Archive for April, 2009
I have mentioned the difficulty of finding a suitable stimulus which produces pain without too much injury to the tissues. I have avoided electric shock as this is not a natural stimulus in the biological sense. After considerable experimentation I have concluded that burning the skin with the glowing end of a thin piece of string is the most convenient stimulus for severe pain. There are different qualities of string, and they vary in the way that they burn. Select the type of string that burns slowly with the end glowing red hot, but without any actual flame. It is desirable to use as thin a string as possible as this provides an adequate stimulus without causing too much blistering. String is often made from winding together three or four thinner strands. If the string is unravelled, one of these thin strands is very suitable.
We expose our forearm. We light the string and have it glowing red.—We relax completely.—With our eyes only half open we see our forearm, and we see the glowing end of the string.—We are very relaxed.—We see the glowing end moving about over our skin.—If there is hair on our arm, we soon smell it burning.—We are very, very relaxed.— For a moment the glowing end touches the skin.—We feel it touch the skin, but it does not disturb us.—We rest.—We relax again, and repeat the experiment. In general it is easiest to do it on an area where there are not many hairs.
Next day there are little blisters on our forearm.
I must warn you again. Do not say that this is something that you could not do. This is not so. Each step follows easily on the previous one. This follows easily on the experiment with pinpricks. Do not say that this is something that you would not wish to do—that there is something wrong about wilfully injuring your body. Remember that we have to injure the body in many ways to promote healing. We cut the skin to open an abscess. Many drugs act by injuring the tissue or certain organs and thus reducing their output. So in the present case, we injure the skin in order to promote the relief of pain.
The experiment with the glowing string can be done in another way. The string is placed on our forearm, and is held in place by resting a fairly heavy metal object, such as an ash tray, on top of it. About two or three inches of string are left protruding from the edge of the metal object. When the end of the protruding string is lighted, it burns down to where it emerges from the edge of the metal object. It then goes out. But at this point is it in firm contact with the skin, and thus provides quite a strong painful stimulus. It is wise at first to be sure that the string projects upward, and does not lie in contact with the skin, or the pain will be too prolonged for a first experiment. This is a good experiment because it creates the feeling that we no longer have control over the painful stimulus. Once we light the string we have to wait until it goes out of its own accord. Until it goes out, we have to control the pain by the depth of our own relaxation. In this way there is a much closer resemblance to pain as it occurs in ordinary life.
When we find that we can do these experiments easily and naturally and without discomfort, we can make another modification. We bend the string so that it lies on our bare skin for a little way before coming to the edge of the metal object which keeps it on our arm. At first try it with the string lying on the skin for only an eighth of an inch. Then when you have done this, have it lie on the skin for greater distances, up to half an inch or longer.
In the early experiments be sure that you use as thin a strand of string as will burn evenly by glowing. Later on, slightly thicker string can be used and the stimulus will be ‘ more severe.
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read comments (0)DISORDERS OF THE SPINAL COLUMN
Author: admin
The spinal area lies in the right iris 15′-22′ and in the left iris 37-45— in the fifth minor zone. White signs in these areas indicate inflammation and pain. In the case of spinal changes, such as damaged intervertebral disc, one sees white lines which run outwards from the iris-wreath. If the damage has existed for some time, dark lines in addition to the white lines are seen or dark to black points in the skeletal zone, especially in the areas for cervical and lumbar spine. These two regions of the spine lie diametrically opposite to one another in the iris. (Note: Axilla-Loin line.) The pupil in this area is often flattened and/or the iris-wreath is displaced towards the pupil.
Multiple sclerosis is a disturbance of the brain and spinal cord, where the pathology leads to vascular changes and to a degeneration of nerve tissue, in which case connective tissue (hyperplasia of neuroglia) appears. Corresponding to the different regions of the brain and spinal cord affected in this disease, iris signs can appear in the spinal area, cervical area, as well as in the area for medulla oblongata. In such conditions one finds several black small points which lie one under the other.
In contrast to the intervertebral disc injuries, in which usually only one black point is found, and where also small meandering veins run in over the sclera to the corresponding spinal areas, the condition of multiple sclerosis always shows several small points, and the blood vessel picture on the sclera is missing. Next to the signs in the spinal areas or medulla, in cases of multiple sclerosis signs of over-activity affecting the sexual organs and rectum are also found.
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It has to be said straightaway that any medical treatment for period pain will vary according to the doctor or clinic treating you and according to which particular hormone they think is causing the trouble. It would be lovely if someone could discover a magic pill, or’ one easy treatment that would just stop the pain wherever it was or whatever was causing it. But our body systems are just too complicated for an easy solution like that; so complicated in fact that we’re only just beginning to understand how they work. When the late great Dr Winnicott was asked what he thought about sex education in schools, he replied, ‘But we don’t even know why girls have periods.’ And he was right; we don’t. But at least, we are beginning to find out how we have them. And an intriguing business it is, with chemical messengers, or hormones, racing around our bloodstream virtually all through the month. The trouble is that there are so many of them, all different and all with a different part to play in the whole process. And any one of them could be at fault when the system goes wrong.
If we’re to understand what sort of treatments are currently being offered by doctors and clinics, it’s helpful to know a bit about how our systems work. Or at least to be able to identify the hormones doctors think are causing the trouble. So the next section is a potted history of what goes on inside a woman, month by month. If you’re squeamish, or you would prefer not to know, then skip the next bit. But if, like me, you’re fascinated that we should carry such a delicate, complicated, finely balanced miracle inside us — read on.
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It’s very upsetting to wake in the morning and find you have become a different person. Or to start the day feeling your usual self and then sense a horrible change taking place. Some women find that they are suddenly furiously angry with everything and everyone, including their husbands and children; others are irritable and snappy and find fault with everything, even things they know are trivial. Some are suddenly so tense, and have so much nervous energy, that they don’t know what to do with themselves. They can’t relax, sit down or stop for a minute; others are miserably depressed and withdrawn, with no hope and precious little energy. Whichever way your particular mood swings, the effect is to change your personality, which is very difficult to contend with. As one woman put it, ‘It’s like being bewitched.’
The sad thing is that it happens to so many women. And until quite recently, unless they or their relations happened to notice that their mood swings coincided with the approach of their periods, they often had the added misery of not knowing what on earth was the matter with them. Back in the sixties doctors were often unsympathetic to women patients who went to them asking for help because they were depressed or inexplicably irritable. They were told to ‘snap out of it’ or to ‘pull themselves together’—which was the one thing they couldn’t do. Fortunately, the climate of medical opinion is changing, due to the work of Dr Dalton and others, and there are now hospitals and clinics where you can get various medical treatments if your symptoms are very severe. So you are not so likely to be told that it’s ‘all in your mind’. And I hope you wouldn’t, take any notice if you were. There’s nothing the matter with your mind. You are certainly not mad, nor are you abnormal. You are not even unusual. There are thousands of women like you—about forty per cent of all women in Britain between fourteen and fifty-five years of age—if one excludes those on the Pill.
Steady relaxation can be the answer to mood swings, but I should warn you it rarely effects a miraculous cure overnight. It’s more likely to improve things by gradually cutting down the number of days when you suffer from your particular mood swing. You’ll probably improve month by month as the off days get fewer and fewer. In the meantime though, you and your partner, friends, relations and colleagues still have to live with your moods, if only for a little while. How can you cope?
For a start, take up the offer of any activity that sounds fun. So many of us think that play stops with our childhood, which is a great pity and can make for a dull life. This is the time of the month when a surprise outing can do you the most good; the time when we most need to dance and sing or play games or get out in the country for a day. The more pleasure there can be in your life, the better you’ll be able to cope with your moods.
*36\177\2*
VAGINAL DISCHARGE IN GIRLS
Author: admin
Symptom: Discharge that is irritating, pus-like, bloody, or foul-smelling
Home care:
Have the child take sitz baths to which a cup of vinegar has been added.
Check for signs of threadworms or urinary tract infection.
Teach your daughter simple preventive measures such as wearing cotton underpants, avoiding the use of chemical products, and practicing proper techniques for cleaning herself after using the bathroom.
- Any girl whose mother took diethyl-stilbesterol (DES) while pregnant should be examined by a gynecologist at the beginning of puberty, whether or not vaginal discharge is present.
- The use of vaginal sprays or chemicals in the bath water can cause vaginal discharge.
- Discharge from the vagina is normal during the first two weeks of a baby girl’s life and for one to two years before a girl starts menstruating. This discharge does not irritate or have a foul odor.
Mucus discharge from the vagina is normal during the first two weeks of a baby girl’s life and during the one to two years before a girl starts menstruating. Such vaginal discharge may be quite heavy, but it does not have an unpleasant odor and it does not irritate the skin.
Vaginal discharge that irritates nearby membranes, smells foul, and causes itching, soreness, or pain may be caused by using chemicals in the bath (bubble bath, water softeners) or vaginal hygiene sprays, wearing panties made from synthetic materials, or poor toileting habits. It can also result from threadworms, a urinary tract infection, masturbation, foreign bodies in the vagina, or poor hygiene. Also, vaginal discharge can be caused by vaginal infection (vaginitis) due to viral or bacterial micro-organisms or yeasts.
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At what age should my child be giving his own injections?
As soon as he expresses a wish to do so. Some doctors like children to give injections to themselves at as young an age as possible, and certainly many children have been known to give their own needles at the age of 4 or 5. There is very little point, however, in coercing your child to give his own injections too early. By the age of 10 or 11 years he will very probably want to be responsible for his own injections, particularly as he may want to go away camping or stay with friends by himself.
Some children find that they want help from their parents with injecting until they are even older, but at all events by the time a child is a teenager he should be encouraged to do his own injections. Parents’ anxiety to help their child may prove not to be in his best interests if it prevents him becoming self-reliant in his adolescent years. Sometimes it is hard for parents to teach their own child to give the injection. Allowing your child to attend a Diabetic Camp where he can be taught by trained nurses and follow the example of other children can be one way of overcoming this. Perhaps you will wish his doctor or nurse to teach your child to give his own injections.
Are automatic injectors a good idea?
For a few people they are helpful. It is wise to learn first to give the injection by hand, partly because it will give you confidence in handling the syringe, and partly because the injector is just one more thing to learn about. Also it is wise to be able to give an injection by hand in case an injector goes wrong. Many people prefer to give an injection by hand because they find that the extra time taken setting up an automatic injector can be a nuisance. It all depends on the individual, and it is particularly helpful for a nervous person who has trouble plucking up the courage to plunge the needle through the skin. If after giving the ordinary method of injection a fair trial you feel that the plunging of the needle through the skin is a tremendous ordeal, you should discuss the question of an automatic injector with your doctor or nurse.
If the insulin dose has to be increased does this mean that the diabetes is getting worse?
No, not necessarily at all. Insulin dose will have to be increased with time, both because your child is getting bigger (and the requirement for insulin grows with her), and because, with the passage of time, the pancreas produces less and less insulin. There is, after all, very little difference in having to have, say 10 units, than having to have 20 or 30 units of insulin a day. In each case it merely represents your child’s need for insulin rather than anything to do with the severity of the diabetes.
How do you store insulin in very hot weather?
It is important that insulin should be kept in a cool place. If the weather is very hot, it may be wise to keep it in the door of the refrigerator but be sure that it does not freeze. It is better not to keep the bottle that you are actually using in the refrigerator but to keep it in a cool part of the house. When travelling in hot weather keep the insulin well insulated and not in the hot part of a car. A wide necked thermos flask with a little ice can be used. Insulin is quite a stable substance and lasts well at normal room temperature.
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TRAVEL OF PEOPLE WITH DIABETES
Author: admin
People with diabetes can – and do – travel anywhere. Usually this will not involve much change in the usual routine, but if you are travelling long distances overseas by plane, there will be some necessary adjustment to cope with the time differences between countries.
There is some preparation and planning you should consider before your trip. Although you will receive advice from your physician there are some general suggestions you may find useful.
General advice
1. Take extra supplies of insulin and syringes with you, carrying them in two separate items of luggage. This means that if a piece of luggage is lost you still have spare insulin and equipment.
2. Carry essential equipment in hand luggage and then it is always to hand.
3. In very hot climates make sure insulin is kept cool. You may need to take insulated food or drinks pack or make arrangements for the use of a refrigerator. Hotel rooms are usually quite cool enough for keeping insulin, but cars can get very hot.
4. If your child is liable to get travel sickness, it may be wise to use an anti-travel sickness tablet. Discuss this with your doctor.
Advanced planning for overseas trips
Ask your travel agent well in advance to give you the following information:
1. Departure time.
2. AH stops – arrival and departure times.
3. Flying hours between stops.
4. Arrival at destination – local time.
5. Meal times on flight.
Get your supplies together using the check list and get prescription items in plenty of time.
Tell your doctor. Make an appointment one or two weeks before departure to discuss details. Warn him that you will need two letters – see the check list.
Check with the travel agent if the airline requires a medical certificate. Most don’t, but if they do, you will need to take it to your doctor. Ensure you have adequate health insurance cover – hospital care can be very expensive in some countries.
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INVALIDISM AND STRESS
Author: admin
Anyone suffering from a chronic illness or disability receives nervous impulses into the brain from the disordered tissues, from any pain or discomfort, and from worry about the illness. This stream of impulses produces a background of activity in the brain which predisposes the individual to stress which may come about from other problems.
However, there can arise an inverse relationship between invalidism and stress, so that invalidism becomes an inferior way of coping with stress.
We have seen how early retirement may become an inferior way of coping with stress by avoiding the problems of work. In our society it is usual for the man to work away from home while the woman works in the home and in caring for the children. Unlike the man, the woman who finds her home duties a problem that produces stress is unable to seek early retirement from work to avoid stress. The alternative is chronic psychosomatic illness. She is relieved of some of the problems of the home, her stress is reduced, and in spite of the discomfort of her illness she does in fact feel better.
This process is technically known as secondary gain from illness. We must remember that the process is unconscious. She is quite unaware of the underlying motivation, and the individual involved in this way of coping with stress hotly denies that there is any gain from her invalidism.
Housewives who succumb to this female equivalent of a man’s too-early retirement are often fussy, over-tidy, perfectionistic women who take a pride in having everything in the house spick and span, and in its proper place. I well remember such a case. Perhaps I remember it well because the patient was a particularly attractive young woman, a nurse. She had graduated top of the state, receiving many prizes. Two years later she was awarded a gold medal for her exceptional services. She soon found herself in charge of the intensive-care unit. Life and death were her daily companions. Everything was in order. She always had a smile. She was everybody’s darling. She married, and quite soon had two babies. She became ill. The local doctor could not understand it, except that she was obviously ill. Two consultant physicians did no better other than vaguely suggesting that her illness may be due to some glandular disorder following the birth of the two babies. She eventually came to see me. With her fastidious personality she had found the inherent disorder of two young babies a matter of great stress. She could not cope. She had unconsciously escaped into invalidism.
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STRESS: WARNING SYMPTOMS
Author: admin
Mind goes blank
«I am a good student. Study well, know my work. But last year I went to pieces at the exams. Mind just went blank. And as it went blank I got the jitters, terrible jitters. Kept thinking, what if I should fail? It was an hour before I got started. Then went like mad. It was too late. I did fail. Spoilt my whole record. I am repeating. I know my work. Know it well. What if I should do it again?»
The student whom I have in mind did not do it again. In fact he came top. During the year I had him practice meditation regularly. This gave him the calm and ease to ward off” another acute stress reaction. Some years later I had a letter from him from America, where he is pursuing a distinguished career in medical research, just to thank me once again.
There are others who suffer this type of reaction. We have all seen it in the unfortunate bridegroom. He rises to make the speech which he has prepared for weeks. But the occasion is too much. His brain is flooded with impulses. He is struck dumb. His mind is blank.
Distractibility
«My mind wanders off the subject. No. It flits off. Here and there. All over the place. Can’t keep my thoughts on the topic in hand. I am attending to some simple, everyday business problem. There is some unimportant noise in the street. Then I find myself miles away from the matter I was working on, following up trains of thought about the noise in the street.’
‘At lunch with two or three others, the talk is pleasant enough. Then find my thoughts have been waylaid on to something else.
‘Mind is too active. Jumping about all over the place. Help me to use this activity. Help me to keep it on the one subject. »
Stress over-alerts our nerve cells. They fire off too readily with messages that are not relevant to the matter in hand. It is usually the observer, rather than the person concerned, who notices that the person under stress is not keeping to the subject under discussion.
Our brain has a complicated mechanism which allows our thoughts to flow freely. One subject of thought follows the next because it has a relevance to it in some way, logically, emotionally, or by similarity. And so the process of thought flows on. If our nerve cells fire off too easily, we become distracted from our main topic, and our stream of thought is diverted into quite irrelevant channels.
*37/98/5*
Vitamins À, Ñ and E have been shown to be valuable protectors against cancer. It has long been realized that vitamin A is vital for maintaining the integrity of cells that cover the body’s internal and external surfaces. Animal studies have shown that a vitamin A deficiency causes an increased risk of lung, bladder and colon cancers-all cancers of the epithelial (body lining) tissues. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that rats so marginally deficient in vitamin A that there were no overt signs of the deficiency had an increased risk of suffering from colon cancer when exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.
Evidence from the Netherlands in a study of thirty-three patients with lung cancer found that those born in the winter months had twice the chance of developing the disease of those born in the summer months. Cows’ milk has its lowest levels of vitamin A in the winter, so infants fed cows’ milk formula could be getting less of the vitamin than they need. Scientists in Japan followed 122,261 men for ten years. Those who reported a low intake of green and yellow vegetables had death rates from prostate cancer over twice as high as those who ate plenty of these vegetables. The link between green and yellow vegetables was consistent across age, social-class and regional barriers. Recent experiments with vitamin A and its artificial derivatives have found that they block the effects of cancer-causing substances in the lung, breast, stomach, bladder, skin and reproductive system of laboratory animals.
Other research shows that vitamin A interferes with the conversion of cancer-causing chemicals into their active form. Many carcinogens are harmless in themselves but are converted into toxic forms in the body. In some instances, vitamin A prevents this conversion.
Vitamin Ñ may be protective against cancers of the reproductive system. A New York study found that in women the risk of developing cervical dysplasia (a pre-cancerous condition of the cervix) goes down when the vitamin Ñ consumption goes up. The women with positive cervical smears tended to be eating a diet low in vitamin Ñ. They concluded that women who ate less than 30 mg a day of vitamin Ñ had a tenfold risk of cervical dysplasia as compared with women whose intake was above that level.
The risk of breast cancer too can be lowered by using vitamin Ñ supplements, according to studies at Yale University. Researchers compared three groups of women: one group with a breast cancer; a second with healthy breasts; and a third without breast cancer who had recently been discharged from hospital. All the women were asked about their vitamin Ñ intake. Women who took more than 1 g vitamin Ñ daily for at least a year were 50-80 per cent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate less.
A US study found that radiation, heat therapy, and certain chemotherapeutic drugs worked better if vitamin E was given too. In a group of thirteen patients with cancers of the nervous system which had not responded to any cure, six improved when given vitamin E. Some of them were totally free from pain for the first time too. Research in Australia found that mice fed extra vitamin E had only one tenth as many malignant chemical-induced breast tumours as did control mice.
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