If you look closely, your body always tells you something. There is a reason why your doctor takes a good look at your tongue. It pays to spot the symptoms and listen to what your body has to say about your health. Your life depends on it, says Dr Parul R Sheth
Do you ever notice the changes in your body? If not, it is time that you did because your body can reveal a lot about your health. By being vigilant and in tune with your body, you can spot the symptoms of many preventable ailments easily. Here is a list of a few common clues that may be early signs of health conditions and predictors of future health problems.
Pay lip service
Cracked lips: Cracked lip corners indicate lack of B vitamins—B2, B6 and folic acid. The skin at the outer lip corners dries out causing cracks. Include a nutrient-rich diet consisting of leafy greens, whole grains, legumes and eggs, and take vitamin supplements, if needed.
Chapped lips: They occur because of lack of hydration or moisture, as in winter. They indicate dehydration. Apply a lip balm or a lip gloss to soothe the chapped lips and hydrate yourself. Drink plenty of water.
Get it straight from the mouth
Bad breath: It points at poor oral hygiene, gum diseases, a weak immune system, stress, gastrointestinal infections, oral yeast infection, GERD (gastro oesophageal reflux disease), diabetes, kidney or liver problems, blocked sinuses or unfilled teeth cavities. Bad breath occurs when food particles get lodged in the spaces between the teeth or cavities and there occurs a bacterial infection. Breath mints, chewing gums, mouthwash are good but they do not cure bad breath.
Brush, floss and scrape your tongue twice a day. Drink plenty of water. Low-carb diets too cause bad odour from the mouth; so eat carbohydrates as in fruits, veggies and whole grains. Rinse your mouth thoroughly after eating onions and garlic and after drinking coffee or other beverages. Herbal tea or green tea can help prevent bacteria formation. Cranberries too help eliminate offensive smells. Manage your stress well, control your sugar and get yourself treated for diseases if you have any.
Inflamed swollen gums: Early hormonal changes that come with pregnancy can cause this. In fact, if your gums turn fluffy and bleed on flossing and your period is late, it’s time to take a pregnancy test. Bleeding and inflamed gums also suggest gingivitis, a gum disease, diabetes, anaemia and vitamin C deficiency. Check with your dentist to treat inflamed gums. Include foods containing vitamin C such as orange, sweet lime and lemon in your diet.
Stick out your tongue
If you are feeling under the weather, stick out your tongue and look in the mirror. The colour, texture and moisture of your tongue can give you a lot of information.
A pale tongue: It shows that you lack haemoglobin, the iron containing protein in your red blood cells, resulting in anaemia, which tires you and makes you lethargic. Eat a well-balanced diet containing iron found in foods like leafy greens, lean meat and eggs.
A red inflamed tongue: It tells you that you lack B vitamins and iron. Include nuts, lean meat and shell fish in your diet. These are rich sources of vitamin B.
A purple tongue: It could mean that you have high cholesterol, which could cause heart problems. It also indicates chronic bronchitis. If your tongue continues to be purple, seek medical advice.
A coating on your tongue: A thick coating on your tongue is normal. But a heavy white coating on the tongue suggests yeast infection—candidiasis or oral thrush. When the fungus coats your tongue, you may need an antifungal rinse to clear up.
A dry tongue: It is a sign of stress. Manage stress using relaxation techniques such as yoga or deep breathing.
Look into your eyes
Dark circles under the eyes: This could mean you are sleep-deprived or stressed or that you may have allergies. Nasal congestion too can darken the area around your eyes and nose. Lack of B vitamins can also cause dark circles under your eyes.
Try to get quality night sleep, manage your stress well and treat your allergies with medicines. Eat a healthy diet filled with all the nutrients, especially vitamins.
Puffy eyes: The condition occurs if you are a heavy drinker or smoker. Quit smoking and if you drink, then drink in moderation.
Sparse eyebrows: If your eyebrows have been disappearing on their own, it is a common sign of thyroid disease. Get your thyroid tests done and get yourself treated accordingly.
Vision problems: They occur due to refractive errors but they may also point towards serious health problems such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, migraine, stroke or even a brain tumour. A visit to your ophthalmologist for a check-up is mandatory.
Grey ring around the white of the eyes: This can be suggestive of high cholesterol levels, especially in youngsters. Consult a doctor to adopt the right form of treatment. Adopt a healthy lifestyle and a sound diet and exercise plan.
Pale lower eyelids: If you pull down your lower eyelid and find that it is pale and not pink, you must be heading towards anaemia, a condition that indicates an iron deficiency. Eat plenty of leafy greens, beet, in addition to iron-rich foods. Your doctor may prescribe iron supplements.
Eyes with a yellow tinge: This suggests hepatitis or liver problems. This calls for an urgent visit to the doctor followed by some tests that he may prescribe. Rest well and
eat right.
Tackle the bad hair days
Thinning hair: This points at thyroid problems. Brittle hair signifies malnourishment, especially vitamin A and omega-3-fatty acid deficiencies. Include fruits, vegetables and fish in your diet. Avoid crash diets.
Falling hair: Hair loss may occur because of chemotherapy but once the treatment is over, hair grows back. Hair falls because of certain medicines prescribed for arthritis, high blood pressure or heart problems and ailments such as typhoid. Falling hair signifies poor nutrition and nutritional deficiencies especially iron, vitamins and minerals.
Dandruff: Having dandruff does not mean that you have a dry scalp; it means you need to wash your hair often. The shedding of scalp skin and the upper oily layer result
in white oily flakes. Medicated shampoos help clear dandruff.
Premature greying: This indicates vitamin B12 deficiency, thyroid disease, low bone mass and heart disease. Smoking too causes greying of hair.
Put your neck on the line
Swollen neck: If you notice a swelling in your neck, you need to get examined and tested for hyper or hypothyroidism, thyroid cancer or a thyroid nodule.
Get under the skin
Brown patches: Such patches on the skin, especially on the face and exposed areas of the skin, can appear because of excess tanning of the skin due to UV ray exposure and sun allergy. Certain birth control pills may also cause dark patches on your forehead, cheeks or upper lip. Your doctor may prescribe hydroquinone cream. To avoid sun allergy protect yourself from harsh sunlight.
Itchy red rash or blisters: If such rashes appear on your elbows, knees and buttocks, they may have been triggered by gluten intolerance. Your body may be intolerant to foods that contain gluten such as white bread and pasta. Consume a gluten-free diet to get rid of the rash.
Hit the nail on the head
Take a closer look at your nails and there can be imperfections that provide valuable clues to
your health.
Brittle nails: These suggest nutritional deficiencies such as low calcium, vitamin D or zinc. Include low-fat dairy products, fish, etc. or take supplements with your doctor’s advice. Moisturising helps.
Yellow nails: Thick, yellowish, slow-growing nails indicate lung disease. Get yourself tested for diabetes too.
Whitish or yellowish nails: These indicate liver disease such as hepatitis.
A pale or white nail bed is a sign of anaemia.
Half-white, half-pink nails: These signal kidney disease.
Red nail beds: These could be a sign of heart disease.
Pitted fingernails: These are a symptom of psoriasis, inflammatory arthritis, alopecia areata (hair loss) and chronic dermatitis. Nail pitting associated with diseases shows involvement of all nails.
Clubbing or inversion of nails: This may indicate lung disease.
Irregular red lines at the base of the nail fold: These suggest lupus or connective tissue disease.
Dark lines under the nail: These can be signs of melanoma.
Curved fingernails or upward spooning of nails: This is associated with anaemia and iron deficiency, osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lung diseases.
Learn gut sense
Bowel movement is an important body function that can tell you if something is wrong. For instance, your body is fighting an infection or dealing with some serious health problem.
Light or pale stools: They indicate liver disorders such as hepatitis and cirrhosis, gallstones and cancer. Additional symptoms may be abdominal bloating, fullness, pain, fatigue and jaundice. Take medical advice.
Pale white, yellow or black stools: The various shades of brown stools are normal but pale white stools, yellow or black are not. Black stools indicate bleeding in the stomach or in the small intestine. Iron supplements can darken the stools as also certain medications containing bismuth. Eating blueberries or black liquorice can also blacken stools.
Dry, hard stools: These are a sign of constipation. You may not be getting enough fibre if you regularly suffer from constipation. Experts recommend 35-40 grams of fibre every day. Eat legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Check out your bladder
Cloudy or milky urine: This is a sign of urinary infection. Milky urine may have a bad smell due to bacterial infection. There may be presence of crystals, fat, white or red blood cells or mucous.
Yellow, dark brown urine: This is a sign of liver disorder such as acute viral hepatitis or cirrhosis due to the presence of excess bilirubin (pigment) in the urine. Certain medications, B complex vitamins or recent laxative use causes dark yellow or orange urine.
Lighter brown, pink or red urine: This can be caused by coloured foods such as beetroot, blackberries or food colourings or certain medications. The colour also suggests an injury to the urinary tract or kidneys.
Green or blue urine: This occurs due to artificial food colours, bilirubin, medications or urinary
tract infections.
Smelly urine: Normal urine is straw coloured and does not have a strong smell. Intake of certain foods such as asparagus can impart a typical odour to urine. Certain medications too may alter urine smell. A strong smell of ammonia in urine suggests dehydration, which occurs because of less fluid intake. Drink plenty of water even when you are not thirsty. Foul-smelling urine indicates the presence of bacteria in urine and urinary tract infections. Sweet smelling urine points at uncontrolled diabetes. Certain rare genetic conditions also give an abnormal smell to urine.
Burning sensation or pain while passing urine: This suggests bacterial infection of the urinary tract and bladder or sexually transmitted infections.
Frequent urination: Too much glucose in the blood makes you urinate often. Frequent urination may be a sign of diabetes. In men, frequent urination is a symptom of prostate problems.
