Herbal Health

Non-physiological signals can have a profound influence on food choice, quite independent of the physiological signals e.g.:

Social custom—This may over-ride physiological hunger. Celebrations held for recreational or spiritual reasons invariably centre around food and drink. In some societies the obligation to eat can go beyond feasting. In the South Pacific in earlier times, for example, women were fattened up with chicken fat to make them more desirable for prospective husbands.

Time of the day—Most Western societies tend to have set family breakfast, lunch and dinner times, perhaps reinforced by the school bell. One classic study has shown that the time on the dock may easily over-ride the natural hunger mechanism When one group of people were kept in a room with a dock running faster than normal, they became hungry and ate their meals before another group kept in a room with a dock operating on normal speed.

Food availability—Individuals have specific food preferences. Increasing the number of available food items will increase the probability that all individuals find more of their favourite foods.

Controlled experiments demonstrate that people, like rats, consume larger meals when given multiple foods than when offered a single food (you can do your own research at a buffet restaurant). Whereas in the past, limited food choices may have led to monotony and discouraged intake, this is no longer the case with our vast variety of foods.

food palatability—Palatability is largely determined by the flavour of food—taste, aroma, texture and temperature. Fat is highly palatable due to its creamy texture, and much of the flavour of food comes from volatile fatty acids.

Other factors—Restrained eaters, due to their constant dieting vigilance, may have periods of increased appetite, especially when their control or ‘willpower’ is compromised, such as during periods of stress and grief.7 This helps explain why some people eat despite not being hungry and also refrain from eating despite being hungry.

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Filed under: Weight Loss Tags: Tags: Weight Loss by admin Date 8 May, 2009
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Anna-Maree was 12 years old when she started to menstruate. Her first few periods were painful with heavy bleeding. Her GP told her that this was fairly common for young girls and that it would settle down in three or four months. Unfortunately her pain did not improve — in fact, it got worse.

She would experience dull pain for about for one week before her period was due. This dull pain would then develop into a sharp, stabbing pain one day before her period and would continue throughout the whole time she was bleeding.

Her periods were irregular — this means that the bleeding could come every two or three weeks and last up to ten days. As well as experiencing pain and heavy bleeding Anna-Maree started to vomit, suffered from constipation and developed low backache.

Numerous visits to her GP over the next few months resulted in her being examined by specialist doctors for her backache and constipation. She was told that she suffered from an irritable bowel (spastic colon). The suggestion to take Panadol and eat a high fibre diet did not relieve her pain and other problems.

At this ti me the pain was so bad that she had to take two to three days off school each time she had a period. She was always worried about the pain and hated missing out on being with her friends.

Her family and friends were becoming increasingly concerned about her.

After two years of going back and forth to her GP she was finally sent to a gynaecologist who suggested that she take Ponstan. The gynaecologist said that if the Ponstan did not decrease the pain she would have to live with it.

Unfortunately, the Ponstan did not relieve the pain and so once more she turned to her GP for help. He suggested that she take the Pill for four months. She felt much better on the Pill but as soon as she stopped taking it the pain and heavy bleeding returned.

She continued to try and live with the pain and over the next year she read many medical books trying to find the answer to her problem.

At 15, just before she was about to set off on a school camp Anna-Maree again had extreme pain with her period. Her GP told her to keep taking Ponstan and to see him again if necessary.

After returning from the camp her period had finished but the severe pain persisted. After seeing her GP yet again, he suggested Anna-Maree have an ultrasound which was eventually performed five days later. The ultrasound revealed an ovarian cyst and possible pelvic inflammatory disease (an infection of the reproductive system). She was given antibiotic tablets to take.

The night after her ultrasound Anna-Maree’s pain became unbearable. She was admitted to hospital and was operated on the following day. She had endometriosis.

Anna-Maree cannot remember the details of her gynaecologist’s visit after the operation as she was still too sleepy to understand what he was saying. However, the gynaecologist spoke at length to her parents.

After reading about the Endometriosis Association in the local paper, her mother contacted the Association and had many of her questions answered. They recommended a book about endometriosis that would be helpful for Anna-Maree to read. Her family also read the book and at last they had some understanding of what she had been going through over the past three years.

Anna-Maree understood most of the medical terms in the book because she had received a good grounding in sex education at school.

After the operation, Anna-Marie was told to take Duphaston (a hormonal tablet used for treating endometriosis) for six months. The Endometriosis Association was able to give her information about the drug. She took two tablets a day but she started vomiting and suffered from dizziness. Her doctor suggested that she only take one tablet a day for two or three weeks.

This helped to reduce the side effects and she has not had any other side effects since, even though she has increased her dosage to two tablets a day again. She continued to have periods while on Duphaston.

At her check-up six weeks after the laparoscopy, Anna-Maree found her doctor understanding and happy to answer her questions. Unfortunately, she then was not given another appointment to see him for the six months while she was taking Duphaston. Anna-Maree feels that she would have liked the opportunity to have seen him during that time for support and further information.

None of her friends at school had heard of endometriosis. They wanted to know about the disease and how it would affect her. They wondered if the tablets would get rid of the endometriosis and if she would be able to have children later in life. Anna-Maree was very open with her friends and tried to answer all their questions.

Anna-Maree’s mother also contacted the school nurse who gave Anna-Maree’s teachers information leaflets so that they too could understand her problem.

Now 16, Anna-Maree has finished taking the Duphaston tablets and is waiting to have another laparoscopy to make sure that her endometriosis has been cleaned up.

What were Anna-Maree’s feelings

Anna-Maree was asked what her feelings had been during the last four years. Before she was diagnosed as having endometriosis she was confused. As a 12 year old she found it difficult to understand why she could not cope with the pain at the time of her period. None of her friends had to take time off from school. Was the pain really as bad as she believed it to be?

She was frustrated that a cause for her problems could not be found. Her mother gave her support and continued to seek doctors’ opinions. She felt that her elder brother was tired of her being sick so often and her father did not accept that she was unwell and thought that she was ‘playing on it’ to get out of doing her school work and chores around the house.

Anna-Maree felt intimidated by her doctors. They talked down to her and did not seem to understand how she felt.

Once Anna-Maree had been diagnosed she experienced different feelings. At first she was relieved to know that all her problems were not in her head — she was not making them up — they were real — she had endometriosis. She was frightened that endometriosis was a form of cancer and that she might die. She was quickly reassured that this was incorrect.

She then became angry. Why me? What have I done to deserve this? She was angry with her doctors. She felt that her GP had taken too long to send her to a gynaecologist. She was angry that he had not taken her symptoms seriously. She was angry at her gynaecologist who told her parents about the disease and not her — the one who was suffering. She wished that the gynaecologist had told her in private about the disease with plenty of opportunity for her to ask questions. She was angry with her mother. Was it hereditary? Was it her mother’s fault that she had the disease?

Anna-Maree also felt guilty that she had developed this disease. She questioned herself whether there was anything that she had done as a child to cause the endometriosis to develop.

At times Anna-Maree feels isolated because she does not know any other teenagers who have the disease. She would like to meet and talk with others of her own age. She feels that she now has the full support of her parents, brother, friends and teachers but she still wants to find out how other teenagers feel and cope with the disease and its implications.

Anna-Maree has found a great comfort in her dog. She can talk to her dog about her concerns and feelings and know that it will not answer her back!

She feels that she has accepted her condition but still has concerns for the future.

Anna-Maree knows that endometriosis can be treated but that it may recur. She realises that it may be an ongoing problem and that in the future she may have difficulty in becoming pregnant.

As a teenager she is concerned that she will not have control over her decisions. She wants to be able to listen to her doctor’s opinions, read as much information as possible and talk over her options with her family and others and then make a decision herself — a decision that she is happy with.

She is concerned that she may continue to have to take time off school each month, and that this may jeopardise her studies in the future.

Anna-Maree is not concerned about future relationships with boyfriends. She feels that she will be able to talk openly about endometriosis when the time comes.

She says that she is not going to dwell on these concerns but will take life as it comes.

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Filed under: Women's Health Tags: Tags: Women’s Health by admin Date 8 May, 2009
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Once a diagnosis has been made the gynaecologist should mark the size and location of all your implants, cysts, endometriomas and adhesions on a drawing or prepared chart of the reproductive organs. If you have any endometrial implants or cysts located outside the pelvic cavity such as on the bowel or cervix, the gynaecologist will make a note of the location of those implants and cysts somewhere on the chart. Similarly, if any other conditions, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, are found these will also be noted.

Because of the progressive and recurrent nature of endometriosis it is important that an accurate chart of your endometriosis be made at the time of your diagnostic laparoscopy. The chart will provide a record of the initial extent of your endometriosis that can be compared at a later date with the charts made during any subsequent laparoscopics so that an accurate assessment can be made of the progress of your condition.

The information gained from the laparoscopy and the chart is then used to rate the extent and severity of your condition. There are several formal classification systems which have been developed, the most widely known being a system developed by the American Fertility Society. These classification systems generally allocate a certain number of points to each implant or cyst depending on its nature, size and location and the total number of points is then used to classify the severity of the condition.

For example, according to the American Fertility Society’s classification scheme, a woman with a four centimetre endometrioma on one ovary, some adhesions on both ovaries and implants in the Pouch of Douglas would score a total of 30 points (20 + 2 + 2 + 6) which would be defined as moderate endometriosis (16-40 points).

However it appears that few gynaecologists in Australia use any of the formal classification systems. Their classification of the disease is usually based on their visual impression gained from the laparoscopy.

The four categories most commonly used to classify endometriosis are minimal, mild, moderate and severe. The terms stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV are also used occasionally. A brief description and diagram of a typical example of each category is shown in Fig.9 on p.56.

It is important to remember that the classification system only rates the extent and severity of your endometriosis and your classification does not necessarily bear any relationship to the severity of your symptoms. Minimal or mild endometriosis can cause severe symptoms while severe endometriosis can sometimes cause no symptoms.

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Filed under: Women's Health Tags: Tags: Women’s Health by admin Date 8 May, 2009
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The height of your bed from the floor is another major factor that

should be taken into account. The NBPA suggests that you should ask yourself two questions, both about your present bed and when considering buying a new one:

Can you get off and on the bed easily?

Is the bed of a height that will be comfortable for making each day and changing bedding?

If your bed is too low but otherwise perfectly okay, there’s no need to buy a new one as you usually can make it higher either by buying special extensions for its legs or, if it has legs that screw in, replacing these with longer ones. However, be sure that whatever you do will be solid enough to take the weight safely. For example, just placing a bed’s four legs on blocks of wood could mean that one of the legs may slip off eventually, perhaps making the bed suddenly tilt sharply while you’re asleep.

A bed that’s too high can be lowered by sawing its feet. Do be absolutely sure, however, that the resulting height will be the right one for you as cutting an inch or two off the legs is one thing, gluing the pieces back, quite another!

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Filed under: Pain Relief-Muscle Relaxers Tags: Tags: Pain Relief by admin Date 29 April, 2009
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Sometimes one type of psychiatric condition can mimic another. For example, an accountant in his mid-forties was referred to me for treatment of his low mood. He was very discouraged about his work, where he was constantly in trouble for procrastinating.

He was very intelligent and had no difficulty understanding the complexities of his clients’ finances but somehow he had insurmountable problems with deadlines. He would leave things until the last minute, stay up all night working crazily and would almost always succeed in getting the work done on time. But these last-minute all-nighters were becoming tiresome not only to my patient but to his associates as well. As a consequence he was under pressure to work in a more steady and even manner and he was depressed at his difficulties in doing so.

Careful questioning revealed that he had suffered from atten-tional difficulties since childhood, had never performed up to his potential and had always relied upon the intense pressure of deadlines and the prospects of failure to motivate himself to get anything done. In lectures and classes he would lose track of what the lecturer or teacher was saying. He was extremely distractable and often left tasks – particularly boring and unpleasant ones such as paperwork – half completed as his attention shifted to something which at that moment he found more interesting. I diagnosed him as suffering from attention deficit disorder (ADD), prescribed Ritalin, a stimulant, and recommended certain behavioural changes in the way he approached his work. He responded immediately and favourably and his mood improved as well. He turned out to be someone whose depressed mood was the result of another problem which responded to treatments that were specifically helpful for that condition. An anti-depressant alone would have been unlikely to correct his fundamental problem, namely his attentional difficulties.

Even if a person is indeed depressed, it is worth going to see a doctor to determine whether some other treatable condition may be present in addition to the depression. Shakespeare noted that ‘when sorrows come, they come not as single spies but in battalions.’ And so it is that depression is often accompanied by some other condition, such as a drug or alcohol problem, attention deficit disorder or an eating disorder. If these conditions are present they deserve to be treated in their own right with the appropriate treatment. People with more than one condition often require more than one type of treatment to get the best results.

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Filed under: Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid Tags: Tags: Anti Depressants by admin Date 29 April, 2009
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The human brain contains about 100 000 million nerve cells, each of which is connected to many others—perhaps as many as 50 000 others. The brain is the organ of our thinking and of our memory. It integrates information from the outside world and so allows us to perceive objects and events around us. It organizes our response to these events by movements or other action. It organizes our social behaviour.

Messages are passed between nerve cells by the extraordinarily rapid secretion of tiny packets of specialized chemicals known as neurotransmitters. As a neurotransmitter acts on the next cell in a chain, a brief electric current is generated. These can be recorded by very fine wires placed next to or in a nerve cell, but they are not large enough to be recorded externally over the skin of the head. However, some cells act in rhythmic concert, and these rhythms can be detected as the electroencephalogram (EEG) over the skin of the hands by small electrodes amplified, recorded on tape or disc, and displayed on a moving strip of paper or screen.

Some messages received by a nerve cell are inhibitory—they dampen down the activity of the receiving cell; some are excitatory, enhancing its activity. The receiving nerve cell computes, as it were, these contrasting messages, which determine its own action.

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Filed under: Epilepsy Tags: Tags: Epilepsy by admin Date 28 April, 2009
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Hepatitis B, the type of viral hepatitis that is conveyed from person to person in “biological fluids,” is a potential risk of transfusions when the blood obtained from an unknown donor who might be a hepatitis carrier.

Normally, we would not expect to become infected with this virus merely by touching surfaces that have been contaminated with fluid droplets from a carrier, unless our skin at the contact site had been scratched, cut, or pricked (thereby simulating the conditions of a transfusion or injection). Now, however, the British Medical Journal (284:84) points out, the skin of eczema or psoriasis victims is so permeable that, even without injury, it allows virus particles to pass through into the body’s interior. To avoid such infection, therefore, the Journal article recommends that chronic skin disease victims should be immunized with the new Hepatitis B vaccine.

Since many other potentially dangerous microorganisms lurk in moisture droplets on all kinds of surfaces, particularly in public places, people with chronic skin diseases should make a habit of touching things away from home as little as possible and should carefully wash and dry the skin whenever such contact is unavoidable.

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Filed under: General health Tags: Tags: General health by admin Date 28 April, 2009
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Signs and symptoms

The key sign of a hernia is a bulge in one of the typical locations: just above the crease of the groin; in the scrotum of a boy; in the labia majora of a girl; below the crease of the groin; just above or below the navel; or at the navel.

A hernia in any of these locations is called a simple hernia if the contents of the sac can be reduced (pushed gently back into the abdominal cavity). If a hernia cannot be reduced, it is called incarcerated. Simple and incarcerated hernias often produce no discomfort or pain; they may merely cause a sense of heaviness. If the blood supply to the contents of the hernia is cut off, it is said to be strangulated. A strangulated hernia causes intense pain and swelling.

Home care

If there is any sign of a hernia, see your doctor.

A simple hernia can be temporarily reduced by gentle pressure while the child is relaxed – in a tub of warm water if necessary. Trusses and belts to keep a hernia reduced are useless and may be harmful or even dangerous. Strapping an umbilical hernia is considered of no benefit.

Precautions

• A strangulated hernia is a medical emergency that requires immediate (within hours) surgical correction. Signs that a hernia has become strangulated are swelling; severe pain; and sometimes nausea, vomiting, and extreme weakness or collapse. If any signs of a strangulated hernia appear, take your child to a doctor or hospital emergency department immediately.

• Never attempt to reduce a strangulated hernia.

Medical treatment

Surgical repair is required for all except umbilical hernias. An umbilical hernia usually cures itself. Since inguinal hernias often appear on both sides, the surgeon may correct both sides even though only one side is visibly herniated.

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Filed under: General health Tags: Tags: General health by admin Date 28 April, 2009
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Soya is probably the best-known genetically modified food. Up to 60 per cent of processed foods contain soya, including bread, biscuits, pizza and baby food. Lecithin, contained in many foods, is also made from soya. Just what proportion of that 60 per cent is now genetically modified we do not know, but we can probably assume that it is quite considerable. Other genetically modified foods on sale in the UK are maize, tomato paste and cheese containing chymosin (genetically modified rennet used to harden the cheese).

Since September 1998, manufacturers have been obliged to label products containing genetically modified DNA. However, this labeling only applies to genetically modified soya and maize (corn) products and only where protein or DNA can be detected in the final product by laboratory screening. Foods containing soya oil, refined starches, and additives (such as emulsifiers and lecithins) are excluded. Greenpeace estimate this means that 90 per cent of foods containing genetically modified products are unlabelled. Since the latter part of 1999, because of public opposition to GM foods, supermarkets have been claiming that they have less than 1 per cent GM foods on their shelves and they are trying to go lower than that.

Genetic engineering involves manipulating the basic DNA of a plant or animal. This happens naturally in evolution of course, but with nature in charge the process normally takes hundreds if not thousands of years. It is this process which ensures that the fittest of the species survive. But the gene manipulation that humans are now tinkering with bypasses evolution, and we don’t know as yet what the price will be. In order to smuggle these new genes across the species barrier, scientists use infectious agents (viruses and bacteria).Then the antibiotic-resistant genes are used as genetic markers to allow the scientists to track the movements of these new genes. In one instance a nut gene was inserted into a soya bean and people with allergies to nuts became allergic to the soya milk. This would have posed a very serious risk for anyone with a nut allergy who would have had no idea that the soya milk contained a nut gene.

Even the scientists disagree violently as to the value and dangers of genetically modified foods. So the only sensible thing to do is to try to avoid them when you shop for food.

The Vegetarian Society has announced that, from August 1999, all foods bearing the ‘V symbol will have to be free from genetically modified products. Provamel, the market leader for soya products in the UK, have stated that their foods are free from genetically modified material and have implemented a system to trace the soya from seed to final production. Also, at the moment, if a food is labeled organic it is not genetically modified. My advice is to avoid genetically modified foods where possible by buying organic and reading the labels. If we as consumers consciously do not buy these foods then eventually there may not be a market for them.

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Filed under: Women's Health Tags: Tags: Women’s Health by admin Date 23 April, 2009
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When the Levee Breaks

That mean old levee sure does make us weep and moan-especially when it breaks. Flash floods can happen anywhere there are streams and sewers. And in the time it takes to soft-boil an egg, rising flood waters can hit peaks of 30 feet or more. Take flash flood warnings very seriously. You only have minutes or seconds to act.

Get high. A flood watch means that a flood is possible. A warning means that it’s coming very soon. When you hear a watch, move your furniture and valuables to higher floors in your home and fill your gas tank. If you hear a warning, be ready to evacuate the area and find higher ground on a moment’s notice, according to the American Red Cross.

Abandon ship. “If you’re in your car, do not drive into the water. I don’t care how shallow it looks,” implores Johnson. Cars are easily swept away in just two feet of water. If the water’s rising quickly around your car, get out and climb to higher ground.

Don’t go in the water. If you’re in your house and the basement has flooded, don’t go downstairs to investigate. You don’t know what has happened to the electrical system. The water can be charged and you can get a good shock. Once all the water has cleared, don’t try restoring the power or heat yourself; you could start a fire. Call professionals.

The Eye of the Storm

When it comes to tropical storms, be thankful that you don’t live in Bangladesh. A cyclone on this island south of India wiped out 139,000 people in 1991. Another killed 300,000 in 1970. In other parts of the world, where we give these cyclonic storms pet names and call them hurricanes, the death tolls aren’t so dramatic, but the devastation is still enormous.

Shop for the season. If you live in a hurricane-prone area, you should keep your food and medical necessities stocked up during late summer and early fall-prime hurricane season. After a severe hurricane, you can go as long as seven days without power or transportation.

Listen to the radio. A watch means that a hurricane may hit your area. A warning means that it will. During a watch, make sure that your car has gas; that you have any important papers, IDs, and daily medications that you need; and that you have a well-planned escape route. When there’s a warning, bring garbage cans and other large objects inside the garage or house. Shut off water, electricity, and gas. Close your shutters or put up plywood over your windows.

Wait the storm out-completely. If you’re there when the storm hits, and you’re told not to evacuate, the safest place to be is underground, such as in a basement. Be sure to stay away from windows. Stay tuned to the weather on a battery-powered radio until authorities issue an “all clear”. Often when the storm seems to subside, it’s really only the calm “eye” of the hurricane and the worst is yet to come. Plus, just to make you feel better, tornadoes can follow hurricanes.

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Filed under: General health Tags: Tags: General health by admin Date 23 April, 2009
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