Tongue & Taste – Tongue and taste
Wonders
of the tongue are speech and taste. Everyone knows that a literate tongue and
pen are the most powerful weapons of scholars. Its worth can be understood as
one uses that the words ‘mother tongue’ for one’s spoken the language. As a
double-edged sword, any mistake of it or slip of the tongue can make one’s life
miserable.
Tongue is a small muscular organ
playing a major role in our life. It is one of the marvellous parts of our body
which carries different functions in different manners. It is otherwise termed
as glossal or lingual.
Tongue has no skeleton for support.
In spite of it all, it claims to be the most powerful muscle of our body in
proportion to its size. With the tongue, food tastes good, of course life, too.
As no doctor will miss one to say “Aaah” to see the tongue and throat, tongue
postulates to be a display mirror of health status. Pink and clean tongue is
supposed to be indicative of pink of health and free of diseases. In mammals,
tongue is used as a tool for licking to show special affection.
Tongue
It is approximately 10 cms long
and 4 cms broad. It occupies and attaches to the floor of the mouth by frenulum
(fold of mucous membrane). It is fitted in such a way that it can have free
movement in all directions. It is guarded well with the jaw, teeth and palates.
Tongue is made up of striated
muscles. Four pairs of intrinsic muscles help in formation of the shape.
Extrinsic muscles help for attachments and movements. It is attached to hyoid
bone, jaw bone and temporal bone of skull through extrinsic muscles.
The upper part of the tongue is rough
in character to have good grip with food. The lower part is smooth andhas blood
vessels and sensitive nerves. The rough look of tongue is due to the papillae.
Papillae are fur like structure in which taste buds are embedded or studded.
Four types of papillae are present in the tongue. They are filiform, fungiform,
foliate and vallate. They have taste buds on their surfaces. The oral part of
the tongue has more taste buds than of pharynx part. The tongue is supplied by
the facial nerve, glossopharngeal nerve and hypoglossal nerves. The former two
carry sensations from the tongue and the later bring motor impulses from the
brain to act.
Functions – As tongue remains freely movable in all
directions, it can do all sorts of work. The tongue can also attain different
shapes to do different jobs, i.e., it can get folded, flexed and rolled like an
elephanttrunk. Tongue functions are innumerous.
·
It helps us to take our food / drink
·
It also helps in grinding the food
(in mastication process) by directing the drinks as spatula
·
Also, it helps in swallowing
(deglutition) by pushing the food bolus or drinks inside the throat
·
It can sense/detect even a minute
unusual thing while masticating, i.e., hair, stones, sharp materials, etc, in
the food, to get discarded
·
It spreads saliva throughout the
mouth to maintain moisture in the mouth
·
The tongue usually maintains
cleanliness of the mouth, cheek, teeth, gums, etc., with the help of saliva
·
When the tongue gets dry, it induces
the brain to initiate impulse to take water with the sensation of thirst.
Against all the above said vital functions for survival and
preventive measures, tongue especially works for communication (speech) and
taste. The coordination of movement (of tongue) with speech and mastication
process is invaluable. In case of lack of coordination, it can be caught in
between the teeth and can be bitten.
·
With training, it can speak fluently
(even though speech is not only confined to tongue, without it, speech is
impossible)
·
Sharp tongue usually speaks well with
better clarity
·
Further it can be used to whistle,
blow, spit, etc.
·
It can sense decomposed or non
palatable food with taste and intimate the
brain to avoid
it. (Smell also plays a role here.)
·
It can reject unwanted foods/drinks
by triggering the brain to induce vomiting
·
Touching/scratching the posterior
part will be felt as an unpleasant feeling and
it induces gag or vomiting.
Taste
Taste is one of the
special senses / feelings just like vision , hearing, smell, touch or pain .
Taste differs from person to person, i.e., some people like to have sugar, some
others would like sour things, some others would prefer salty stuff and yet
others would prefer spicy food / bitter items. Likewise, some need a heap of
sugar whereas some others need only a little amount to add taste. Normally,
desires and aversions are developed with habits, i.e., what some find delicious
others might find irritating.
Though bitter or salt or sour is not
palatable as separate entity, they all can add taste to food. Their perfect
combinations with food can make splendid tasty food. Likewise, some food tastes
good while it is served hot, some others taste good while served cold, but all
foods / drinks served in the extreme of temperatures usually induce / cause
sensation of pain. Here again, tolerance to temperature differs from person to
person, i.e., some take food very hot, some others prefer it to be medium and
some prefer it cold. Occasionally, even medium hot food / drink can cause
scalding to those who have cold food.
Nowadays, evolution of cooking and
revolution of catering technology has been creating / introducing many varieties
of food items claiming to be mouthwatering,delicious food. Feeling of taste is
sensed by taste buds / receptors present all over the mouth in a scattered
manner (i.e., in tongue, walls of cheek, gums, pharynx and soft palate). The
chemical (specific) receptors in taste buds identify the particular taste and
trigger the particular area in brain to have a pleasant or irritable feeling.
These types of special sensations are carried to the brain by VII cranial nerve
– facial nerve (from cheek and anterior 2/3 of tongue) and IX cranial nerve –
glossopharngeal nerve (from posterior 1/3 of tongue, gums and pharynx).
Even though taste is not confined
only to the tongue, the tongue is always blamed for any taste difference. Taste
buds / receptors in the tongue are very much sensitive to temperature or
disease, so even before the fever or disease manifests its full symptoms, taste
or disgust for food (with aversion or appetite loss) emerges as the first
symptom. The taste also differs with use of strong tooth paste, mouth
fresheners, betel nut leaves, antibiotics, medicines, tobacco, cigarettes, etc.
Likewise, in many disease conditions taste will become feeble or masked, i.e.,
in glossodynia (burning mouth syndrome), sjogren’s syndrome (dry mouth),
glossitis, auto immune disorders, cancer patients, chemotherapy, radiation
therapy, etc.
Tongue
cleanliness
Mostly tongue maintains self cleanliness. It
gets rinsed while drinking water and gets rubbed with hard and soft palate
while masticating. Even though people brush
their teeth daily, cleanliness of
tongue is often ignored. If at all they care, they scrub it more to injure it
or to get gags to clear throat. In case of coating or deposits of debris, it
needs to be cleaned with a tongue wiper or scrapper or brush in a gentle manner
to have taste at its best. Regular cleaning can help in avoiding plaque / debris
deposits.
Examination
Tongue is often examined by doctors
(mostly with every visit) to assess the patient’s health status or problems.
With retracted head, wide opened mouth, protruded tongue, the patient will be
asked to say ‘aahh’ for clear vision of all the area of mouth including tongue
and throat. Tongue will be examined for its size, colour, moisture, papillae,
coating, ulcers, deformities, extra growth, venous engorgements, etc. Tongue
will be dry in case of dehydration, pale in case of anaemia, discoloured in
case of disease, smooth and glistening in case of ulcers.
For new hope
Dr. S. Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD
(Homeo)
Laxmi Homeo Clinic
24 E. New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai, TN 625 001, India
Tel: +91-984-319-1011 (Mob / Whatsapp)
Clinic : +91-452-233-8833
Web : https://drcheena.in | https://drcheena.org
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@DrChidambaranathanhomeopathy
E-mail: drcheena@gmail.com
(Disclaimer: The contents of this column are
for informational purpose only. The content is not intended to be a substitute
for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the
advice of healthcare professional for any health problem or medical condition.)