Continuous Gum Chewing Exercise Improves Perioral Muscle Strength

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of continuous gum chewing exercise on perioral muscle strength. Methods: Thirty healthy adults (24.1 ± 2.0 years) with normal occlusion performed gum chewing exercise 3 times daily for 3 months. Each exercise session lasted 5 min and involved alternating of chewing 10 times using the left molars and then 10 times using the right molars, with the mouth closed. The effect of the exercise on oral function was evaluated by measuring tongue pressure (TP), cheek pressure (CP), and labial closure strength (LCS) immediately before starting exercise, at 2 weeks and 1, 2, and 3 months after starting exercise, and at 3 months after cessation of exercise. Changes in TP, CP, and LCS according to sex and duration of exercise were analyzed by repeated two-way ANOVA. Results: Measurements for all muscles were significantly greater in men than in women at all time points. After starting exercise, TP was markedly increased at 2 months in men and women, and both CP and LCS were markedly increased at 2 weeks in men and at 1 month in women. These effects persisted for 3 months. Three months after cessation of exercise, TP, CP, and LCS tended to decrease, but were not significantly attenuated as compared with 3 months after beginning of exercise in either sex. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that gum chewing exercise contributed to an improvement in perioral muscle strength, and that this effect was maintained for at least 3 months after discontinuation of exercise.

Chewing gum for declining ileus and accelerating gastrointestinal recovery after appendectomy

Objective: Ileus usually occurs after abdominal surgery and is allied with complication and delays recovery. It is hypothesized that chewing gum reduces postoperative ileus by improving early recovery of gastrointestinal function. This study aimed to explore whether chewing gum after appendectomy accelerates the recovery of gastrointestinal function.Methods: Randomized control trial was used in this study. This study was conducted in the General Surgery Department at Zagazig University Hospital. A total of 240 patients undergoing appendectomy were involved in this study; they were divided into the chewing sugar-free gum group(120) and the control group(120). Two tools were utilized in this study. Tool I: Structured Interviewing Schedule: part 1: assessment of personnel characteristics. Part 2: assessment of anthropometric measurements of the studied subjects as well as pre-and intraoperative indicators of them. Tool II: postoperative assessment sheet: assessed postoperative parameters of the intestinal function, occurrence of postoperative ileus, and related symptoms were assessed among studied participants.Results: There were highly significant statistical differences in the time of resumption of gastrointestinal functions and postoperative ileus symptoms between the two groups(P<0.001), which was significantly shorter in the chewing gum group compared to the control group.Conclusions: The use of chewing gum is a useful and cheap method that can be employed to cut down the time to recover and accelerate normalization of gastrointestinal function. Chewing sugar-free gum after abdominal surgery is recommended to be added to the protocol of nursing care in the surgery units as well as its involvement in the nursing curriculum.

The brain activation pattern of the medial temporal lobe during chewing gum: a functional MRI study

The human brain is known to be influenced by environmental stimuli（Feeney et al.,1982;Kaplan,1988）.Therefore,research on the brain activation pattern by external stimuli has been an important topic in neuroscience（Kaplan,1988）.Chewing gum has been known to have a positive effect on cognition,including alertness,attention,cognitive processing speed,

Chewing gum for postoperative ileus after colorectal surgery:A systematic review of overlapping meta-analyses

Background：Many meta-analyses investigating gum chewing for postoperative recovery after colorectal surgery have been published with inconsistent findings.Therefore,we performed this study to systematically review these overlapping meta-analyses and offer clinical recommendations based on the current best evidence for decision makers.Methods：Multiple databases,including PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,Chinese BioMedical Literature on disc（CBMdisc）,China National Knowledge Infrastructure（CNKI）,Chinese Wanfang and Chinese VIP,were searched through October 2016.We included meta-analyses investigating the effectiveness of chewing gum for postoperative ileus after colorectal resection.Two investigators independently scanned and evaluated eligible meta-analyses,extracted essential information,assessed the methodological quality with the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews（AMSTAR） tool and Oxford Levels of Evidence,and used the Jadad decision algorithm at each step for all procedures.Heterogeneity ≤50%was accepted.Results：Ten meta-analyses were included in our study.The AMSTAR scores varied from 5 to 9,with a median of 7.7.Most heterogeneity fell into the acceptable range.After implementing the Jadad decision algorithm,two meta-analyses of RCTs were selected based on search strategies and the implications of selection.The available best evidence indicated that gum chewing significantly reduced time to first flatus,time to first bowel movement,time to first bowel sounds and length of hospital stay.However,these two meta-analyses reached inconsistent conclusions as to the complications and economic benefits.Conclusions：With the current best available evidence,we suggest gum chewing is beneficial for gastrointestinal function and reducing postoperative ileus.

The Antibacterial Effect of CMCTS-Containing Chewing Gum

Objective： This paper was designed to confirm the efficacy of chewing carboxymethyl chitosan（CMCTS）-containing gum in suppressing the growth of oral bacteria when compared to a CMCTS-containing mouth rinse. Methods：Fourteen healthy subjects were recruited from among the staff and students of Qingdao University Dentistry Department. Before the experiments saliva was collected from all subjects and bacteria counts determined. For the gum study, the subjects chewed CMCTS-containing gum for 5 min and then rested for 5 min. When testing the CMCTS mouth rinse, the subjects gargled with 10 mL of solution for 30 s, followed by resting for 9rain 30 s. These protocols were repeated five times over a 50 min period on the same day. Post-experiment saliva samples were then collected at the following times： 0, 30 and 60 min. Results： Chewing gum containing CMCTS or rinsing with a CMCTS-containing rinse significantly decreased oral bacteria counts. The total bacteria counts, total Streptococci counts, and mutans streptococci counts of saliva from subjects who chewed CMCTS-containing gum were significantly lower than saliva from subjects in the rinse group in all three sampling periods, except in the case of the total bacteria count in the 60 min samples. Conclusion：CMCTS-containing gum chewing has a greater antibac- terial effect than using a CMCTS-containing mouth rinse. The present findings strongly indicate that the application of natural materials such as chitosan and its derivatives is useful for better oral health.

Chewing Gum May Make You Smarter

北京的地铁,每日要花费大量的人力物力来清除地面上口香糖留下的“残渣余孽”。但愿这则消息不要给北京地铁增加工作量！】

Chewing Gum Can Help in Weight Loss, Study Says

杭州的陈小兰把这篇稿子寄给我们,意欲刊登在“难句会诊”专栏。因为她对文章的第一句(非主题句也)感到莫名其妙。我们觉得本文的信息不乏新意,现将此文刊登在注释读物栏。 语言与文化岂可随便割裂?两者的关系是:你中有我,我中有你,水乳交融一般。陈小兰对文章的首句(Maybe this s why the Doublemint Twins are soskinny.)感到头疼。问题不在文字,而在文化。语言打着文化烙印,其丰润的文化内涵往往不是查阅词典、阅读书籍所能够解决的,需要长期地生活在该语言文化环境之中。陈小兰的问题,我们编辑部也感到头疼,只得求助美国教授。E-mail上午发往美国,下午回音即到！ Dorine/Rosemary两教授分别居住在美国的东/西海岸。她们的解答几乎如出一辙。本刊将她们的E-mail附在文后。有兴趣的读者不妨一读,从中也许还可以感受到电视商业广告是何等深入人心！ 本文还有一句话的理解值得注意: The effect of chewing gum on weight control,they said,“should not bediscounted.” Discount一词的含义是“打折扣”,翻译时似不宜照译,恐怕只能改译“低估”。 我们向读者推荐此文,并不是为Chewing Gum作广告,也不可能为ChewingGum作广告。因为,文章的末尾写道: But they warned that a person would have to chew