The Male Perspective: The Connection between Poor Oral Health and Erectile Dysfunction

Contributed by the Specialist Dental Group

You may have read how gum disease can affect women at various stages in their life cycle due to fluctuating changes in the level of progesterone and estrogen hormones in the body.

Women are not the only gender affected. Recent studies have found that the state of men’s oral health has an impact on their sexual performance as well. Research has shown that the severity of chronic periodontitis in men is associated with a prevalence of erectile dysfunction. With the presence of gum disease, bacteria from the oral cavity can enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.  Therefore, it is no surprise that there is a link between erectile dysfunction and oral health.

When the body’s inflammation level is chronically high, health conditions such as erectile dysfunction, may result as the inflammation in the body can lead to the decrease of a certain enzyme in the body which triggers erections.

This highlights the importance of oral health for everyone, regardless of gender. To combat oral health problems, prevention is better than cure. Get into the habit of a daily oral health regime routine. Visiting your dentist on a half a year basis is also recommended to maintain optimum dental health. 

****************

Specialist Dental Group is a corporate sponsor of the Canadian Association of Singapore (CAS). CAS members enjoy a special rate for dental services. For details, send an enquiry via www.specialistdentalgroup.com or call 6733 7883

Dressing Your Personality

By Jo Clary Maughan

For clothes to look good and feel good, they must be ‘YOU’.  They need to suit your shape of body and also reflect your personality.  When you say a certain style is ‘you’, you are in essence expressing who you are and your lifestyle.  For many of us, our personal style is an evolving process over time, experience, our environment, friends, work commitments, goals, age, expectations and simple changes in tastes and opinions.  It is an ever changing process.

If you have not determined your personal style or are unhappy with the style you currently have, take time to go through fashion magazines and cut out everything that appeals to you in regard to clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up looks and hairstyles.  Once this is done you will see a common trend in what seems to appeal to you so you will have more of a direction as to what to look for when out in the shops.  A quicker option to find your personal style is to book an appointment a Fashion & Style Solutions consultation to take the Style Personality Questionnaire and to find out exactly what personal style you currently have. 

Since our personal style is ever changing, you may find that things you wore in the past worked for you then but not now.  By taking the Questionnaire, you will find out two things.  1)  What style you have now and 2) What style you wish you were.  This is beneficial so you can find clear direction to make changes aimed with a certain style in mind.  Being true to your inner self is a critical element in successful dressing.

Have you ever had someone like your husband, wife, mother or friend buy you something that you know you will never wear as you feel it is not you?  If so, don’t deem them as having no sense of style or taste; just understand that they have a different personal style expression from you.  What appeals to one person may not appeal to the next.  This is why fashion gives us so many options in the stores to choose from as they are trying to cater to as many style personalities as possible.

If you wish to find out more about your Personal Style, call F3 today to start enjoying the freedom of purchasing garments and accessories that you’ll love and will wear over and over again!

Visit the F3 website for more information: www.f-3.com.sg 

Dark side of Beautiful

Text and photo by Herb Pilles

Question:  What can you buy in a Singapore food store for under a dollar?

Answer:  A packet of squid ink!  S$0.80  for two.

Actually, you need five of them to make squid ink risotto and you can get it at Huber’s or The Swiss Butcher.  There is something to be said about black squid ink on a dinner plate, offset by pinks, and white, and green, and different shades of red.  But it’s not just the visual.  There is something about the flavour of squid ink that simply connects you to the sea.  Your guests will love it.  Just look at Maureen’s face.

To make a black squid ink risotto, you need 1 tbsp butter, a large shallot, and two cloves of garlic chopped fine, a glass of good white wine, two cups of a good quality Arborio rice from Italy, five 4 g packets of squid ink, good low sodium chicken stock, grated rind from a lemon.

Melt a table spoon or so of butter in a pot over low heat.  Add the shallots and garlic, fry gently but do not let it go brown. If it goes brown, throw it out and start again.  Add the rice and stir continuously for about 5 minutes.  Add the wine, stir until all the wine is absorbed.  Add the squid ink.  It will make a glorious mess. Just keep stirring. Start adding the stock, a ladle full at a time, stir until it is all absorbed, then add more stock.  Don’t even think about walking away from the stove.  Keep adding stock and stirring until the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes later.  If you need more liquid add hot water or wine.  When it’s done, add the grated lemon zest, and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Plate and top with whatever you have in mind.  I served mine with poached salmon with dill mayo on top.  On the side there’s grilled asparagus, fennel, and Portobello mushrooms smothered in a salsa of red onion, tomato (no pulp), red capsicum, peas, corn, thyme leaves, and a vinegrette of olive oil and verjuice.  If you don’t have verjuice, use lemon juice or white balsamic this time, but make sure you put verjuice on your shopping list.  It is now available at C.S.

Black on a plate is beautiful. If you don't want to make risotto, you can buy squid ink pasta, which is also wonderful — and quicker.

CIS Students Climb 5,000m in Ladakh Himalayas

By Tripti Kumar

Marketing and Communications Executive

After a gruelling 3-day trek through the Ladakh Himalayas, a group of 50 CIS high school students and 2 teachers succeeded in reaching basecamp. At over 5,000m above sea level, the group was greeted by light snowfall as they ascended to first camp. Despite challenges with the high altitude the group persevered, and put their best foot forward .They were rewarded with exhilarating views and a sense of achievement in having accomplished their goals.

Their trip also included a visit to Lamdon School, where they presented much-needed supplies to the principal. They were, in turn, greeted as guests of honour at the school’s morning assembly of 1,800 students.

During their final days of the excursion, our intrepid group of students returned to Lamdon School in Leh, where they spent 2 days with the students. The teachers on the trip handed out woollen caps knitted by members of the CIS staff to the youngest girls at the school hostel. These gifts were received with much delight.

CIS students then got their hands dirty by planting over 250 poplar trees in the Canadian International School Friendship grove. Combined with last year’s effort, there are now over 500 trees in the grove which represent a blossoming relationship between the two schools. Our students were then paired with students from Lamdon School, who graciously hosted them at their family homes for an overnight stay.

To help reflect on the whirlwind of experiences encountered during this trip, our students wrote confidential letters to themselves. These will be sealed and returned to them in a year’s time to help them assess their personal development and reflect on the wonderful experience of the cis excursion week. True to our mission, our excursion week programme encourages our vivacious students to engage, enlighten and empower.