Retail therapies
Q
MARATHON MAN: Are statins always essential for raised cholesterol?
has suggested the bacteria that infect the gums and cause the inflammation can also travel to blood vessels elsewhere in the body, where they again cause inflammation which damages blood vessel linings.
This can theoretically lead to narrowing, increasing the risk of tiny clots blocking it, which could lead to a heart attack or stroke.This theory is supported by the fact that remnants of bacteria in the mouth have been found in fatty deposits in narrowed blood vessels.
Some experts have also suggested the body’s immune response to the inflammation in the gums sets off a cascade of inflammation elsewhere in the body.Your bleeding gums are not a sign you have heart disease, rather that you might be more at risk.
To look after your teeth, and your overall health, you need an overhaul of your teeth-cleaning regime.
I suggest you start with a check-up and deep clean to remove calcified deposits between teeth that harbour bacteria and are difficult to remove yourself. Then get in the habit of cleaning your teeth with a brush twice a day and using interdental brushes to clean the very important surfaces in between your teeth and on the surface of the gums.
Disclosing tablets, which stain bacteria, contain surface deposits (plaque) on the teeth and can also be a very useful way of knowing if you have done the job properly.
FOR the last few weeks I’ve had an intermittent pain in my left groin. I can’t feel any lumps in the area or in my testicles, so I don’t think
I’ve got a hernia. I otherwise feel well, so what could it be?
ATHE large muscles at the front of the thigh attach to the bones of the pelvis at the groin, and the most common cause of pain is a strain of either muscle or its tendon.
There are also several ligaments that hold bones together and they can become inflamed, causing discomfort.
The pain may occur with an acute injury, such as overstretching your leg or may build up over time when you are doing a repetitive sport.
Rest and anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen usually brings relief, but this may take weeks.
The other common cause, especially in men, is a hernia, and though you may not be able to feel a lump, there may be a weakness that allows a small loop of intestine to bulge through your abdominal wall when you cough or sneeze.
Other possible causes include inflammation of the prostate gland, or inflammation in the testes or the tubes around the testes. Occasionally problems in the hip joint, or in the muscles surrounding the hip can lead to pain in the groin.Your GP should be able to sort out the cause, so if it persists, make an appointment.
CBD is touted as helping everything from eczema to menstrual cramps but one area it is most effective is with sleep disorders.
Our tester, a long-term insomnia sufferer, took 500mg
Kloris CBD Oil Drops (£45.99, kloriscbd. com), a full-spectrum high-grade organic CBD.
She completed a course of two bottles – five drops under the tongue each night before bed – and found it stabilised her sleeping patterns enough that she returned to a normal nightly cycle which has continued after stopping taking the oil.