Question: Recently my dentist diagnosed me as having Sjogren's syndrome. Neither he nor my medical doctor has given me much information, other than it is incurable. Can you explain this disease fully, including symp-toms and medications?
- D.C.Answer: With Sjogren's (SHOW-grins) syndrome, the saliva glands stop making saliva. The mouth becomes as dry as the Sahara desert. Swallowing is most difficult.
Having a dry mouth all day is not the most pleasant experience.
Often the syndrome attacks the tear glands, making the eyes feel gritty and irritated from the lack of a protective tear film.
The syndrome is one of those self-allergy illnesses, where the body's immune system launches an attack on its own tissues, here the saliva and tear glands.
It might be some solace to you that only your saliva glands have been affected.
You need to keep your mouth moist. A mouth without saliva is an ideal setup for major dental decay.
Artificial salivas are available for treatment. Many patients find that toting a squeezable water bottle at all times is an answer. Chewing sugarless gum and sucking sugarless lemon drops also stimulate saliva production.
At times, Sjogren's syndrome appears secondary to another illness. Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are two such ills. Such back-ground illnesses need to be investigated.
Question: A friend who recently had a heart attack - a type A personality - has determined that if a low-fat diet is good for the heart then a no-fat diet will be better. He eats virtually no fats. It seems to me that you had said that the body needs a certain amount of fat. Will you speak to this again?
- Anon.
Answer: Your friend is a type A personality to the nth degree. He follows a path far beyond the one recommended for a healthy diet.
A typical North American diet contains too much fat. The general public should adhere to a diet with no more than 30 percent of daily calories from fat. Your friend with the clogged arteries can safely reduce his total daily fat intake to 20 percent of his daily calories.
Say your friend consumes 2,500 calories a day. Using the 20 percent figure, he should limit his fats to 500 calories. Each gram of fat has 9 calories. So his daily fat intake, in grams, should be about 55 grams. Food labels often use the gram figure.
Even for the very dedicated, the daily percentage of fat calories should not dip below 10.
The body needs some fat, which is a source of energy. Fat also pads and protects body organs, and it aids in the absorption of vitamins.
For more details on cholesterol and fats, readers can write: Dr. Donohue - No. 5, P.O. Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077-5539. Enclose $3 and a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) No. 10 envelope.
Question: Will you please come to the rescue of a panicky high school student. I have to write a paper on illnesses mentioned in literature. I keep coming across "scrofula." I can't find out what it is. Do you know? This is urgent. I am flunking this course.
- T.D.
Answer: Scrofula is tuberculosis of lymph nodes, particularly those in the neck.
In the days of yore, well before antibiotics came onto the scene, a French treatment for scrofula was to present the patient to the king. The king's touch was believed to confer a cure.
With the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis, including scrofula, is not the scourge it once was. Before antibiotics TB sanitariums dotted the landscape. Rest and fresh air were about the only treatments available.
Until the age of AIDS dawned, we had a pretty good grip on TB control. Now, however, there has been a resurgence of TB. An AIDS patient's weakened immune system does not cope well with the TB germ even with the help of antibiotics.
Did I make it in time for you to submit your paper?
Question: I am 72 years old and have had dentures for about 10 years. My dentist warned me to be careful after he did extractions because I still had the Novocain. He said I might swallow my tongue. I was terrified. Now, whenever the dentures are in I am OK. But when they are not, I am a nervous wreck. What would happen were I to suddenly need surgery and they remove the dentures? I am getting paranoid about this.
- Mrs. E.M.T.
Answer: Trust me. People don't swallow their tongue when they remove dentures.
Your dentist's warning was intended to cover only the few hours until the Novocain wore off.
Why not learn to avoid your phobia? Try removing your dentures for increasingly longer times. Begin by leaving them out for as brief a period as five minutes, then build up.
In a few weeks, you should be free of your edentulous phobia. If not, consider enlisting professional help.