Doctors at Wright-Patterson Medical Center have reported a rare case of green hairy tongue in a US man. Health report published New England Journal of Medicine.
A 64-year-old man noticed changes in his language a few weeks before visiting the clinic. During the medical examination, long green filiform papillae were found on the tongue.
Known as green hairy tongue, this condition is caused by the buildup of dead skin cells on the tongue, which leads to elongation of the papillae covering the tongue. Food particles, bacteria and yeast settle on them. Color can vary from black, brown, yellow or green.
Green hairy tongue may appear after taking antibiotics due to poor oral hygiene, smoking, or eating very soft foods that do not remove dead skin on the tongue. In the man’s case, the unusual tongue change was most likely caused by the antibiotics.
The patient was advised to gently clean his tongue with a toothbrush and to quit smoking. Eventually, the man’s tongue returned to normal despite continuing to smoke.
ancient scientists to solvewhere extinct saber-toothed cats and fearsome wolves suffered.