Category: Ask a doctor

Having noticed unusual pigmentation on the lips, a lot of women may start worrying about their health condition. In fact, dark spots on the lips may be the sign of various health issues: starting with the nutrient imbalance and ending with some more serious health conditions.

Let’s have a look at the most frequent causes of dark spots appear on the lips.

Dehydration

A lack of water in the organism may show through the changes of the skin on the lips. Peeling, cracking and general dryness of the lips should make you pay more attention to your water regimen. Water is a basic of the human organism. Its insufficient amounts may disturb the electrolytes balance and worsen the condition of hair, nails, and skin including lips.

Exposure to unfavorable weather conditions

A durable staying in the sun may provoke the development of actinic keratosis. People suffering from this disease may have light or dark spots on the lips. This condition is considered to be quite dangerous as it may signal the probability of evolving skin cancer, which is one of the most frequently diagnosed diseases in the United States.

Lack of Vitamin B-12

Insufficient amounts of Vitamin B-12 may cause the changes in the lip pigmentation. That’s because this nutrient is responsible for their even color. To deal with this problem you have to fill your daily ration with foods rich in Vitamin B-12. For example, dairy products, fish, meat, and eggs. In case of severe vitamin deficiency, you may be recommended to take vitamin supplements.

Allergic reaction

Applying different cosmetics to the lips, women may get allergic to the certain ingredients in the lipstick, other makeup, and even face cremes. Besides, a contact with a toothpaste may also become the reason for an allergy on the lips. To know for sure what has triggered an allergic reaction, try to change your cosmetics. In case it doesn’t help, turn to the doctors.

Excess of iron

The intake of iron supplements or a hereditary disease called hemochromatosis may also lead to the appearance of dark areas on the lips. This condition may be treated only under a doctor’s supervision. Besides, to sustain the levels of iron in the blood within the norm, you may need to become a blood donor on the regular basis.

In case your sex organ has lost its usual sensitivity and you need a stronger stimulation to get an erection, one may speak about the penis numbness. There are several major reasons that may deprive you of the normal feelings in the sex organ:

• Penile injury or spinal trauma;
• Abnormally low testosterone levels;
• Underlying health conditions.

No matter what has become the trigger for your problem, except for the numbness, you may also experience:

• The feeling of cold in the penile area;
• Tingling;
• Changes in the color of the skin on the penis (it may become bluish);
• Loss of sensitivity in the organ.

All these feelings may grow into erectile dysfunction as they are usually connected with worsening of the supply of blood to the pelvic organs or serious damage to the nerve tissue.

Numbness caused by injury or trauma

Penis traumatization may happen during sex or masturbation. Such incidents usually happen in case of excessively strong stimulation. Besides, a man may experience penile numbness after the use of a special pump aimed at causing an erection. Besides, the traumas of the backbone may also affect the condition of nerve endings and blood circulation in the penile area.

Except for some obvious injuries, men may develop reduced sensitivity of the penis as a result of wearing very tight pants. Besides, sitting in the same pose for a long time or even riding a bicycle may also cause problems. All these prevent an adequate supply of blood and lead to the numbness.

Hormonal imbalance

A male sexual function is fully dependent on the amounts of testosterone in the blood. In case there is a lack of this hormone, men can have low libido and decreased sensitivity of the sex organs. Gradually, low testosterone levels may grow into erectile dysfunction and male infertility.

What other health issues may cause penile numbness?

The diseases that may provoke numbness in the penile area are numerous:

• High levels of glucose harm the blood vessels leading to the penile area thus worsening the supply of blood. In addition, they damage the nerve endings responsible for penile sensitivity.
• The impact of increased blood pressure on the walls of the arteries may seriously harm them and result in the poor inflow of blood to the penis.
• Prostate cancer. The tumor of the prostate may press the blood vessels and cause tingling and numbness of the male sex organ.

As you may see, this problem is very serious. That’s why you should better consult with a medical specialist in case you experience any unusual sensations in the penile area.

As claimed by The National Coffee Association and The Specialty Coffee Association of America, more than 50% of Americans drink coffee every day. It makes about 150 million people. Impressive, isn’t it? And we now speak of only one country so you can imagine the world’s figures.

Love to this drink lasts for several centuries. And every year its consumption significantly grows. But at what point does your love to coffee should stop? How much of this drink is safe for you? Well, answering the question, you should consider reducing your daily intake of coffee if you can feel its smell even when you visit a bathroom.

When the urine smells like your favorite drink, it means that you’ve drunk too much of it for today.

How does the urine take the unusual smell?

Some of the liquids that are produced by the human organism, like sperm or urine, get the smell and even the taste of the foods and drinks we consume. Speaking about the urine, it is produced by the kidneys – the organ that filters everything we drink. When the amounts of caffeine we get from coffee get overly high, the urine may take its smell.

Besides, caffeine induces a slight diuretic effect on people consuming it. That’s why its excessive drinking may provoke dehydration. As a result, the urine becomes more concentrated and you may feel the characteristic coffee odor even stronger.

How can you get rid of the coffee-smelling urine?

The solution to this problem is more than simple: just drink less coffee. The appearance of this problem itself means that you consume too much caffeine. Whereas small doses of coffee may be useful to you, its excess may do serious harm. That’s why you should better limit your daily cups of coffee to stay on the safe side.

Another way to get rid of the coffee smell is to drink more water during the day. Such a strategy will prevent dehydration and make the urine less concentrated.

Erectile Dysfunction: Exercises rather than Viagra!

Known for preventing urinary incontinence in both women and men, Kegel exercises would provide an effective – and above all, sustainable! – alternative to Viagra and other pills of the kind, to treat erectile dysfunction.

In fact, an experiment in Great Britain allowed 50% of participants to solve their chronic erection problems, and one in three to improve their turgescent functions. For the purposes of the study, 55 men with erectile dysfunction for at least six months were randomly selected. Half of them had to do the Kegel exercises in addition to making lifestyle changes, such as quitting, reducing alcohol consumption, and losing weight. The other half formed the control group, which was advised to make the same changes in lifestyle, nothing more.

Kegel exercises consist of strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, specifically the ischio-cavernous and bulbo-cavernous muscles. This circumscribes a good part of the base of the penis. Its function is, among other things, to maintain the blood flow at the time of erection and to “pump” the semen at the time of ejaculation. It is also the same muscle that, by reflex, empties the urethra at the end of urination.

To ensure that training of the pelvic floor muscles was adequate, the men in the first group received the advice of a physiotherapist. They learned the fast form of Kegel exercises, which involves contracting these muscles intensely, as well as preventing the evacuation of flatulence (by retracting the penis and simultaneously lifting the scrotum). The participants had to perform the exercises twice a day, in order to improve the endurance of the ischio and bulbo-cavernous muscles.

After three months, there was significant improvement in erectile function in the first group, which was not the case in the control group. The men in the first group continued their exercises at home for another three months, while during the same period, those in the control group received training in their turn.

Results: Six months after the start of the study, 40% of participants had recovered their normal erectile abilities, and 35% had achieved a significant improvement. In addition, 65% of subjects who suffered parallel urinary flow following urination saw this problem to be reduced.

In light of these findings, the authors of the study suggest that these exercises are now part of the first treatments for men with erectile dysfunction.

How to practice Kegel exercises (slow form*)

• Contract the pelvic area 10 to 20 times while keeping the contraction for ten seconds. Do not contract the muscles of the abdomen, buttocks and thighs.
• Breathe calmly.
• Release the contraction for ten seconds and then start again.
• To practice 3 to 5 times a day.

*In the fast form, one must contract and relax the pelvic floor muscles as quickly as possible.

Jaundice caused by bilirubin means a change in the color of the skin, eyes and mucous membranes, which tend to take on a yellowish appearance; this phenomenon is due to the increase in bilirubin in the blood.

Diet Jaundice may occur in neonatal or adult age; in the first case it is a physiological and harmless event, while in the second it almost always indicates a disorder of the liver, biliary tract or red blood cells.

Jaundice should not be confused with other changes in skin pigmentation such as, for example, excess carotenoids, phenolic exposure, suntan lotion, etc. The diet is able to avoid or improve the anomalies potentially responsible for jaundice. However, each of these causes has a different etiology, which must be treated specifically. This is why in the next chapter we will present a brief subdivision of the pathologies that cause jaundice.

The most common causes of increased levels of conjugated bilirubin are related to liver problems.

• Hepatitis: damage to liver cells due to inflammation may increase direct bilirubin levels.
• Liver cirrhosis: diseases such as alcoholism or certain viruses can cause the cells in the liver to be replaced by scar tissue; Severe cirrhosis causes jaundice.
• Gallstones and tumors of the pancreas can prevent the gallbladder from emptying, making it difficult to eliminate bilirubin.
• Dubin Johnson and Rotor’s syndrome: benign hereditary diseases with jaundice as the main symptom.

Some of the most common causes of indirect hyperbilirubinaemia are:

• Hemolytic anemia: disorders that cause premature red blood cell deterioration, rising levels of bilirubin and “bad cholesterol”.
• Gilbert’s syndrome: benign hereditary disease that can cause mild jaundice during stress periods or if there is poor general health.
• Crigler-Najjar syndrome: a form of hereditary jaundice that can cause brain damage to children born with it.

The treatment of jaundice depends on the disease due to the increase in bilirubin. In general, jaundice is cured by strengthening the liver, as many of its causes are determined by liver disease.

In addition to these assumptions, jaundice usually does not require treatment in adults. If it causes itching, it can be reduced by using cholestyramine, a drug that helps eliminate bilirubin.

Also, drinking lots of water, eating fruits and vegetables, and limiting the consumption of saturated fats and refined sugars are natural methods to reduce the symptoms of high bilirubin.

The question of how single men and women view casual sexual relations and how those latter impact singles has been gaining topicality in the day and age where solitude is considered an epidemics. A Eurispes survey provides a somewhat controversial cross-section of Italian youth. 44% of newlyweds betray, almost half of young people are attracted to BDSM practices and experience disengaged ties based on casual sex or bed friendships.

Casual sex is so widespread as to represent almost a predictable norm; long-term and monogamous relationships seem to be the last frontier of transgression. But what repercussions does casual sex have on psychological health? What is your connection with experiences of emptiness and loneliness?

Casual sex and safety

A large part of the scientific studies on casual sex in young people has focused on the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases, noting how dangerous these disengaged encounters are still associated with a great lack of attention and misinformation regarding the use of contraceptive methods.

Yet it is precisely these days that the news that AIDS would be anything but in decline among Western populations, closely followed by unwanted pregnancies. We still have grounds to worry about casual sex.

A share of studies has also focused on the associations between casual sex, health or psychological distress, feelings of emptiness, loneliness or depression. A rather varied scenario emerges.

Casual sex and gender differences

Although, as has been said, casual sex represents the norm rather than the exception, there remain, in both sexes, some differences relating to culturally widespread attitudes of gender.

Although some researches do not reveal a significant difference in the predisposition to casual sex between men and women, it would be the attitude of the “day after” that would make the difference. Men would often declare themselves satisfied with the adventure of the previous night, while a higher percentage of women would report negative experiences related to guilt, a sense of having been used, and repentance.

Moreover, women would turn out to be more culturally predisposed to frame sexuality within emotionally intimate or meaningful relationships than to make it a mere instrument of pleasure or leisure.

Casual sex, depression and loneliness

Another aspect investigated by these studies is that related to psychological health. Essentially, it has been asked whether and how casual sex was related in some way to psychopathological states such as anxiety, depression or suicide attempts.

Like any other conduct, sex can also be used as an anxiolytic. In these cases casual sex becomes the indicator of a psychological disorder but not because in itself it represents a necessarily a problem, but for the purposes (often completely unconscious) with which it is used.

Speaking of nutritional values of pork vs. other types of meat, it is important to dwell on the classic distinction between red and white meats. Everyone knows that the bovine belongs to the first category, while turkey to the second, but it is more complicated to categorize pork. It is thought that it is always a very fatty type of meat, but this depends on both the cut and the type of animal. Pork is eaten fresh or used to produce sausages and cold cuts.

Having made this first distinction useful for avoiding generalizations, the nutritionist biologist enters into the merits of a question that many ask. The general answer is that it depends on how we consume it. The meat of any animal, however, remains a food that should never be overconsumed, and this not only for the fat content it may have, but also and above all for the harmful substances that it may contain and which depend largely on how the slaughter animals were raised. The suggestion is therefore to always prefer organic meat.

An additional element that suggests not overdoing cured or smoked pork in sausages is the fact that they have been rated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as cancerogenic. In particular, it has been observed that there is a correlation between the consumption of salami, sausages and processed meats such as sausages and colorectal cancer. However, in order to avoid alarmism, it is important to underline that the data collected by the IARC concern a dose of 50 grams per day of processed meat and, therefore, sporadic consumption, selecting quality products and cleaning up the fat significantly lowers the risks.

In conclusion, by properly choosing the cut (loin) and cooking it without exceeding the condiments, the pork can be consumed and is even indicated also for those who follow low-calorie dietary regimes. Similarly to other types of meat, it is a good source of high quality organic proteins and has a good content of vitamins (B1, B2, B6, D and B12) and minerals (iron, zinc, copper, selenium), present among the other in a chemical form that can be used by the body.

Pork should be chosen well, and these are the recommendations:

• the meat must be light, rosy, not too pale but not too dark, and of a homogeneous color;
• the grain should be compact, not too moist, and white fat, firm and soft to the touch;
• the smell must be delicate, fine and pleasant.

Avoid flaccid meats and non-homogeneous colors, but above all with soft and yellowed fat. For good preservation, pork must be stored, like all meats, in the coldest part of the refrigerator, possibly wrapped in waxed paper, never in airtight containers, nor in aluminum sheets. Make sure that pork is well cooked to minimize the risk of tapeworm infestation.