put forward by American researchers who assessed the stress levels of 400 pregnant women, along with their exposure to house mites. At birth they measured the IgE level in the blood in the umbilical cord. This is a strong predictive marker for asthma and rhinitis in newborn babies, with high levels generally signifying increased sensitivity of the airways to allergens.
The highest IgE levels were found in the umbilical cord of women who had suffered severe stress during their pregnancy. An additional argument is that these young mothers had never suffered much exposure to house mites. For the researchers, the conclusion is clear: maternal stress potentialises the genetic and environmental factors involved in the development of childhood asthma. A theory which nevertheless requires confirmation.
It is also worth remembering that a Canadian study published at the start of the year already points the finger at a cause-and-effect relationship between maternal stress and infant stress. But at the time the focus was on post-natal stress.
Sudden infant death syndrome – two bacteria identified
We’ve all heard of Staphyloccus aureus (or golden staph) and the bacterium Escherichia coli – and now it seems that they could well be involved in incidents of sudden infant death syndrome. As indeed is smoking during pregnancy. Dr Neil of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London examined 507 autopsy reports on babies aged between 7 days and 1 year who died suddenly and unexpectedly.
High levels of both these bacteria were found during the autopsies carried out on these young victims which means that both bacteria could therefore be associated with sudden infant death syndrome. However, additional research is essential to identify a possible underlying mechanism.
For their part, Dr Shabih Hasan and his team in Calgary, Canada, have highlighted the consequences of mothers smoking during pregnancy. Prenatal exposure can lead to episodes of hypoxia and hyperthermia which are likely to expose the baby to a high risk of death. But this finding also requires further confirmation.
Gum disease could be linked to certain types of cancer
According to an American study, patients suffering from periodontal (gum) disease are at greater risk of developing certain forms of cancer. Already known to encourage the development of cardiovascular disease, gum disorders must not be taken lightly. They require urgent dental attention.
Periodontal disease causes inflammation of the gums and, in the long term, destroys the underlying bone that supports the teeth. Researchers discovered that in patients suffering from this type of condition, chewing releases abnormal amounts of inflammatory precursors into the blood stream. And these appear to cause tumours.
Their study involved more than 48,000 men who were monitored over 18 years, 5,700 of them developing cancer. After adjusting for recognised risk factors such as smoking and diet, the team at Imperial College in London concluded that patients suffering from periodontal disease had, on average, a 14% higher risk of cancer than those free from gum disease.
To be more precise, there was a 54% increased risk of pancreatic cancer, 49% for kidney cancer and 36% for lung cancer. So this is an opportune moment to remind ourselves that our gums need meticulous care. It is essential to give gums and teeth a good brush three times a day, to use dental floss and even a dental water jet.
Pneumothorax – not just an empty bubble…
When air spills into the pleural cavity – which divides the pleura from the lung – this is known as a pneumothorax. But what exactly does this mean? A pneumothorax can be pathological in origin but can also be deliberately produced. For example, this technique was used to treat certain forms of pulmonary tuberculosis. Before the advent of antibiotics, doctors would inject air or nitrogen into the pleural cavity. This was a real shock treatment! The lung was compressed by the pressure of the air and diminished in size to the point where it became completely immobilised. This promoted the healing of tubercular lesions. But the patient – now with just one lung – was forced to live life at a much slower pace.
Today, cases of pneumothorax are strictly pathological. On chest x-rays the presence of air shows up as what specialists call an “avascular hyper-translucency”, ie a “white mark” containing no blood vessels. A pneumothorax can be the result of a trauma, a wound to the thorax, for example. It can also occur spontaneously in lung disease. Or it can arise without any precursory signs.
In this case, the air often comes from the neighbouring lung and is most often a bubble about 1 to 2 centimetres in diameter which has somehow strayed. It is treated by aspirating the air from the cavity.
Pneumothorax presents with a variety of symptoms such as difficulty breathing, intense pains in the thorax, tachycardia and coughing without expectoration… The outcome is usually positive, particularly when the patient is young. However, there is always a significant risk of it reoccurring.
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