May 8th, 2009
Specific treatment aimed at unblocking comedones (black-beads or whiteheads) involves the use of various topical preparations which may be applied to the skin. These include preparations containing salicylic acid or sulphur, which promote dryness of the skin and light scaling or peeling. The advantage of these preparations is that they may be gradually increased in strength to achieve the required effect. Other preparations which may be cosmetically more acceptable include retinoic acid. This is perhaps more effective in penetration, but is frequently irritating to the skin. Other preparations which are very useful in causing exfoliation of the skin and subsequent unblocking of comedones are the benzoyl peroxide gels. These may cause irritation but if used carefully are very helpful as an adjunct to treatment.
Ultraviolet light seems to have a similar exfoliating effect on the skin and is therefore most beneficial in the treatment of this condition. It appears to be further helped by salt water, due no doubt to its drying action.
Oral antibiotics, particularly tetracycline, have a most dramatic and beneficial effect. Their action appears to be threefold. They reduce comedone formation, resulting in less blockages of sebaceous gland ducts. Furthermore they reduce the acidity of the sebum, which then results in less tissue breakdown when the glands rupture. They also decrease the amount of propionibacterium acnes. This results in less chemical or enzyme being released into the skin when the glands rupture. The overall result of this is much less inflammation. It can be seen, therefore, that the antibiotics are used not so much for their anti-bacterial effect as for a side effect that they appear to have on the oil glands. Very small doses of these antibiotics may be used, in fact much smaller doses than those required for the treatment of normal mild infections of the skin. Consequently they may be used for prolonged periods, except of course with pregnant women or children under the age of 12 years, or if side-effects appear.
*47\44\4*
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May 8th, 2009
Summary of main points.
• A low-fat diet has an automatically high percentage of carbohydrate.
• Carbohydrate is most simply classified as either sugar, starch or fibre.
• More complex classifications are currently being developed.
• A high-carbohydrate intake has not been linked to obesity in populations.
• A reduction in sugar consumption may be wise for some individuals.
• Client education should involve:
— assessment of dietary carbohydrate intake and its specific components; sugar, starch and fibre
— recommended food selection for increasing dietary fibre
— information on how to read food labels and ingredient lists
— explanation of nutritional claims about carbohydrate in food
Until recently, carbohydrates have drawn far less scientific attention than dietary fat. Now there is ample evidence to show that specific components of carbohydrate are beneficial for both health and body fat management. In percentage terms, carbohydrate will replace fat in the diet if a lower-fat eating plan is adopted.
*101\186\4*
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May 8th, 2009
Prostaglandins are substances that are produced by many tissues throughout the body, including endometrial implants. One of their functions is to control the contraction and relaxation of the muscles in many of the internal organs of the body including the uterus and fallopian tubes.
It is thought that women with endometriosis have higher concentrations of prostaglandins in their peritoneal fluid and that these higher concentrations may contribute to infertility by hindering or preventing conception and implantation in a number of ways.
It is possible that prostaglandins interfere with the functioning of the ovaries and prevent the release of the ovum thereby preventing fertilisation.
Prostaglandins may affect the sperm as they move towards the ovum by slowing down their movement and thus reducing the number of healthy sperm that can reach the ovum in time for fertilisation.
Prostaglandins help the ovum move along the fallopian tube.
If the fertilised ovum is propelled too rapidly along the tube the ovum will reach the uterus too quickly. Therefore, when the fertilised ovum reaches the uterus it may not be mature enough to implant itself in the endometrium or the endometrium may not be ready to accept the fertilised ovum. If the fertilised ovum is propelled too slowly down the fallopian tube it may not reach the uterus in time to embed itself in the endometrium.
Prostaglandins may also affect the relaxation and contraction of the uterus. If they produce excessive contractions of the uterus they may prevent implantation of the fertilised ovum or they may cause it to be expelled soon after implantation.
*91\83\2*
Categories: Women's Health |
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May 8th, 2009
There is no simple and accurate test which can be used to detect endometriosis. The only reliable way to diagnose the condition is by observing the implants during a minor operation known as a laparoscopy.
The diagnosis usually involves several stages which may include some or all of the following:
Reporting your symptoms to a doctor
Giving a history of your symptoms
Having a physical examination
Having an ultrasound
Having a laparoscopy
Taking a biopsy during a laparoscopy.
An early diagnosis is important as endometriosis is generally thought to be a progressive condition in which treatment is more effective in the early stages. If the progression of the condition can be stopped, or at least slowed down, then the likelihood of developing long-term complications such as infertility, adhesions and chronic pain is reduced.
For many women the road to a diagnosis is often long and it is not uncommon for women to see several doctors regarding their symptoms over a number of years before a diagnosis is made. In a survey conducted by the Endometriosis Association (Victoria), the average time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was over six years.
The long delay in diagnosis experienced by many women is partly due to the fact that endometriosis is often difficult to diagnose, especially in the early stages. The symptoms are easily confused with several other conditions and some doctors are not fully aware of the range of possible symptoms. In addition, a pelvic examination often appears normal.
Unfortunately, the diagnosis of endometriosis is also sometimes affected by doctors’ attitudes to the symptoms. Many doctors do not take women’s and teenager’s symptoms, such as period pain, seriously. Like many people in our community, they tend to assume that period pain is normal or psychological.
Doctors often do not consider a diagnosis in women and teenagers who do not conform to the traditional stereotype of women with endometriosis. Consequently teenagers and women under the age of 25, women who have had children and women from lower socio-economic backgrounds are often simply not considered for a diagnosis.
*31\83\2*
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April 29th, 2009
Weight loss can be caused by a number of physiological and psychological disorders, and if unexplained weight loss occurs, a medical practitioner should be consulted.
Intended weight loss for health or other reasons involves a number of factors. There are many theories regarding weight loss which encompass genetics, food intake and exercise. There is some evidence of a genetic predisposition to obesity and variations in metabolic function. There is also evidence, however, that while some people weigh considerably more than others but have the same food intake, those who weigh more do less exercise.
Most nutritionists agree that effective weight reduction involves a long-term change in eating patterns and behaviour and a gradual but significant increase in exercise. Fad or crash diets used for a short period actually reduce the amount of muscle and water in the body and weight is rapidly regained once the diet is discontinued.
Approaches to gradual weight loss include lowering fat and kilojoule intake while increasing the amount of fatburning exercise. Fat content is reduced by eliminating junk foods and refined sugar and reducing dairy products and fatty meats. Lowering the amount of fat in the diet should correspond with an increase in the intake of fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains. Drinking around 8 glasses of water a day is also recommended. Exercise involving at least three 20 minute periods per week will increase the metabolic rate and burn fat.
*80\69\2*
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April 29th, 2009
Life is difficult. This is how M Scott Peck begins The Road Less Travelled, one of the most successful books of all time. As he points out, this statement is one of the great, inescapable truths, which has been emphasized by philosophers since the time of Buddha. Hard work, losses, injustices, illness and poverty are among the problems that are part of our human condition. Despite these difficulties, however, the capacity of the human spirit to rise above such difficulties time and again has repeatedly been observed. Victor Frankl survived one of the greatest horrors of our modern era or, perhaps, of all time – the Holocaust – and went on to write his classic inspirational work, Man’s Search for Meaning in which he emphasized our capacity to find significance and value even in the most horrible of circumstances. He regarded such an ability to preserve a sense of purpose and meaning as essential to survival.
Depressed people lose their capacity to see meaning and significance in their lives. A religious person when depressed may feel cut off from God, a particularly distressing loss at a time when spiritual comfort may be most deeply needed. In such a spiritual void, the depressed person may naturally feel that there is very little purpose in living.
Related to our ability to find a sense of meaning and purpose in life is our capacity to enjoy ourselves and have fun. We can see this ability at play even in the midst of all sorts of difficulties. Poor people retain their ability to celebrate, as anyone can see who has walked through the impoverished neighbourhoods of some European town during the festival for a saint or at carnival time. Even very hard-working people take time out for recreation. When difficult times let up, even for a short interval, the ability to have fun pops up again like the crocuses that sprout their shoots and flowers after a long winter.
All of these normal abilities are the opposite of what we see in depression. Even in the midst of plenty – enough money, good physical health, supportive friends and family — the depressed person is unable to have a good time. This inability to enjoy life can come on insidiously and it may take a while to realize that you are not enjoying life as you used to. Sometimes this recognition is triggered by returning to a place you’ve been before or an activity you used to relish and realizing that you don’t have the same feelings or enthusiasm for it that you enjoyed before. Sometimes friends will ask you what the matter is. You just don’t seem to be enjoying yourself as you used to. Suddenly or gradually you realize that nothing feels like fun anymore. As one of my patients put it, depression is like an unwelcome guest that follows you around your house and just won’t go away. The formal clinical term for this state is anhedonia, which means the inability to experience pleasure. Life feels dreary. Sometimes this dreariness is experienced through the senses. Colours seem less bright than they did before. The world may look grey or dark where formerly it was full of vivid colours. Whatever it is that you may have loved -music, dancing, films – now feels like a drag. In this way, depression is like a thief that robs you of the joy of living. This is another reason not to delay in treating it and reclaiming the ability to experience joy once again.
If nothing seems like fun anymore and life seems dreary, and this has been going on for more than a few weeks, consider the possibility that you may be clinically depressed.
*53\75\2*
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April 28th, 2009
First on the list is natural gas. The case of Ellen Sanders is an extreme example of what natural gas can do to susceptible people. Many more people are less dramatically, but just as insidiously, affected by this product.
The use of the word “natural” in this context is misleading. Natural gas comes from the earth, but by and large it has lain there, trapped, for millennia. It is only in the past century that man has tapped this resource and brought himself into physical contact with it. Thus, natural gas is highly unnatural as far as the human body is concerned—a substance with which the body has no physiological method of coping. Synthetic chemicals are also added to this “natural” product, such as the one used to give it its characteristic “skunky” odor.
A leaking gas line is, of course, a life-threatening hazard: each year over a thousand people die of gas poisoning in the home. An equally serious threat, in my opinion, is posed by the day-in and day-out inhalation of minute quantities of this same poisonous substance by the chemically susceptible.
We have been convinced by skillful advertising and public relations that natural gas is not only natural, but “safe” and “clean.” Yet studies at the University of California and elsewhere have shown that the carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels in a vented kitchen become as high as in Los Angeles during a smog attack, when an oven has been heated to 350°F. for one hour. If the kitchen does not have an exhaust fan, these levels climb to three times the Los Angeles smog level in the same period. Few people would not be susceptible to such high levels of indoor air pollution.
There are individuals, however, who are kept in a perpetual state of illness by far lower levels of the same poisonous substances. The gas which emanates from normal pilot lights or escapes from a well-saturated stove is often the main source of a patient’s illness.
Given a choice, then, everyone should choose an electric range over a gas range. The first rule of prevention in this field is to minimize one’s exposure to utility gas.
Since changing the stove might very well entail some expense, it is advisable to test oneself for reactions to the gas range first. This can be done by temporarily removing the range from the house, if at all possible. (A shut-off stove is better than a connected one but still disseminates gas into the environment.) Electric appliances such as a hot plate can be substituted for the range while the test is under way.
After the gas stove has been removed for a week or so, it can then be returned. The reader should keep a symptom diary, in which changes (positive or negative) in his condition can be noted. Both the removal of the gas stove and its reintroduction may be accompanied by changes in health. In cases in which the stove is definitely incriminated as a cause of symptoms, it should be permanently removed.
Although there may be some expense involved in making this change, it is a worthwhile investment in health. Several thousand patients have been guided in removing their gas ranges on the basis of such positive tests and not one has complained about the cost or reported being dissatisfied with the change.
*104\110\2*
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April 28th, 2009
When musicians suddenly increase the duration and intensity of practice or playing they risk getting the overuse syndrome, a disorder that causes pain, weakness, and loss of function in certain muscles, the Lancet (2:728) reports. Playing string instruments causes this problem to occur in the upper limbs, but, with wind instruments, it is the lips, tongue, throat, and chest that are affected. In severe cases, stiffening and deformity may occur, with arthritis in the joints of the hands, arm, or spine.
To avoid the problem, musicians should not play continuously for long periods. Parents and teachers of children learning to play an instrument should not insist upon unbroken hour-long sessions of practice. Sporting activity and exercises that extend the range of motion of the spine and strengthen the muscles are helpful. Any repertoire that brings on pain or discomfort should be abandoned.
Lastly, supporting devices that take the weight of an instrument off the musicians’ arms can make a considerable difference. If partial resting fails to alleviate the pain and tenderness, the musician should give up playing completely for many months, until all of the symptoms have disappeared altogether. Other activities (e.g: writing or turning taps) that also bring on the symptoms must be abandoned, too. Medical care is necessary.
Only after the symptoms have cleared completely can the musician safely resume playing, starting with one minute twice daily and extending the time very gradually. Since the overuse syndrome can be so disabling and difficult to overcome, music performers need to be alert to the danger of playing for too long.
*182\143\2*
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April 28th, 2009
Symptom: Extra sounds made by the heart that are known not to indicate an abnormality
Home care: No home care is required for an innocent murmur.
Precautions:
- Believe your doctor’s assurance that innocent murmurs are normal.
- Do not make the mistake of over-protecting a child who has an innocent murmur; it is not necessary.
- Try not to be alarmed by the long medical names given to innocent murmurs.
- Most innocent murmurs disappear by the time the child is a teenager.
A heart murmur is an extra sound made by the heart as it pumps. A heart murmur may indicate abnormalities in the heart, or it may simply be a normal sound caused by turbulence as the blood rushes through the heart. The sounds that do not indicate heart disease or abnormalities are called “innocent murmurs,” “insignificant murmurs”, or “functional murmurs.” They are perfectly normal. Some experts believe that almost every healthy child has at least one innocent murmur, and if the child will stay still long enough in a quiet room a doctor will eventually be able to hear it. Other experts put the figure lower, at half of all normal children. As the child grows, the extra sound or sounds usually become increasingly hard to hear. By the time the child is a teenager, the murmur usually disappears, or becomes so quiet it cannot be detected. Only 15 to 20 percent of innocent murmurs continues into adolescence or adulthood.
*99/84/5*
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April 23rd, 2009
Carbohydrates include sugars and starches. They are an important source of energy and are all eventually broken down in your body into the simple sugar, glucose. There are two types of carbohydrate – complex and simple. Complex carbohydrates include grains (such as wheat, rye, oats, rice, barley and maize), beans and pulses (such as lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans), and vegetables. Simple carbohydrates include white and brown sugar, honey, fruit and fruit juice.
To optimize your health, you should eat plenty of unrefined complex carbohydrates. This means choosing brown whole meal bread, brown rice and brown pasta, instead of the refined white versions which have been stripped of essential vitamins, minerals, trace elements and valuable fibre content. (In order to digest these refined foods your body has to use its own vitamins and minerals, thus depleting your stores.)
Simple carbohydrates, in the form of fruit and dried fruit, certainly have a place in a healthy, balanced diet. But it’s important, for your health and fertility, to maintain a steady blood sugar level. For this reason, you should avoid sugar, honey and undiluted fruit juice, which can all produce a sudden rise in blood sugar, followed by a sudden fall.
Soya
Soya is being studied extensively around the world for its effectiveness in lowering cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular disease. It also appears to have an important role to play in balancing male and female sex hormones. Scientists believe that hormonal imbalance and over-exposure to chemicals that have oestrogen-like qualities may be one reason for the rapid increase in breast and prostate cancers over the last couple of decades. Crucially, this hormonal dysfunction and overload are also implicated in the menstrual and reproductive problems that affect fertility.
Soya is classed as a phyto-oestrogen, which means that it contains substances that act like hormones. These phyto-oestrogens fit into oestrogen receptors in the breast and block them, effectively shielding the body from exposure to oestrogen which is believed to be one of the major causes of breast cancer. Studies of Japanese women, who traditionally eat a great deal of soya, suggest that it may protect them from this disease.
Oestrogen is not only implicated in breast cancer but is also believed to play a part in causing other problems like endometriosis, fibroids, and heavy and/or long periods – all of which can affect female fertility.
Some women have problems conceiving because the second half of their menstrual cycle, just after ovulation, is shorter than it should be. This ‘luteal phase defect’, as it is known, means that there is not enough progesterone at the right time to maintain a pregnancy. Scientists have found that if they add soya to a woman’s diet it can lengthen the cycle by 2.5 days.
For all these reasons, it’s well worth adding soya to your diet – perhaps in the form of soya milk and tofu (soya bean curd, often used in Oriental stir-fried dishes). However, you need to ensure that the soya used to manufacture these products is not genetically modified, so buy organic.
So, for optimum health, you should eat plenty of:
• Essential fats (nuts, seeds and oily fish)
• High-fibre foods (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds)
• Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, beans, pulses and vegetables)
• Non-GM organic soya
*27/73/5*
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