The Medical and Dental Overview

I really have just one major dental condition, so will get that out of the way before proceeding with the various medical situations.

DENTAL: The one major dental condition is root resorption. This is basically where the roots of a tooth progressively deteriorate to the point the tooth has to be extracted. Which leaves the patient with deciding how to proceed with dealing with the absent tooth: implant or denture.

The situation for me is that my dentist says I have the worst case of root resorption he has ever seen. (Lucky me.) It is impossible to say just what triggered this, but there is suspicion about the orthodontia I received in my early teenage years, especially as the orthodontist was unable to get the jaws lined up so that upper and lower teeth properly meet up.

So, I have multiple implants.

MEDICAL: Oh, where to start...

• ATRIAL FILBRILLATION. (aka afib) This was discovered in January 2015 after I experienced bad chest pains and uncomfortableness, and was hospitalized for several days, during which this was diagnosed. I have been on medications since then.
• A major treatment for the afib occurred mid-2017, when a catheter ablation was done on my heart. Purpose of ablation is to eliminate the sources in the heart tissue of the bad electrical signals that trigger fibrillations. I was told this has to be redone 30% of the time, but so far my ablation seems to be working fine.
• OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA. The condition where your tongue collapses into your airway while you sleep, thus leaving you not breathing until the brain detects the problem and dumps adrenaline in your system, which in turn causes you to rouse enough to get your tongue back in proper position to breath. The problem this happens many times each night (or whenever  your sleep), so all that adrenaline effects the heart, and can cause, for instance, afib.
• The default treatment for apnea is a mechanical system which forces a continuous stream of air into one, thus preventing the tongue collapsing. Some people, including myself, are unable to handle this, and instead use a dental device that keeps the lower jaw in a forwarded position, and that keeps the airway clear. (My device was prepared by a dentist who specializes in treating sleep disorders,)
• KIDNEY STONES. These were discovered when I was sent for a CT scan after I complained about the high number of times I was having to wake up each night just to empty my bladder. I am on a medication that works great for the bladder, but surprise, surprise, look what you also have. The stones were diagnosed as the most common variety, calcium-oxalate.
• Now obviously one can not simply stop taking in calcium; one's system will eventually start taking it from the bones, and then you're really in trouble!
• Oxalate is basically defined as an organic acid, which if present in the body to excess, starts attaching itself to calcium in the kidneys, and thus stones. So dealing with calcium-oxalate stones is largely be enforcing a low oxalate diet. Just a few foods that are high in oxalate: spinach, nuts and nut butters, avocado, and wheat.
• PARKINSON'S DISEASE. I was referred to a neurologist because I was displaying hand tremors that I thought at the time were being caused by a medication I was taking at the time for afib, and does have a known side effect of causing hand tremors. But my primary care physician thought it best to send me to a neurologist to confirm the tremors were entirely because of the medication.
• After reviewing results of a brain MRI she had me get, and observing my reactions to standard muscle movement and reaction tests, the neurologist diagnosed the tremors were in a limited fashion a result of the medication (which has since been replaced), but that I also have Parkinson's disease.
• DERMATOLOGY ISSUES: Finally I have an appointment with a dermatologist on July 6, especially for a growth I have had on my outer right ear for some time, and also for a couple other minor issues.

Future developments in these or new issues will be blogged separately.