Tooth Paste Types and their Main Purposes

The humble toothpaste makes its way into all our grocery lists. But how many of us are truly informed about this hygiene essential, is a different story altogether. The earliest toothpastes originated in India, Egypt and China. They were made of flower petals, salt and water mixed into a thick paste and rubbed onto teeth using twigs of medicinal plants. 

Modern day toothpastes have a base of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide along with various other additives which cater to a variety of dental requirements.

Types Of Toothpastes:

Just the number of options you have when you buy a tube of toothpaste can be overwhelming. Should you go for tartar control or fluoride or both? Not to mention whitening toothpastes or formulas with all natural ingredients. When it comes to choosing the best toothpaste for you, it’s important to think about your unique oral health needs.

• Fluoride Toothpaste

Bacteria in your mouth feed on sugars and starch that remain on your teeth after eating. Fluoride helps protect your teeth from the acid that is released when this happens. It works in two ways. First, fluoride makes your tooth enamel stronger and therefore it is less likely to suffer acid damage. Second, it can reverse the early stages of acid damage by re-mineralising areas that have started to deca.

• Toothpaste For Sensitive Teeth

For people who have teeth that are easily irritated - for instance, by hot or cold temperatures - there are toothpastes that are specially formulated for sensitive teeth. These toothpastes usually contain potassium nitrate or strontium chloride. These chemical compounds, which can take up to four weeks to offer relief, reduce tooth sensitivity by blocking pathways through the teeth that attach to nerves.

• Whitening Toothpaste

To help people on a quest for pearly whites, many whitening toothpastes are now being marketed for everyday use. Whitening toothpastes do not typically contain bleaches. Instead, they contain abrasive particles or chemicals that effectively polish the teeth or bind to stains and help pull them off the tooth surface. Although you might be concerned that the abrasiveness of whitening toothpastes could damage your teeth, studies suggest that whitening toothpastes are no harder on tooth enamel than other types of toothpastes.

Read our site ApolloLife to know how to Choose The Best Toothpaste?

Underarm Sweating can be Treatable

Excessive sweating of the underarms is called axillary hyperhidrosis. Although neurologic, metabolic and other systemic diseases can sometimes cause excessive sweating, most cases occur in people who are otherwise healthy(primary hyperhidrosis).

Heat and emotions may trigger hyperhidrosis in some, but many who suffer from hyperhidrosis sweat nearly all the time, regardless of their mood or the weather.

Treatment :

Over-the-counter antiperspirants:
Home remedies like these are usually tried first because they are readily available. Antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride (for example: by Dove or Oriflame) may be more effective when other antiperspirants have failed. So-called "natural"antiperspirants are often not very helpful.

Prescription-strength antiperspirants:
These are the ones containing aluminum chloride hexahydrate.

Iontophoresis:
A device that passes direct electricity through the skin using tap water – difficult to use.

Oral medications:
From the group of medications known as anticholinergics, which reduce sweating – have uncomfortable adverse effects.

Botox (botulinum toxin):
Has been approved in the U.S. by the FDA for treating excessive axillary (underarm) sweating.

Surgery:
Cervical sympathectomy (ETS), as a last resort.

Check out ApolloLife website to know what is the Role of Botox in order to treat excessive sweating.

Explore various options for Childcare

The outlook for a child with a hole in the heart is very good, irrespective of whether it is remedied by surgical intervention or non-surgical intervention. Explore the options for the child in your care.

 The commonest of the birth defects observed in infants and newborns are largely related to the heart. The incidence of congenital pediatric cardiac abnormality is almost one in every 100 pregnancies. The diagnosis may be made during pregnancy or sometimes after the birth of the baby. The diagnosis of heart defects in a newborn or pediatric cardiac abnormality or pediatric cardiac ailment usually involves a pediatrician hearing a heart murmur. A heart murmur happens to be an abnormal heart sound. A cardiologist comes into the picture for confirmation – he will perform an echocardiogram to confirm whether the heart murmur is from an abnormality or whether it is just an innocent murmur. An abnormality noted thus is often a condition of the heart, which on occasions also warrants surgical intervention.


Cardiac defects in newborns and infants are mainly of two types -
One of them is the case where the newborn or the baby turns blue and the case where the baby does not turn blue. Almost all conditions in which the baby turns blue require surgical intervention. The other may be treated by balloon angioplasty or device closure. Both these methods are nonsurgical. The more common defect is a ‘hole in the heart’.

Pure And Impure Run Ins

The case presenting as a ‘hole in the heart’ may be a ventricular defect or an atrial defect. The isolated hole is found between the chambers carrying red and blue blood (pure or oxygenated blood and impure or deoxygenated blood respectively). The condition arising from an isolated hole in the heart should not be confused with conditions where a hole is present in association with many other abnormalities of the heart. The outlook for a child with a hole in the heart is very good, irrespective of whether it is remedied by surgical intervention or non-surgical intervention; non-surgical remedy is generally done through stenting or angioplasty as in adults.

A hole in the heart results in extra blood flow to the lungs. The affected child is susceptible to chest infections and has difficulty in gaining weight; the child’s parents and guardians will encounter problems when feeding the child.

ApolloLife guide you to know further on the heart care condition in kids.

Things to know about Asthma

No one really knows what causes asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in the lungs. The consensus is that a mix of hereditary and environmental factors cause it, but the scientific community is still to crack the ‘how exactly’.

 What every asthma patient knows too well though, is that it causes recurring attacks of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing.

Tightening Airways:

Asthma makes the airways become extra-sensitive, when the inflammation lasts a while. Various triggers like allergens, viruses, dust, smoke, stress, etc. can then cause faster and impacting damage, by:

• Swelling up the airways, making them narrower, limiting the airflow.
• Tightening the muscles that surround the airways, making them even narrower
• Producing too much mucus, which blocks the airways
• Making the airways extra-sensitive to irritants

Sitting Ducks:

• Blame it on the genes, but you are more likely to get asthma if it’s been already running in your family.
• Children with eczema or food allergy are more likely than other children to develop asthma.
• If you have an existing allergy to pollen, house dust mites or pets, your chances for developing this illness go up.
• Exposure to tobacco smoke, air pollution or other inhaled irritants can also cause asthma symptoms.

 Browse Apollo Life to know more details on Asthma and its treatment.

Facts about Endometriosis

As the lining of the uterus is also in the intestines and stomach region they have other problems like constipation, flatulence and painful bowel movements? Hence how can it to cured? 

Yes if the disease is sometimes spread to other organs surgical treatment can cure, but many times these women require some kind of medication lifelong.

Feeling of bloating or altered bowel habits is one of the nonspecific symptoms often ignored by women. In fact the gold standard method of diagnosis of endometriosis is laparoscopy. 

It is also one of the reasons for three types of ovarian cancer, which are they and how many such cases are found in India? 

Yes studies have shown that women who have endometriosis can have 2-3 times higher chances of developing certain types of ovarian cancer namely endometroid or clear cell ovarian carcinoma. 

At which stage does the cancer develop in these women? 

This is s a difficult to answer this question. We do not know if all women with endometriosis will develop cancer and if so when. It is important for women with endometriosis to be in follow up of a doctor and take appropriate treatment as and when required.

Author: Dr.Rooma Sinha

Details about Endometriosis

Is it a hereditary problem? Does it run in the family? 

Endometriosis is sometimes believed to be hereditary, being present in some members of the same family. It is quite common in Asian women including Indian women.  However most women whom we treat do not have any family members suffering from the same disease. There are some environmental factors also that may contribute to its development.

How do women deal with this problem? Is medication lifelong or it can be treated within a short time? 

Dealing with endometriosis is a life long process. What kind of treatment advised depends on what they present with and what is their age of presentation. If it is a young women and pain is the main problem then medical therapy is the first line of treatment to give pain relief as well as to reduce the progress of the disease. If infertility is the presentation then surgical treatment by Laparoscopy or Robotic assisted surgery can improve pregnancy results in first and second stage disease. After laparoscopic treatment there can be almost 30% increase in pregnancy rates. However if the disease is advanced then procedures like IVF is advised to women with endometriosis. If women has already completed her family then removal of uterus and often both ovaries remains the treatment of choice.