Diabetes and Bad Breath

There is a commonly held association between diabetes and bad breath; however, the breath odor directly caused by diabetes is not the same as halitosis in the usual sense. Diabetics experience an unusual odor, often described as a sweet or fruity odor, on the breath when they are suffering from ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a severe life threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention.

In an undiagnosed diabetic child bad breath caused by ketoacidosis may be the first sign of serious disease. Ketoacidosis is most often seen in Type I diabetics, individuals whose pancreas does not produce enough insulin to allow their cells to take in glucose for metabolism (also the most common form of childhood diabetes). When cells need energy but cannot get it because of lack of insulin, the body attempts to rectify the situation by breaking down fat instead. The metabolism of fat produces acidic ketones, which build up in the bloodstream making it more and more acidic. The body tries to get rid of some of the ketones by expelling them in the urine and in the breath. This is what gives rise to the association between diabetes and bad breath.

When ketoacidosis is the cause of either adult or child bad breath, the breath odor problem is insignificant compared to the danger posed by the building acidity in the blood. Other symptoms of ketoacidosis include thirst and frequent urination, fatigue, nausea, aching muscles, sleepiness, coma, and rapid breathing. If you have, or suspect you have, diabetes and bad breath is associated with any of these symptoms, seek medical attention urgently.

It's possible, of course that one might have diabetes and bad breath that is not caused by ketoacidosis but arises from some other underlying problem. If ketoacidosis can be ruled out, treat the problem as would any healthy person: consider whether there is any acute or chronic infection that might be causing the trouble. Are you feeling well? Sinusitis, gum disease, throat infection, deep abscesses and malignancies can all cause both adult and child bad breath.

If there is no obvious underlying health problem that needs to be addressed, many of the products on the market today for treating chronic and uncomplicated halitosis are safe and appropriate for those with diabetes and bad breath. Consult your doctor before using anything that might affect your blood sugar levels and, of course, when treating a case of uncomplicated child bad breath, make doubly sure that a chosen breath product is safe for them.

Bad Breath Product

A trip to a community pharmacy or a quick Google of the internet will quickly reveal the truth: there are myriad types of bad breath product on the market today and they all claim to be the answer to halitosis. A savvy consumer has to spend some time and do a little research to find out what, if anything, is really likely to help. Fortunately, there is more information, and more professional help available than ever before.

First, understanding where the bad smell is coming from will help to understand how to treat bad breath. To put it simply, most cases of stubborn halitosis are caused by volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) produced by bacteria living primarily on the back of the tongue. These bacteria are anaerobes, that is, they live where there is no oxygen. As a by product of their metabolic processes, they release VSC into the air and you exhale them in your breath. It's likely that everybody has some of these bacteria living in their mouth, but some people obviously have more than others. An effective bad breath product will get rid of large numbers of these VSC-producing bacteria somehow.

This is not really news: we realized that bacteria have something to do with halitosis a long time ago, and mouthwashes formulated to treat bad breath have long contained antibacterial substances. The trouble is that even when the antibacterial ingredient is effective, it doesn't always reach the bacteria - it only kills some of them, and they multiply quickly enough that bacterial populations in the mouth return to high levels very quickly. The fact that halitosis tends to be chronic has inspired new types of bad breath product, and caused people to dig into the causes of bad breath even more deeply - why do some people have so many VSC-producing anaerobes in the first place?

There are probably a number of different situations that lead to proliferation of anaerobes in the mouth. Poor oral hygiene is the most obvious but this probably not as common as most of us believe. Some underlying health problems can be to blame, as can gum disease, post nasal drip and sinus problems. For some people, however, the underlying cause remains elusive. In many cases, diet and lifestyle may be the answer.

There's still a lot we don't know, but the good news is that today there is more research investigating how to best treat bad breath. There is also a greater variety of bad breath product backed by research and experience that can be used to treat a persistent case of halitosis.
Read the information provided with any potential bad breath product to see whether its activity is aimed at reducing the numbers of bacteria that cause bad breath. Choose a product whose approach makes sense to you and use as directed. If you're not happy with the results, try something different. And see if you can identify the root cause of your halitosis. If you can get rid of those anaerobes permanently, you won't have to continually treat bad breath.

Bad Breath Treatment

If you've ever sought bad breath treatment, you know that there are more than a few products and services to choose from. People who suffer from bad breath have tried everything from herbal home remedies to breath mints to professional services from people who specialize in treating halitosis. Although it's natural for people to try different things, the reason there are still so many options to choose from is probably that no one has found a solution that consistently works. We may be closer, however, than we've ever been before.

The perfect bad breath remedy will not just hide the problem temporarily behind a stronger odor - it will work to reduce or eliminate the bad odor itself, focusing on the source of the odor and removing it. This means that bad breath treatment should be antibacterial in some way - it should reduce the numbers of odor causing bacteria in the mouth and continue to keep those numbers down so that halitosis is undetectable. In the ideal scenario, the oral bacteria of the mouth would be altered so that the anaerobes, the bacteria that produce the bad smell, never get the upper hand again.

A number of producers of commercial products are taking exactly this approach to creating a bad breath remedy, and they are tackling the problem in novel ways that suggest some real breakthroughs may have been achieved. While more conventional approaches added antibacterial chemicals to mouthwashes, attacking the bacteria more or less directly, the Two-phase method uses the knowledge that oral bacteria stick to oil droplets to produce a mouthwash that literally sweeps up the bacteria and carries them away. TheraBreath bad breath treatment introduces oxygen to the typically airless areas of the oral cavity where anaerobic, odor producing bacteria thrive (anaerobes prefer to live in the absence of oxygen and many of them actually die if they are exposed to oxygen).

If a bad breath remedy could change the composition of the bacterial population in the mouth so that odor production was more or less permanently stopped, that would be a cure for bad breath. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen until we have a better understanding of why the anaerobes take over in the first place.

Research is beginning to show that diet can be an important factor, as can underlying disease. Before a bad breath treatment can become a cure, we have to understand what leads to the problem in the first place. In the meantime, however, some of these products show great promise in that they may eliminate bad breath continuously as long as you continue to use them.

Bad Breath Cure

For as long as we’ve been aware that physical problems can often be solved, people have been looking for a bad breath cure. Virtually no one goes through life without experiencing, from time to time, an unpleasant taste in the mouth or an objectionable odor on the breath. We turn to chewing gum, breath mints, mouthwashes, toothpaste, dental floss and sometimes even medical professionals who hopefully know more about the problem than we do.

The first line of defense was the home remedy for bad breath. One could chew mint leaves or fresh parsley. Other herbs that have been recommended include cardamom, eucalyptus and cilantro. Unfortunately, these herbal remedies only mask the odor temporarily and can’t prevent it from recurring. In an effort to get at the root of the problem, enterprising sufferers have come up with chemical home remedies like hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, baking soda mixed with hydrogen peroxide, and fresh lemon juice. All of these methods have some supporters, but again, they don’t provide a permanent bad breath cure.

History tells us that the source of the odor was discovered in 1964, by Dr. J. Tonzetich. Understanding that what we smell is actually chemical sulfur compounds produced by bacteria living in the mouth provides the information we need to find a bad breath cure. It has still been a long time coming, possibly because even the medical community has tended to consider bad breath as a personal rather than a medical problem, more appropriately tackled with a home remedy for bad breath.

Fortunately, the attitude is changing and professionals are devoting research to identifying and eliminating the bacteria that cause the problem. Commercial products that target these bacteria and decrease the numbers living in the mouth promise to be the closest thing to a bad breath cure that we have ever seen. While many of these contain antibacterial agents, some use a more natural approach that is probably preferable for overall health. When considering the purchase of a breath product, read the product literature to determine what approach it uses to reduce oral bacteria.

Ironically, in a modern return of the home remedy for bad breath, we are now realizing that good nutrition plays a vital role in many aspects of health – a healthy body with a healthy mouth will likely never require a bad breath cure. A well balanced diet including a multivitamin and mineral supplement, combined with a healthy active lifestyle may be all you need to rid yourself of bad breath forever. A radical change in lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight however – in the meantime, make use of the excellent commercial products available to keep breath odor under control.

Zinc And Bad Breath

What is the connection between zinc and bad breath? You may have noticed that many mouthwashes and other halitosis remedies on the market contain zinc, even some of the oldest brand names, indicating that we have known for a long time that zinc can help in persistent cases of bad breath. It's true that zinc is an essential trace element known for its role in growth, immunity and healing. It has been incorporated into dietary supplements and skin lotions for many years.

Researchers and those who suffer from halitosis have found that a zinc mouthwash can help a lot. The specific link between zinc and bad breath seems to lie in the element's ability to prevent the production of foul smelling compounds that give halitosis its extremely offensive odor - the odor is actually produced by anaerobic bacteria in the mouth (anaerobes are bacteria that live in the absence of oxygen). If you have ever come across organic material that has been decomposing in an airless environment, such as a plastic bag or a very wet heap of rotting vegetation, you know how foul it can smell. What you smell are volatile sulfur compounds - gases produced by the bacteria that are proliferating in the decaying material. Zinc appears to block the production of these gases in anaerobic bacteria, greatly reducing the objectionable odor of halitosis.

Though most people with halitosis probably do not have an actual dietary deficiency of zinc, this is a possibility. Bad breath has been identified as a symptom of zinc deficiency, suggesting that dietary levels of zinc and bad breath, particularly chronic bad breath, may be closely related. Ensuring that you get adequate levels of zinc in the diet might be as effective as using zinc mouthwash if deficiency is a problem. To increase dietary levels of zinc, eat seafood, red meat, dark meat from chicken, kidney beans, lentils, and nuts such as almonds and cashews. You can also take a dietary supplement.

Because you merely rinse the mouth with zinc mouthwash, this will not raise your body's level of zinc. You will need to actually eat foods rich in zinc or take a supplement in order to correct zinc deficiency. It's also useful to know that certain other foods interfere with the absorption of zinc in foods. Notably, these include dairy products and foods high in fiber. Certain medical conditions and drugs also interfere with absorption. If you have any medical conditions or are on any prescription drugs, or if you suspect a link between zinc and bad breath in your particular case, see you doctor to discuss options for correcting the problem.