As I was sitting down to write the first blog for our organization, Camellix, I had to ask myself, “Why am I writing this blog? I am an Historian not a researcher or scientist; in fact, I was never very good at science. The only thing I got from college biology is that this is where I met my wife!” However, after doing my homework and looking over some of the research conducted for our products, I realized I am the best to write this introductory blog. Why? Because if I can understand everything we are doing, I can better help others to understand what we do.

The first thing I had to do was to learn about dry mouth, xerostomia and Sjögren’s Syndrome. While this sounds like a daunting task, it is relatively simple to understand. A simple definition of Xerostomia (dry mouth) was completed by the staff at the Mayo Clinic. Simply put, xerostomia is a condition in which your mouth is unusually dry. While dry mouth may seem to be a common problem that may seem little more than a nuisance, a dry mouth can affect both your enjoyment of food and the health of your teeth. Something I never realized myself is that a result of reduced or no saliva can lead to more serious complications or health problems because saliva helps prevent tooth decay by limiting bacterial growth and washing away food particles. Saliva also enhances your ability to taste and makes it easier to swallow. In addition, enzymes in saliva aid in digestion. While xerostomia is not a disease but can be a symptom of certain diseases. It can produce serious negative effects on the patients quality of life, affecting dietary habits, nutritional status, speech, taste, tolerance to dental prosthesis and increases susceptibility to dental caries. The increase in dental caries can be devastating in many patients and therefore special care must be made to control this condition.

Causes for Xerostomia include:

• Medications: Several hundred current medications can cause xerostomia. These include antihypertensive, antidepressants, analgesics, tranquilizers, diuretics and antihistamines c.
• Cancer Therapy: Chemotherapeutic drugs can change the flow and composition of the saliva. Radiation treatment that is focused on or near the salivary gland can temporarily or permanently damage the salivary glands.
• Sjogren’s Syndrome: An autoimmune disease causes xerostomia and dry eyes.
• Nerve Damage: Trauma to the head and neck area from surgery or wounds can damage the nerves that supply sensation to the mouth. While the salivary glands are left intact, they cannot function normally without the nerves that signal them to produce saliva.
• Other conditions: Bone marrow transplants, endocrine disorders, stress, anxiety, depression, and nutritional deficiencies may cause xerostomia.

My next blog will have Sjögren’s Syndrome laid out in layman’s terms.

So, what does Camellix do to assist those who suffer from dry mouth?

First, the name. How did we come up with the name, Camellix? Recently Dr. Stephen Hsu, our company founder and lead research scientist, was flying to China for a visit. As he sat on the plane he was trying to think of a good name for the company he wanted to create. Sitting there in one of those wonderfully comfortable airliner seats Dr. Hsu remembered the Latin term for the green tea plant, Camellix sinesis, the common origin of all teas. Camellix will be offering more products than just dry-mouth products. As Camellix sinesis is the origin for all teas, and a leading ingredient is our products, Camellix, LLC is the origin of MIGHTEAFLOW dry-mouth gum and lozenges, as well as REVITEALIZE anti-dandruff shampoo and AVERTEAX cold sore ointment. Other products will be coming as well.

For the past fifteen years, Dr. Hsu’s research has revolved almost exclusively around green tea and it is little army of chemicals that protect healthy cells. Green tea compounds can help protect against inflammation and autoimmune disease seen in Sjogren’s Syndrome, an actual disease that makes xerostomia seem like child’s play, inactivate viral particles such as Herpes, and regenerate skin cells and repair skin damage, including wrinkles and blemishes. The results are truly astonishing, and we want the world to know and benefit from the products we develop. We want to help the public and Health Care Professionals to better understand green teas healing properties through our many natural products, without side effects.

-Rick Trump, Camellix Director of Business Operations