another study
-
waitingforrelief
- Sheriff
- Posts: 424
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:21 am
I've written a letter to one of the docs in the article as well. i'll post it here.
Dear Dr. Kleinberg,
I just read this article about bad breath and bacteria on the internet where your were interviewed.
http://www.health24.com/medical/Conditi ... ,21154.asp
I have had chronic, persistent, and worsening halitosis since I was about 14 or so, and am now 32. I was wondering if there's anything that your lab/research is doing to develop ways to combat these bacteria. I have tried all the bad breath products available, dioxide rinse, supplements, a change of diet, probiotics, etc... However, every single time anything helps give me relief, it'd stop working after a while. And in some cases, my breath would actually become worse afterward. You mentioned that "Most of the effort is toward killing bacteria, and killing bacteria is not terribly effective in most cases." - I'm a living proof of that, as nothing that I've ever tried actually worked. It feels like the bugs always win the battle.
This is an extremely debilitating problem, and I am hopeful that with the work that you've already done, you'll be able to help us in finding a solution. Personally, my career, personal life, and most certainly personal well-being is taking an ever larger toll as my problem escalates. I have healthy gums and teeth. The odors from my mouth range from fecal, urea-like, strong morning breath-like, to a metallic pungent scent and other strange odors that I cannot even begin to describe. I also have very thick and sticky saliva. I don't know if your research subjects reported this - but I also feel this heavy, wafty feeling in my mouth, throat and chest. at times my mouth would actually feel very uncomfortably hot.
I don't know if you are aware of the internet site badbreathhalitosis.com. I am a member of that forum and there is a lot of information on various conditions that bad breath sufferers have.
If there's anything that I can do to contribute to your research within my abilities, please let me know. I am eager and anxious to find a solution to this problem.
Thank you.
Best,
(wfr)
Dear Dr. Kleinberg,
I just read this article about bad breath and bacteria on the internet where your were interviewed.
http://www.health24.com/medical/Conditi ... ,21154.asp
I have had chronic, persistent, and worsening halitosis since I was about 14 or so, and am now 32. I was wondering if there's anything that your lab/research is doing to develop ways to combat these bacteria. I have tried all the bad breath products available, dioxide rinse, supplements, a change of diet, probiotics, etc... However, every single time anything helps give me relief, it'd stop working after a while. And in some cases, my breath would actually become worse afterward. You mentioned that "Most of the effort is toward killing bacteria, and killing bacteria is not terribly effective in most cases." - I'm a living proof of that, as nothing that I've ever tried actually worked. It feels like the bugs always win the battle.
This is an extremely debilitating problem, and I am hopeful that with the work that you've already done, you'll be able to help us in finding a solution. Personally, my career, personal life, and most certainly personal well-being is taking an ever larger toll as my problem escalates. I have healthy gums and teeth. The odors from my mouth range from fecal, urea-like, strong morning breath-like, to a metallic pungent scent and other strange odors that I cannot even begin to describe. I also have very thick and sticky saliva. I don't know if your research subjects reported this - but I also feel this heavy, wafty feeling in my mouth, throat and chest. at times my mouth would actually feel very uncomfortably hot.
I don't know if you are aware of the internet site badbreathhalitosis.com. I am a member of that forum and there is a lot of information on various conditions that bad breath sufferers have.
If there's anything that I can do to contribute to your research within my abilities, please let me know. I am eager and anxious to find a solution to this problem.
Thank you.
Best,
(wfr)
-
waitingforrelief
- Sheriff
- Posts: 424
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:21 am
I have written to him a few times in past 1 yr but havent heard from him yet. I saw him in a local news report last june and I have been trying to reach him since then. I have called him and left messages too. I even ended up at his office but didnt get to meet as he was busy/out. I think he would be of some help for sure. I guess we need to plead more.i also wrote to bruce paster, the lead researcher. let's see if i'll hear back from anyone.
W4R and Yogs, sorry we don't have good news from Dr. Paster. You did great thoug in contacting him. Thanks. john-
====================================================================
Subject: RE: Halitosis research
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 08:25:00 -0400
From: "Paster, Bruce" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: "JW>
Dear Mr. W,
Thank you for your email. It is clear that there is a significant problem on many levels for halitosis sufferers. I am not a clinician and do not even have a dental degree. With my collaborators, I managed to figure out a small piece of the puzzle concerning the potential role of tongue bacteria in halitosis. There is clearly much more to figure out. Unfortunately, I can offer no more advice than I have already given you.
I will keep you posted with any updates on my research.
Sincerely,
Bruce Paster
Bruce J. Paster, Ph.D.
Senior Member of Staff Professor, Department of Oral and Developmental Biology
The Forsyth Institute Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Medical School
140 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 1:05 PM
To: Paster, Bruce
Subject: RE: Halitosis research
Dear Dr. Paster,
Please forgive for my persistence in trying to make contact with you. I feel compelled to seek you help on behalf of the nearly 800 members who suffers without end. We have young teenagers posting/written about their ordeals, contant teasing, comments recieved from others about their bad breath and heartache that will break anyone's heart to read thheir young stories.
We are completely helpless to finding any means of relief. For that reason, I have to keep searching and reaching out to anyone who is willing to aid us, any scientist with a heart of compassion and mercy for those who are suffering.
The members and I have written countless letters to th National Institute of Health. All of our letters have gone ignored. Nonetheless, we can't continue to live our lives on "hold" until we are cured. Though we struggles to proudfully live with this disorder but society won't allow us to ignore our problem due to daily comments and negative reactions by others such as backing away, placing their hand over their nose, offering us gum, mints, ect. This disorder is beyond understanding for those who can't empathize. The emotional, pychological, and even physcial toll is unbearable.
Please help us any any shapes or forms as to how we can advocate to science/medicine for a cure. Afterall, there exist virtually every kinds of medication for almost every symptoms from dry eye to fungal toenails but with halitosis science has not made considerable progress.
Please remember there are people such as ourselves who are in desperate need of your gift, skills, and compassion Dr. Paster.
Faithfully,
John
"Paster, Bruce" <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Mr. Wxxxx and members of Breathhelp4u,
Thank you for your email. My work dealt primarily with the identification of bacterial species that are associated with individuals suffering from severe halitosis. We do not know if these “bad” bacteria are actually causing the bad breath. I was involved in a clinical study with a periodontitist (Dr. Chris Kazor in Michigan —I do not have any recent contact information). He had a treatment phase, which we presented at a Dental meeting in 2003, for people with severe halitosis (organoleptic scores of 3 to 5). It seems as if you have already tried similar treatments, but the protocol is as follows:
Qualifying patients (organoleptic scores of 3 to 5) were given a tongue scraper (Breath-So-Fresh®, Imperial Beach, CA) and a 16oz bottle of a mouthwash (Therasol®, Oratec Inc., Manassas , VA (800) 368-3529 or Cool Mint Listerine®, Pfizer Inc., Ann Arbor , MI ). The protocol was as follows:
Debride (scrape) tongue surface.
Brush/floss teeth (2X daily).
Rinse with one ounce of assigned mouthwash for 1 min.
Do not eat or drink for 2-3 h.
Repeat this protocol in the morning and at night for 7 days.
Post-treatment (PT) & Maintenance Arm.
Debride tongue surface.
Brush/floss teeth.
Brush with zinc containing gel (Breath-So-Fresh®, Imperial Beach , CA 888-437-3749 over entire tongue surface.
Do not eat or drink for 1 h.
Repeat twice a day.
Unfortunately last I heard, Breath-So-Fresh is no longer in business so you would have to find some other zinc containing gels if you want to try this protocol. However, by following this protocol, 30 or so halitosis sufferers improved their condition for over a 1 year time span. Interestingly enough, the bacterial flora changed more to those who did not have halitosis. One difference from treatments you have already tried may be the refraining from eating after treatment. For your information, my colleague felt that Listerine worked as well as the Therasol.
I can not give any guarantees how effective this treatment might be for you. I provided the (public record) protocol as we previously described.
Unfortunately, I do not have funds for continuing my research on halitosis, although I may apply for funding in the future on a few of my ideas.
I hope this is helpful to you and Breathhelp4u. Please keep me posted.
Sincerely,
Bruce Paster
Bruce J. Paster, Ph.D.
Senior Member of Staff Professor, Department of Oral and Developmental Biology
The Forsyth Institute Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Medical School
140 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
Email: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 5:55 PM
To: Paster, Bruce
Subject: Halitosis research
Dear Dr. Paster,
I am pleased to hear of your grounds breaking discovery in identifying bacterium and streptococcus of various bacteria which contributes to the primary causes of chronic halitosis. My name is John. I am a members and an advocate for two internet halitosis support groups with membership exceeding 800 chronic sufferers from all over the world. We are the members of Breathhelp4u on yahoo, and Badbreathhalitosis.com.
We have searched far and wide, spoken to leading scientists in the field of halitosis, including Dr. Jeffrey Hillman of Oragenics, and Dr. Shi of UCLA School of Dentistry for help and assistance in our search for a cure.
Dear doctor, we are overwhelmingly demoralized by this chronic affliction. We have used every conceivable mouthwash on the market, spent thousands of dollars visiting halitosis clinics, written letters to the National Institute of Health, begged for help from our MD, dentist, ENT, and even begged to Opray Winfrey and even Tyra Banks to help us wage a war against chronic halitosis.
Sir, there isn’t much good news on the horizon. We suffered without hope, dealing with daily embarrassment and shame due to chronic bad breath. No matter how often we brush our teeth, scrap our tongues, use mouthwash, ect, ect, ect., nothing helps. We are fully aware that our problem lies much deeper than poor oral hygiene and neglect. Therefore, we are thrill to hear that your work validates our suffering and the need for science to bring about a cure.
Please good doctor, more than anything in the world, we desperately are looking forward to better days in our lives without enduring the daily demoralization and shame due to halitosis. Please help us. The 800 members desire to participate in your research and experiment in any way, shapes, or forms, which may lead to a cure. We desire to be involved in your “treatment” phase of research for a cure.
Doctor, we hope that you will be compelled to respond to our cry for help with mercy and compassion.
Sincerely,
John
====================================================================
Subject: RE: Halitosis research
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 08:25:00 -0400
From: "Paster, Bruce" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: "JW>
Dear Mr. W,
Thank you for your email. It is clear that there is a significant problem on many levels for halitosis sufferers. I am not a clinician and do not even have a dental degree. With my collaborators, I managed to figure out a small piece of the puzzle concerning the potential role of tongue bacteria in halitosis. There is clearly much more to figure out. Unfortunately, I can offer no more advice than I have already given you.
I will keep you posted with any updates on my research.
Sincerely,
Bruce Paster
Bruce J. Paster, Ph.D.
Senior Member of Staff Professor, Department of Oral and Developmental Biology
The Forsyth Institute Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Medical School
140 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 1:05 PM
To: Paster, Bruce
Subject: RE: Halitosis research
Dear Dr. Paster,
Please forgive for my persistence in trying to make contact with you. I feel compelled to seek you help on behalf of the nearly 800 members who suffers without end. We have young teenagers posting/written about their ordeals, contant teasing, comments recieved from others about their bad breath and heartache that will break anyone's heart to read thheir young stories.
We are completely helpless to finding any means of relief. For that reason, I have to keep searching and reaching out to anyone who is willing to aid us, any scientist with a heart of compassion and mercy for those who are suffering.
The members and I have written countless letters to th National Institute of Health. All of our letters have gone ignored. Nonetheless, we can't continue to live our lives on "hold" until we are cured. Though we struggles to proudfully live with this disorder but society won't allow us to ignore our problem due to daily comments and negative reactions by others such as backing away, placing their hand over their nose, offering us gum, mints, ect. This disorder is beyond understanding for those who can't empathize. The emotional, pychological, and even physcial toll is unbearable.
Please help us any any shapes or forms as to how we can advocate to science/medicine for a cure. Afterall, there exist virtually every kinds of medication for almost every symptoms from dry eye to fungal toenails but with halitosis science has not made considerable progress.
Please remember there are people such as ourselves who are in desperate need of your gift, skills, and compassion Dr. Paster.
Faithfully,
John
"Paster, Bruce" <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Mr. Wxxxx and members of Breathhelp4u,
Thank you for your email. My work dealt primarily with the identification of bacterial species that are associated with individuals suffering from severe halitosis. We do not know if these “bad” bacteria are actually causing the bad breath. I was involved in a clinical study with a periodontitist (Dr. Chris Kazor in Michigan —I do not have any recent contact information). He had a treatment phase, which we presented at a Dental meeting in 2003, for people with severe halitosis (organoleptic scores of 3 to 5). It seems as if you have already tried similar treatments, but the protocol is as follows:
Qualifying patients (organoleptic scores of 3 to 5) were given a tongue scraper (Breath-So-Fresh®, Imperial Beach, CA) and a 16oz bottle of a mouthwash (Therasol®, Oratec Inc., Manassas , VA (800) 368-3529 or Cool Mint Listerine®, Pfizer Inc., Ann Arbor , MI ). The protocol was as follows:
Debride (scrape) tongue surface.
Brush/floss teeth (2X daily).
Rinse with one ounce of assigned mouthwash for 1 min.
Do not eat or drink for 2-3 h.
Repeat this protocol in the morning and at night for 7 days.
Post-treatment (PT) & Maintenance Arm.
Debride tongue surface.
Brush/floss teeth.
Brush with zinc containing gel (Breath-So-Fresh®, Imperial Beach , CA 888-437-3749 over entire tongue surface.
Do not eat or drink for 1 h.
Repeat twice a day.
Unfortunately last I heard, Breath-So-Fresh is no longer in business so you would have to find some other zinc containing gels if you want to try this protocol. However, by following this protocol, 30 or so halitosis sufferers improved their condition for over a 1 year time span. Interestingly enough, the bacterial flora changed more to those who did not have halitosis. One difference from treatments you have already tried may be the refraining from eating after treatment. For your information, my colleague felt that Listerine worked as well as the Therasol.
I can not give any guarantees how effective this treatment might be for you. I provided the (public record) protocol as we previously described.
Unfortunately, I do not have funds for continuing my research on halitosis, although I may apply for funding in the future on a few of my ideas.
I hope this is helpful to you and Breathhelp4u. Please keep me posted.
Sincerely,
Bruce Paster
Bruce J. Paster, Ph.D.
Senior Member of Staff Professor, Department of Oral and Developmental Biology
The Forsyth Institute Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard Medical School
140 Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
Email: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: John
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 5:55 PM
To: Paster, Bruce
Subject: Halitosis research
Dear Dr. Paster,
I am pleased to hear of your grounds breaking discovery in identifying bacterium and streptococcus of various bacteria which contributes to the primary causes of chronic halitosis. My name is John. I am a members and an advocate for two internet halitosis support groups with membership exceeding 800 chronic sufferers from all over the world. We are the members of Breathhelp4u on yahoo, and Badbreathhalitosis.com.
We have searched far and wide, spoken to leading scientists in the field of halitosis, including Dr. Jeffrey Hillman of Oragenics, and Dr. Shi of UCLA School of Dentistry for help and assistance in our search for a cure.
Dear doctor, we are overwhelmingly demoralized by this chronic affliction. We have used every conceivable mouthwash on the market, spent thousands of dollars visiting halitosis clinics, written letters to the National Institute of Health, begged for help from our MD, dentist, ENT, and even begged to Opray Winfrey and even Tyra Banks to help us wage a war against chronic halitosis.
Sir, there isn’t much good news on the horizon. We suffered without hope, dealing with daily embarrassment and shame due to chronic bad breath. No matter how often we brush our teeth, scrap our tongues, use mouthwash, ect, ect, ect., nothing helps. We are fully aware that our problem lies much deeper than poor oral hygiene and neglect. Therefore, we are thrill to hear that your work validates our suffering and the need for science to bring about a cure.
Please good doctor, more than anything in the world, we desperately are looking forward to better days in our lives without enduring the daily demoralization and shame due to halitosis. Please help us. The 800 members desire to participate in your research and experiment in any way, shapes, or forms, which may lead to a cure. We desire to be involved in your “treatment” phase of research for a cure.
Doctor, we hope that you will be compelled to respond to our cry for help with mercy and compassion.
Sincerely,
John