A child has a fishy breath smell: causes, treatment and prevention

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There are diseases that everyone has heard of: diabetes, hypertension, asthma, etc. But what about diseases so rare that few would even think of their existence?

We talk about the incredible diagnoses that have ever been given to a person - starting with a syndrome in which the patient involuntarily produces pure alcohol in the intestines, and ending with a pathology characterized by the uncontrolled growth of various body tissues, which greatly changes a person’s appearance and leads to other health problems .

Cabbage

Broccoli, cauliflower and regular cabbage are healthy for humans. It is believed that they cleanse the body and remove harmful substances through the pores. However, cabbage contains a lot of sulfur, the compounds of which cause an unpleasant odor. In addition, people who consume large amounts of this product often suffer from intestinal gas and bloating.

Foul body odor. 7 Popular Foods That Cause It

Foul body odor. 7 Popular Foods That Cause It
Foul body odor. 7 Popular Foods That Cause It

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Imagine this: you were born and raised in New York and have a typical New York accent. One day you receive a strong blow to the head while playing your favorite sport and lose consciousness.

When you wake up in the emergency room and talk to the nurse, you realize that something inexplicable has happened - the New York accent has disappeared, and now you sound like a true Englishman.

What's happened? This imaginary situation illustrates an extremely rare disorder: foreign accent syndrome . This is a speech defect that occurs as a result of damage to the parts of the brain responsible for coordinating speech. This brain damage can occur due to a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Researchers note the following recorded cases of "accent changes" caused by this syndrome: from Japanese to Korean, from British to French, from American to British and from Spanish to Hungarian.

However, some research suggests that while most cases of foreign accent syndrome are caused by brain injuries, sometimes the condition may be psychogenic in origin.

In a literature review published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2020, scientists concluded that psychogenic foreign accent syndrome is a subtype of this disease.

“Psychogenic [foreign accent syndrome] is associated with the presence of a mental or psychological disorder in the absence of obvious neurological damage or pathology that could explain the appearance of the accent,” the authors write.

They add that this subtype is more common in women than men, usually between the ages of 25 and 49.

Fish

Fish is healthy: it contains a large number of substances important for the body, including vitamin A. However, some types of fish also contain choline, vitamin B4, which gives the body a lasting aroma. In some people, such foods cause trimethylaminuria, that is, “fishy odor syndrome.”

Foul body odor. 7 Popular Foods That Cause It
Foul body odor. 7 Popular Foods That Cause It

A child has a fishy breath smell: causes, treatment and prevention

Halitosis can occur not only in adults, but also in children. Bad breath occurs under the influence of various factors. Often the cause is failure to comply with basic oral hygiene. But you should not ignore if your child has a fishy breath smell, as this may be a signal from the body about possible pathological processes.

Causes of fishy breath in children

It is important to know the reasons why your child’s breath smells like fish. This will get rid of the unpleasant odor. Children are often influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors.

Their body instantly reacts to various negative changes with certain symptoms. Halitosis from the oral cavity, especially after waking up, can tell a lot.

Often the cause is the food consumed the day before or the lack of hygiene procedures before bed.

This problem can occur periodically or systematically. If a child's breath smells like fish, this may be a symptom of diseases of the internal organs, so you should not ignore it. You need to visit a doctor immediately.

Often, a child between the ages of one and five suffers from dryness of the oral mucosa or nasal congestion (in this case, the child constantly breathes through the mouth), which arise against the background of colds (the immature immune system is not yet able to fight a large number of viral and bacterial agents that systematically attack it).

There are many other reasons for bad breath in a child. Such breathing should alert parents; in this case, contacting a doctor is mandatory.

Taking medications

In some cases, an unpleasant fishy odor appears from the mouth as a consequence of taking certain medications. Especially if the treatment was long-term.

If such drugs are prescribed for the treatment of pathologies of internal organs, the state of the microflora should be monitored in parallel and probiotics should be taken to prevent an imbalance in the microflora of the intestinal tract.

With prolonged use of potent drugs, not only the microflora is disrupted, but also metabolic disorders occur within the baby’s body. If the function of at least one organ of the digestive system is impaired, the food in the stomach can rot and decompose, which causes the appearance of odor. Drugs that can cause fish-like halitosis include:

  • antihistamines (prescribed by a doctor in the presence of an allergic reaction, parasitic diseases or inflammatory processes);
  • some antibacterial drugs;
  • antidepressants or psychosomatic drugs;
  • medications to treat asthma;
  • vasodilators for the treatment of a runny nose or medications for chronic tonsillitis.

This is why it is very important not to self-medicate, but to follow your doctor’s recommendations.

After all, only a qualified specialist can draw up a competent treatment regimen, taking into account all the risks and contraindications for the child.

For example, if antibacterial drugs are prescribed, it is necessary to take probiotics in parallel in order to prevent an imbalance of the intestinal microflora.

Insufficient oral hygiene

If the health of the oral cavity is impaired, this is accompanied not only by halitosis, but also by plaque on the tongue and ulcers on the mucous membranes. This clinical picture is typical for stomatitis or candidiasis. In this case, a doctor should deal with this problem in order to alleviate the child’s condition and get rid of the disease faster.

Similar symptoms can occur if oral hygiene is not maintained. Oral hygiene should be performed twice a day. In this case, it is necessary to clean not only the surface of the teeth, but also the tongue and the interdental space.

Otherwise, the mucous membrane becomes covered with plaque and bacteria, which actively multiply and cause halitosis. It is very important to rinse your mouth after every meal, brush your teeth if possible, or use mouthwash. All this will help prevent the problem from occurring.

Parents should ensure that hygiene procedures are carried out carefully and systematically.

Psychosomatics as one of the reasons

Such symptoms may be caused by psychosomatic factors. In this case, these are not signs of the disease. There is such a thing as false halitosis. This disease, which relates to mental disorders, is more often diagnosed in adults.

Moms and dads who worry excessively about their child's health may not notice how this intense anxiety transforms into real mania. Adults think that the child smells unpleasant.

In an effort to help the baby, they take many activities.

So a non-existent disease becomes a problem, and the child is constantly in a state of stress.

In this case, halitosis is only a cause for concern for parents, and not a true symptom of possible pathologies. Parents should listen to the doctor’s recommendations and follow all instructions.

Typically, treatment of halitosis in this case is carried out by a neurologist or psychiatrist, working in parallel with both the child and his parents.

Other reasons

With an incorrectly composed diet, similar problems are also observed. When consuming large amounts of carbohydrate foods, fried, fatty, and salty foods, the function of the esophagus can be disrupted, and the immune system also suffers.

In this case, during the illness you will need to follow a diet - meals should be limited to small portions, but should be frequent.

With frequent split meals, food has time to be absorbed, which significantly facilitates the functioning of the digestive system.

Some types of stomatitis are also accompanied by the appearance of the smell of spoiled fish. Most often, this symptom is felt after waking up.

This is due to the fact that during sleep the baby’s digestive system digests food and its breakdown products.

The liver is not able to cope with a heavy load, cleansing the body, which is why a fishy aroma appears. It is often accompanied by a yellow coating on the surface of the tongue.

If dental diseases develop in the mouth - caries, gingivitis, periodontitis, this is also accompanied by halitosis. In this case, you need to clean your tongue and undergo dental treatment, which is carried out by a dentist. This way you can quickly get rid of an unpleasant symptom.

In girls during puberty, this phenomenon is often triggered by hormonal changes in the body (the smell becomes more intense during menstrual periods). The main diseases that cause the problem: pathologies of the biliary system or liver, increased blood glucose levels, tumor processes in the body.

How can the doctor help?

It is important to contact a specialist in a timely manner, undergo diagnostic measures and treatment. The doctor’s task is to determine the cause of the unpleasant symptom and eliminate it. Additionally, you should eat properly, follow a drinking regimen, and thoroughly clean your mouth.

How to fix the problem at home

If a fishy odor appears from a child’s mouth, this odor can be eliminated by brushing the teeth, using special rinses, sprays, and lozenges. Chewing gum will help get rid of the problem for a while.

If your child’s mouth smells like fish, you should adjust your diet. Exclude the following foods from it: sweets, fried, fatty foods, spicy and salty foods.

It is imperative to observe a drinking regime; the more children drink clean water, the faster their body will be cleansed of toxic compounds and their breakdown products.

Prompt treatment of provoking diseases should also be carried out.

Chief author and editor-in-chief: Makarskaya S.E., 29 years of experience.

Last revision: 12/22/2017

Source: https://tvoyzubnoy.ru/gigiena-polosti-rta/u-rebenka-zapah-ryby-izo-rta.html

Causes of the disease


Trimethylaminuria results in a faint or distinct fishy odor emanating from the entire body. The smell is felt when sweating, moving, or excreting waste products. The main reason why urine smells like fish is an inflammatory process in the genitourinary system.

The etiology may be different. As a result of ongoing inflammation, the level of leukocytes increases. Its increase in acute pathology causes a change in the composition and properties of urine excreted by a person.

The process can develop in the genitourinary system, intestines, kidneys, or be the result of injury, infection, intensive bacterial growth, or vaginal dysbiosis. In this case, the smell disappears after the disease is cured.

Fatal familial insomnia

We all know that lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can affect every aspect of a person's life and well-being, impairing both physical and mental health.

Most of us can improve our sleep hygiene through appropriate lifestyle changes and thereby avoid the negative consequences of sleep deprivation. Only a few people on earth suffer from a rare disease known as fatal familial insomnia.

This condition is a genetic degenerative brain disorder in which a person experiences increasingly severe forms of insomnia. And ultimately leads to “significant deterioration in physical and mental health.”

What's more, fatal familial insomnia can affect the autonomic nervous system, the "autopilot" system that regulates processes such as breathing, heart rate and body temperature.

This disease is usually caused by a mutation in a gene for a protein that regulates the expression of prions. Protein abnormalities may be associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

In fatal familial insomnia, damaged proteins accumulate in the thalamus, the part of the brain responsible for a person's ability to move and feel. This damages brain cells and causes severe physical and mental symptoms.

Despite hope that antipsychotic drugs and drugs used to control malaria could treat the disease, this approach has failed. There are currently no treatments for fatal familial insomnia. Research into this syndrome is ongoing.

How to cure bad body odor

This question should be asked to your doctor; general recommendations may worsen the situation. What won’t hurt is to exclude the following foods from your diet during treatment:

  • garlic;
  • marinades;
  • canned vegetables and other dishes;
  • asparagus;
  • citrus fruits, lemon.

Enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits, berries with the set of vitamins your body lacks. It wouldn’t hurt to add fiber-rich foods to the menu – cucumbers, buckwheat porridge. They will give vitality and make the intestines work more actively. This means your immunity will increase. Every morning, do not be lazy to prepare oatmeal, generously flavoring it with nuts. Fruit desserts, salads, and jelly are recommended for patients with an unpleasant aroma.

Wash more often, twice a day if necessary. In addition, water washes away negative energy and clears the space for a positive aura.

Treatment


Confirmed trimethylaminuria treatment involves only indirect treatment. The doctor will describe the course of therapy in detail.

Several principles of diet composition will be recommended, products containing choline, carnitine and lecithin, or dietary precursors of trimethylamine, will be listed. The disease protocol does not imply total or drug therapy. In some cases, it is carried out selectively or for preventive purposes.

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