Composed of 17 muscles, the tongue is one of the most powerful organs in the human body. It is very active and rarely stops working. It touches the palate 1,500 to 2,000 times a day, every time we swallow saliva, the Health and Social Agency of New Caledonia tells us. As with stools and urine, it is a good indicator of our state of health. For example, its color can indicate the presence of a health problem, an expert informs in The Conversation.
Bright red tongue
Although pretty, a bright red tongue, like a spring strawberry, should “always be taken seriously,” warns Dan Baumgardt, a lecturer in physiology, pharmacology and neuroscience at the University of Bristol in England.
The color can be a sign of scarlet fever, an infection caused by a bacterium with the barbaric name group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. “During scarlet fever, the tongue takes on a characteristic appearance,” confirms the National Health Insurance, “first it is covered with a thick white coating (coated tongue), then it loses its white coating from the periphery to the center and becomes
raw, taking on a raspberry-red color after a few days.” It causes symptoms such as sore throat, fever and a rash. Contagious, the disease is treated with antibiotics. A red tongue can also be observed in people suffering from toxic shock syndrome, according to the English researcher. This bacterial infection can occur either during menstruation, with certain hygienic protections such as tampons, or because of an
infected wound. In children, a strawberry-colored tongue can also be caused by Kawasaki disease.
This is an inflammation of the blood vessel walls. The pathology is well treated, provided
it is diagnosed.
White tongue
Oral thrush is manifested by many symptoms including the presence of spots and/or white or yellowish patches in the mouth. It is caused by the abnormal proliferation of a fungus naturally present in the oral flora, candida. This imbalance is created in particular in the case of poor oral hygiene, dry mouth, local lesions or irritation, HIV infection, but also during pregnancy or when taking certain treatments. Except for babies, mouthwash and/or an antifungal is enough to treat the problem.
Blue tongue
This sign should be taken very seriously. It is a central cyanosis, a serious disease that results in a blue
coloration of the lips and tongue. It “appears when blood depleted in oxygen and bluish rather than red in color, perfuses the skin,” indicates the MSD Manual which lists and popularizes the diseases. “Cyanosis can be caused by various types of serious lung or heart diseases, which lead to a lowering of the oxygen level in the blood.”
Green and hairy tongue
Hairy tongue syndrome occurs when the papillae of the tongue are no longer able to get rid of dead cells and become longer, giving the hairy effect. The tongue can then be blackened, browned, yellowed or green. This last color was found in the mouth of an American patient. In this case, presented in July 2023 in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine, the disease probably developed, among other things, because of the man’s smoking and his consumption of antibiotics.
