Health and medical information

Excessive bleeding from the womb may be due to a condition called metropathia hemorrhagica.

This condition is more common in the forties, although it may occur at any age during reproductive life.

It is due to an unbalanced action of the oestrogen hormone from the ovary which acts on the lining of the womb.

Usually ovulation ceases and there is an excess production of FSH, or follicle stimulating hormone, produced by the pituitary gland.

This is often called the master gland of the body and it lies at the base of the brain and produces hormones which control the other endocrine glands of the body.

FSH acts on the ovaries causing the ovum to ripen and produce oestrogen. Over-activity of this hormone may cause the development of a cyst in the ovary which in itself produces oestrogen.

These often spontaneously disappear and rarely require treatment. The oestrogen acts on the endometrium or lining of the womb, causing it to thicken and to develop a greater blood supply.

Then a drop in the level of oestrogen leads to the onset of bleeding and this may go on and on.

*144/71/1*

The most common type of diabetes (type 2 diabetes) is the result of insulin not working properly and usually affects people over the age of 40. Overeating, being overweight and not exercising enough are important factors (what we call lifestyle factors) which can lead to this type of diabetes, especially when there is someone else in the family with diabetes.

Many people who live in societies which are undergoing rapid westernisation are developing this type of diabetes. Why ?

It takes time for our bodies to adapt to such major changes in diet. Because our European ancestors had thousands of years to adapt to a diet with a lot of carbohydrate, they were in a better position to cope with the changes in the G.I. factor of foods. That is why people of European extraction have a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes compared with people whose diets have recently changed to include lots of high G.I. foods.

However, there is only so much that our bodies can take. As we continue to consume increasing quantities of foods with a high G.I. factor plus excessive amounts of fatty foods, our bodies are coping less well. The result can be seen as a significant increase in the number of people developing diabetes.

But, the most dramatic increases in diabetes have occurred in populations which have been exposed to these changes over a very much shorter period of time. In some Australian Aboriginal communities up to one person in four now has diabetes. In some groups of native American Indians and in some populations within the Pacific region, up to one adult in two has diabetes because of the rapid dietary and lifestyle changes in the twentieth century.

*124\42\4*

In many cases, our thought patterns have been programmed by life, coming from inter-personal relationships, childhood experiences or situations of emotional trauma. The extent to which the fat loss leader needs to recognise and deal with these is covered more extensively in separate publications.7 An introductory perspective, however, can be gained from some of the more popular psychological techniques. Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) is an example of one of these. Developed by US psychologist Albert Ellis in the 1950s, this technique has now been adopted by many modem popular psychologists including Chicago University’s Professor Martin Seligman. Seligman is a psychologist who discovered, when working with animals in the 1960s and 1970s, that living organisms can have a tendency to defeatism if continually placed in powerless situations. If a rat is constantly shocked, for example, with no escape available, it eventually gives up and settles down to its fate, which is often death. Similarly, in very deprived circumstances, human beings learn helplessness—they actually regard their situation as hopeless and don’t even try.

Seligman called this experience ‘learned helplessness’ and published a book on the topic in 1974. After a 20-year gap he then published what he considered to be the antidote to this, ‘learned optimism’10 in which he utilises a lot of the techniques used by Albert Ellis in RET. Ellis’ approach was developed to counteract his own shyness as a young psychology student and his inability to communicate because of this. He reasoned that this inability was because of the anticipated anxiety he felt every time he went to make contact with another individual (in Mark Twain’s terms his life was full of ‘potential disasters’). Ellis realised that the problem was within himself, because of the way he thought about the situation; it was his belief that he was an unworthy person, because he must always succeed, other people must always treat him well and the world must be good to him. He realised, however, that these beliefs were irrational, and based on no solid, objective evidence. In a similar way, it is the belief of many fat people, that they are unworthy and that others regard them as unworthy, while in reality, others are generally too concerned about their own problems to even consider them This belief can then become self-fulfilling, exacerbating the problem of overfatness itself.

Ellis based his thesis of RET around a very simple format based on the letters ABCD. Ellis claimed: ‘We consciously and unconsciously choose to think and hence to feel in certain self-helping and self-harming ways’ and ‘Once you understand the basic irrational beliefs you create to upset yourself, you can use this understanding to explore, attack, and surrender your other present and future emotional problems’.

Beliefs, according to Ellis, can be rational or irrational. Irrational beliefs which, according to Ellis are the major problem in maladaptive behaviours, are generally associated with musts, shoulds and have to`s, and are usually ‘hot’, or charged with emotion in comparison with rational beliefs which are more ‘cool’ or ‘warm’. An example of an irrational belief would be ‘I MUST NEVER binge or I am a bad person’, or T HAVE TO always be good or I will feel miserable and horrible’.

It is easy to see how these irrational beliefs can lead one into cognitive habits, or thinking patterns, that are self-defeating, self-limiting and self-punishing. Ellis, therefore, adds D or Disputation to his program in order to help overcome these irrational beliefs. An individual should learn to systematically analyse his or her beliefs, he claims, and logically argue against these. This cannot be done by the therapist, but it may be aided. For example, the question can be asked: ‘Why must you always succeed on your diet or eating plan? It may be nice, but must it always happen? What would be the worst consequence if this did not happen? Could you live with this? What are the consequences of maintaining this irrational approach?’ The thought process is thus ‘renamed’ to provide an opportunity to reduce irrational thoughts.

RET is a relatively simplistic approach to a complex problem. It is used for a range of different psychopathologies including fear of flying, fear of spiders and many other phobias. It has potential use in body fat maintenance, although it would not be expected to be applicable under all circumstances. In many instances, such as those that lead to problems of obesity, there may be a role for a more detailed approach to the problem.

*188\186\4*

The energy balance equation has underpinned most efforts to explain the energy dynamics of obesity. Obesity is characterised by high energy stores and usually a high energy intake and expenditure (metabolic rate). To reach a state of obesity, there needs to be a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure over a long period of time. However, an initial positive energy balance will cause energy stores to increase (both fat mass and fat-free mass) which in turn causes an increase in energy expenditure, due mainly to the increased resting metabolic rate from the greater fat-free mass. At some point, the weight gain and increased energy expenditure will offset the original imbalance and a new equilibrium will be achieved.

Therefore, the energy balance equation helps to explain how a positive energy balance leads to weight gain and how a new steady state is achieved. However, it fails to answer two critical questions: why did the positive energy balance occur in the first place and why does it remain chronic over long periods? The answers to these questions may come from an understanding of the regulation of individual macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat, and alcohol). However, separating out each macronutrient balance equation can only be valid if the biochemical highways do not allow a free flow of nutrients. What are the restrictions for converting one nutrient to another for storage and, in particular, are glucose and alcohol converted into fat through the process called de novo lipogenesis?

*49\186\4*

Inhalation of a foreign body by a child may produce serious symptoms which may endanger life. Parents should not allow small children access to potentially dangerous foreign objects; this includes peanuts (shelled—one of the worst offenders), small objects such as beads, eyes from dolls and teddy bears, buttons and certain foods which are obviously hazardous. Children should be discouraged from running when eating or at any time they have objects in the mouth. Brothers and sisters should be discouraged from feeding junior when playing. It may all lead to trouble.

Often when the foreign object becomes lodged in the upper airway there is considerable coughing, choking and gagging, and emotional and physical distress. There may be inspiratory stridor, which means a wheezing noise when the child breathes in. If a large airway has been blocked, there may be cyanosis (blueness), indicating the child is not receiving enough oxygen.

Treatment

Keep your head. Do not panic. The risk of the child suffocating to death within minutes is usually not high. But prompt action is necessary. The old idea of tipping the child upside down in the hope of the foreign body dropping out is now not favoured by many doctors. Neither is back-slapping. It appears that this may dislodge the foreign body, but it may become re-lodged in a narrower part of the airways making the condition more acute and hazardous.

If a foreign body is not obviously visible (and chances of it being seen are not high), then get the child to the nearest large hospital as a matter of urgency. Telephone the hospital first to explain your problem so they may be ready to help you on arrival. Talk encouragingly to the child. Usually, after the initial stress the child tends to quieten down and the so-called ‘silent period’ ensues.

At the hospital, doctors are equipped with special facilities to both investigate and treat. It is usually fairly straightforward in retrieving a foreign body from the air passages.

An overlooked foreign body may prove serious, and deaths have occurred when they have been left there indefinitely. Local infections which may smoulder on and involve adjoining organs may occur. It is important that if there is any query about the foreign body still being there, full investigation be carried out by doctors expert in this field.

X-rays are available. The doctors also have instruments for peering into throats and air passageways, and these are equipped with devices that can pick up and remove foreign objects.

*73\87\2*

Babies sometimes bring up some of their feeds, and find pleasure and gratification from the action. ‘Rumination’ actually means chewing the cud, a natural action in cows who enjoy regurgitating some of their previously eaten meal to chew on it again. It often starts in babies still on liquids, possibly starting when food is brought up with wind. Bottle-fed babies readily learn to regurgitate at will. One merely makes a funnel of the tongue, tightens the abdominal muscles, and presto! Up it comes. The food will be partially dribbled out. Some will be rolled around in the mouth and later swallowed.

Treatment

Most cases are self-curative and require no active treatment. The baby is not vomiting, as many parents believe, and reassurance can be given that baby is not suffering from some dire gastro-intestinal disorder. Ideally, prop the baby up after feeding. Soon after starting solids and cereals the baby will stop the habit.

*23\87\2*

Key to maintaining good health, nutrition refers to the relationship between the food we eat and our bodies’ needs. While there are hard and fast rules about the things our bodies require to operate efficiently, confusion often arises from the fact that nutritional needs vary from person to person as a result of physiological and environmental differences. Commercial interests may also exploit our desire for good health and seek to mislead us with exaggerated or even false claims about goodness or dangers of certain foods. A thorough understanding of the essential food groups and their sources, your daily requirements and the pressures of your environment and lifestyle will help you on the road to good nutrition. It is also recommended that any symptoms of dietary deficiency, which can range from marks on the fingernail to lethargy and more serious illnesses, be considered from a nutritional perspective. Your natural health practitioner will be able to help you identify and rectify problems with your diet.

Our basic nutritional requirements divide into five categories: water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats or lipids, vitamins and minerals.

Water makes up about 70% of our body mass. While it is often said that water has no nutritional value, it is essential for cell function, nutrient absorption, temperature control and waste elimination. Most people will die within days if water is withheld.

Starches and sugars are known as carbohydrates. Both are broken down into simple sugars called monosaccharides and stored in the muscles and liver. Providing our most immediate source of energy and assisting with the body’s uptake of nutrients, carbohydrates should comprise about 60% of a normally active person’s diet. Starches are complex carbohydrates and are found in grain foods such as breads and rice, pasta, peas and potatoes. Bulky and often high in fibre, vitamins and minerals, complex carbohydrates are the better source of carbohydrate in the diet. Sugars, particularly refined sugars, have less nutrient value and, because they contain less bulk than starches, are easily overconsumed, resulting in obesity. They are also a major cause of tooth decay. Refined white flour may contain similar levels of carbohydrate to wholemeal flour, but it is low in fibre and therefore of less benefit to your general health.

Proteins are responsible for growth and development and for the repair of body tissue. Made of amino acids, they also form the enzymes and hormones which regulate the body’s chemistry and function. You will obtain protein from meat, fish, eggs, dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, nuts and beans such as soya beans, lentils and haricots. The amount of protein required by the body is a matter of some controversy. Generally, it is thought that 40-60 grams a day is sufficient. Excess protein can be converted and stored as fat.

It may sound like a dirty word, but fat is an essential element of any healthy diet. Also known as lipids, fats allow you to absorb the fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K. Fat provides protection for the abdominal organs and nerve fibres, conditions the hair and skin and helps to keep the body warm. The issue, of course, is what kind of fat you eat and how much. Excess fat or too much of what are known as saturated fats, as opposed to polyunsaturated fats, contain high levels of cholesterol, leading to gallstones, obesity, blocking of the arteries, heart attack and stroke. Saturated fats generally come from animal products such as meat, eggs and dairy foods but beware: palm and coconut oils are also high in saturates. Polyunsaturated fats are mostly derived from vegetable sources like maize, sunflower, sesame and rape seed, and oily fish such as tuna, salmon or trout. Olive oil and some fish oils are known as mono-unsaturated and are better for your health than animal fats.

Under increasing scrutiny is the process of hydrogenation, a food industry technique which saturates polyunsaturated oils with hydrogen usually in the presence of a metal catalyst such as nickel. Normally liquid, the unsaturated oils become solid when hydrogenised: for example, sunflower oil becomes margarine. The process creates non-natural fat substances which are now thought to act like saturated fats, depositing fatty substances on the organs and making the blood cells sticky. Don’t be fooled by clever marketing. Keep your intake of hydrogenised fats to a minimum.

Although required in tiny quantities, vitamins and minerals are essential for food absorption and body function and deficiencies will affect a person’s health. (For information on specific vitamins and minerals, see individual entries). There are 13 major vitamins, only two of which are produced by the body: Vitamin D is made by the action of sunlight on the skin and Vitamin K is a byproduct of the activity of bacteria in the large bowel. All other vitamins must be ingested and, fortunately, most are readily available in fresh food. Supplementation in the form of tablets is rarely necessary. Remember, however, that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for each vitamin and mineral is calculated as the minimum requirement for health in ideal conditions. Such conditions rarely exist.

The following is a list of just some of the factors, physiological, environmental and behavioural, which can affect your daily requirements: alcohol, caffiene, smoking, allergies, oral contraceptives, reliance on convenience foods, pollution, pregnancy and lactation, stress, antibiotics and other medication, certain medical conditions, menopause and old age. For these reasons, among others, your medical practitioner may recommend you adjust your diet or supplement your vitamin intake with tablets or tonics from time to time.

Fibre is the next important consideration in your diet. It has no real nutritional value as it cannot be absorbed by the body. Instead it passes through our digestive system as roughage, pushing through waste products and keeping the digestive tract healthy. Both constipation and cancer of the bowel can be avoided with a high fibre diet. Most unrefined cereals and plant foods contain fibre. Eat plenty of unrefined grains and raw or lightly cooked fruit and vegetables. Those who suffer from irritable bowel complaints should choose a source of fibre which will not scour the bowel, such as oatbran.

While you may think you need a chemistry degree to eat well, good basic nutrition comes down to common sense. Make sure you eat at least four serves a day of breads, rice, pasta or potatoes and four serves of fresh fruit or vegetables, including green and yellow/orange vegetables. Eat three serves a day of meat, fish, poultry, nuts, beans, peas or lentils. Have one serve of milk, cheese or yoghurt and keep additional fats, oil and salt to a minimum. The fat and sodium you need should be available from other foods in a balanced diet.

Whenever possible, eat fruit and vegetables raw. If cooking, opt for a technique which preserves the nutritional value of food or uses minimal fat such as steaming, grilling, roasting, stir frying and stewing. Western style frying of foods should be avoided.

Finally, eat three meals a day, vary your diet regularly, keep tabs on your general health to pinpoint any deficiencies and try to eat when relaxed. Fifteen minutes of relaxation before eating will aid digestion and increase your absorption of nutrients.

*23\69\2*

These two different conditions are both associated with anxiety—nervous headache directly so, and migraine less directly.

The pain of nervous headache is felt on both sides of the head, and mainly in the front part of the head and behind the eyes or at the back of the head. There is often an accompanying feeling of something pressing on top of the head or of a tight band around the head. Nervous headache is the direct result of nervous tension, and if the tension is relieved by appropriate measures the tendency to headache soon vanishes.

Migraine is a different kind of headache. It is usually preceded by some strange feeling which acts as a warning that an attack of migraine is about to develop. There are often disturbances of vision, so that sight is impaired and further disturbed by flashes of light or bright wavy lines. Then the headache itself comes on. Unlike nervous headache, migraine is usually felt only on one side of the head, quite often behind the eye. As the headache develops there is a feeling of nausea and frequently actual vomiting. The attack may last for some hours or even days before passing off.

The migraine attack is due to a temporary constriction of some of the arteries of the brain which is soon followed by a dilatation of the same vessels. It seems that a number of factors combine to produce this effect, and that emotional stress is one of the most important of these factors. Of the patients with migraine treated by myself with relaxing methods to relieve tension approximately one third have practically ceased to have any attacks at all, one third have been markedly helped but still have some attacks, and one third were not helped at all. So it would seem well worthwhile for anyone who suffers with migraine to give the relaxing mental exercises a fair trial in order to reduce nervous tension as a means of relieving the attacks.

Painful Monthly Periods-A great number of women and girls suffer from this distressing condition, which is technically known as dysmenorrhoea. There are different physical conditions which predispose toward this complaint, but in almost all cases there is an important emotional factor. If this can be remedied by reducing the patient’s general level of anxiety so that she ceases to overreact to stress, the condition is usually cured or at least greatly relieved.

*26\57\2*

Here’s a massage which helps people with pain at the nape of the neck. For this one again you need two people. (If you are alone, I give a good exercise to ease tension in the neck and shoulders) This massage is also good for tense shoulders. Put your hands on your patient’s shoulders, fingers pointing downwards towards her waist. Your thumbs should be resting against the nape of her neck, pointing in towards her spine. You use your thumbs for this massage. Hold her shoulders lightly under your fingers. Don’t grip tightly or you’ll undo all the good you’re doing with your thumbs. Sweep both your thumbs in circular movements up and in towards the top of her spine, where it joins her neck. This method of massage can be more helpful if it’s firm. Gentle fingertip massage works sometimes, but quite hard pressure is usually better. In fact, many people find this massage is best when it leaves the skin quite flushed afterwards.

*20\177\2*

Have you ever noticed a peculiar, acrid odor in fruit and vegetable markets? This smell may very well be coming from the crates used to pack citrus fruits, which are impregnated with fungicide. This is a good way to stop the growth of molds on cartons but can cause serious health problems for those inhaling the vapors. One patient, Doris Meredith, carelessly took a peck of citrus fruit in a fungicide-impregnated case into her home. Every time she entered the part of her house where the cartons were stored, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and began to wheeze uncontrollably.

Her husband eventually suspected that spray residue on the oranges was the cause and therefore washed each orange in hot, soapy water, drying each fruit separately. The odor still lingered, however, and continued to cause Mrs. Meredith to have acute respiratory symptoms.

Somewhat later, when she and her husband were moving to a new home, she became acutely ill and was confined to her bed, complaining of asthma and headaches. Her husband then recalled that her asthma had started shortly after the packing cases (citrus boxes) were brought into the home. Her symptoms subsided after the boxes were removed but recurred when the same boxes were brought back into the house (this time without her knowledge).

This woman also became depressed for days whenever she ate commercially available oranges. Her depression was so severe that she had contemplated going to a psychiatrist. However, treatment by the methods of clinical ecology was more effective in locating the cause of her problem, namely, fungicide residues, and in eliminating future such instances. She found, for example, that she could eat organic oranges with impunity—that is, oranges which had not been sprayed, dyed, or packed in fungicide-treated cartons.

We are just now beginning to understand the full power of these chemicals. For example, we now know that packing cases and express cars which have been contaminated with insecticides retain this contamination for long periods of time and may subsequently contaminate other loads.

This type of “second-hand” contamination may explain why some people are made ill by wheat which is shipped in paper or cardboard containers for long distances but not from the same organic wheat when it is shipped in metal containers. Some of the pesticides in the railroad car or truck manages to seep into the grain which is packed in porous paper.

Although cases such as Mrs. Meredith’s are extreme instances, the fact that they occur underlines the need for chemically susceptible patients to have local sources of supply, so that food can be transferred from producer to consumer without becoming contaminated.

A more common source of container problems is the ubiquitous “tin” can, now usually made of aluminum or steel. Certain patients react to canned foods, while tolerating the same foods raw or uncanned with no trouble. I had made this observation often enough but could not figure out a way to separate the contribution of the can and its golden-brown phenol lining from that of the various sprays and chemicals found in processed foods. Phenol-containing compounds are used on the inside of tin cans to prevent the metal from bleaching the color of the food. I was finally able to make this distinction when a relative who lived in the state of Washington sent me some salmon which she and her husband had caught and “put up” in glass jars, as well as some tomatoes which had also been home-grown and packed.

When these foods were given to selected patients, they had no reaction. But when these same patients were later given salmon and tomatoes from commercial cans, lined with the golden-brown coating, they all became sick.

These patients have been able to eat fresh or home-packaged salmon or tomatoes since then with no difficulty. It is only when they try to eat such food in cans with phenol lining that they run into trouble.

Admittedly, only a minute amount of the resins and other chemicals used to line cans gets into the food. Is this really enough to cause a reaction? Yes, it is! Think of the difference in taste between canned and uncanned salmon, peaches, or other foods. Some of the characteristic “canned” taste of these foods comes from the substances in the lining, which seep into the food itself. If you can taste it, it can certainly have an effect on your health as well.

Patients who have suffered from depression, asthma, headache, and other symptoms have found relief of their long-term problems by avoiding chemicals and also by eliminating canned foods from their diets.

*22\110\2*