Dry mouth is a common symptom of low salivary gland activity or dehydration. Read on to find out what factors contribute to the development of these two, and in turn, cause dry mouth.
Your mouth is kept moist by saliva, also known as salivary mouth lubrication, which is what helps you speak and eat. It also ensures your lips, tongue and teeth are in healthy condition by washing away microbes and preventing dry sores from forming. Additionally, saliva moistens your food, which helps with digestion.
Here are four factors that can cause your mouth to go into desert mode.
- Medication use is by far one of the most common causes of dry mouth. Common types are antihistamines and allergy medications, which are designed to dry out normally moist tissues in the body. Other types include blood pressure and depression medications.
- Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancers as well as Sjögren’s syndrome, in which your body attacks its own salivary glands, all are known to cause have dry mouth. Here, the dryness is probably further extended by medications taken to treat these conditions.
- Dehydration is an obvious cause for dry mouth. What is not always obvious, however, are the ways you can become dehydrated, aside from not drinking enough water. As far as your body is concerned, any fluid loss is dehydrating. For this reason, sweating during fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and blood loss all can cause your body to become dehydrated.
- Other factors that can cause a dry mouth are smoking, age, and cancer treatment such as radiation and chemotherapy.
If you think any of the above factors are applicable to you, talk to your doctor to identify the safest way to alleviate your mouth’s dryness.
