Archive for the 'General health' Category
IMMUNE SYSTEMS: INJECTING VACCINES
Author: admin
The technique of injecting children with vaccines made from weakened viruses has reduced measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) to only a few thousand cases of each a year, the lowest levels in history. (The rubella vaccine is critical for any woman of childbearing age because, if she becomes pregnant, the virus can blind, deafen, or retard her unborn child.)
Despite these successes, vaccine science is not without controversy over the relative safety of live versus killed viruses and bacteria.
Those who favor live vaccines point with pride to the success of the live Sabin polio vaccine (named for Dr. Albert Sabin), which practically wiped out polio. Made from thoroughly enfeebled, but live, viruses, it is touted today as one of the safest of the live vaccines. Nevertheless, it causes 5 to 10 cases of paralysis in the United States each year. Although it protects the vaccinated person from disease, the virus in the vaccine somehow regains its strength and may contaminate others.
Dr. Salk and other proponents of his killed virus vaccine say that it is safer than and just as potent as the live Sabin vaccine. They point to another vaccine, DTP, a single vaccine that contains no living matter yet has all but obliterated three long-feared childhood diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough, also called pertussis. (These three infections are caused by bacteria. Bacteria are perhaps a hundred times larger than viruses, and, unlike viruses, they can reproduce outside cells. They do their damage by emitting poisons.)
But even vaccines made from killed viruses and bacteria are not without problems. From a controlled British study, it has been determined that the DTP vaccine causes brain damage in one child in 310,000. Nevertheless, without vaccination, the incidence of death by whooping cough increases by 19 times, and the likelihood of brain damage quadruples. So, its advocates insist, taking the vaccine is much safer than not taking it.
In response to the need for new vaccines – and questions about existing ones -the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has set up a priority list of 10 inoculations against serious germ maladies. High on that list are finding a new, safer vaccine for whooping cough and winning approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the chicken pox vaccine.
The institute also advocates a live vaccine for influenza, which kills 10,000 people a year.
Several vaccines made from killed influenza virus already exist. They particularly benefit older, chronically ill people who have lung, heart, and other health infirmities. But only 20 percent of this high-risk group takes the shots. If all such high-risk people were inoculated, says the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, flu vaccines could save an additional 5,000 lives in the United States.
But because the flu plays tricks on scientists, the influenza virus presents its own special, problem. With each flu season, several different viruses may circulate in the population, so that the old vaccine doesn’t work. Health officials hope that a live vaccine will be easier to manufacture and administer than a killed one. For one thing, if a new flu virus appears on the scene, scientists can quickly tailor-make a vaccine to stop that epidemic. For another, the new vaccines may be sprayed into the nose. Researchers believe that people may be more willing to inhale a vaccine than to take shots.
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read comments (0)ENDOCRINE DISORDERS: HYPERTHYROIDISM
Author: admin
Clinical findings
Excessive secretion by the thyroid gland leads to an increase in the metabolic rate by as much as 50 per cent. Some of the symptoms are weight loss, nervousness, increased appetite, prominent eyes, and enlarged thyroid gland. The increased metabolic rate leads to rapid loss of glycogen from the liver, and some tissue wasting, and in severe cases to signs of cardiac failure. Calcium and phosphorus excretion is often increased, resulting in osteoporosis. Most patients are treated with anti-thyroid drugs to bring the metabolic rate to normal. In some instances surgery is required.
Dietary management
If there has been much weight loss a diet supplying 3000 to 4000 kcal and 100 to 125 gm protein is needed. Snacks are provided between meals and at bedtime. Mineral and vitamin supplements are often prescribed. Coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco are usually eliminated because of their stimulating properties.
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There are two considerations that are very important in choosing toys for children:
1. The safety of toys should be uppermost. Make sure that the toy is sturdy, and will not break in the hands of energetic youngsters. Toys should be free of sharp edges or protruding parts, should be made from materials that are not toxic (remember that young children like to explore toys with their mouths) and they should not have small parts that can be swallowed or inhaled. If in doubt about a toy, advice can be obtained from the local child safety centre (see p. 29).
2. Buy toys that stimulate the child’s learning and creativity, not those that encourage aggressive and violent behaviour. There is increasing community concern about ‘anti-social toys’. These include victim dolls or figures (which have often grotesque malformations or injuries), war toys, or violent toys such as guns or knives. There is increasing evidence that such toys can adversely influence children’s attitudes, values and behaviour. For example, a child’s language and play when using war toys is often very aggressive. Research shows that aggression established in childhood tends to be carried through into adolescence and adult life. Unfortunately, these toys are often promoted heavily during children’s television shows, so that children may ask parents to buy them. This should be resisted.
The careful choice of toys can have beneficial effects on a child’s behaviour and development, and also minimise the chances of potentially serious injury.
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The Catastrophizer: This person pulls away from sexuality and most of life. The health problem becomes overwhelming, distracting him or her from any personal or marital strength that could save intimacy and contribute to healing. “When I lost my breast, I lost everything,” reported the wife. “The cancer took more than my breast, it took my marriage.” The husband offered help. “But, honey, your cancer was cured. There are no signs of it at all. You licked it. It’s gone.” She stared angrily at him. “You’ll never know what it’s like to sit on a time bomb like this. It could come back. If you want sex, go somewhere else. If that is all I am to you, even at a time like this, then leave me.” The husband offered her his handkerchief for her tears and she threw it to the floor.
Unlike the Accepter, this person is defeated and asks repeatedly, “Why me?” While such concerns are a natural phase of illness, the Catastrophizer remains stuck at this phase, mistaking diagnosis for verdict. He or she may withdraw from sex as a form of self- or partner punishment in a misguided attempt to strike back at the terrible injustice he or she has suffered. The Catastrophizer is the innocent prisoner of their health problem, while the Accepter is more the overwilling victim.
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DIRECTED?
Psychologists refer to the concept of “locus of control.” Some of us are strongly influenced by our inner feelings and sensations. Others are more reactive to outside cues. Which seems to be your style?
“He doesn’t spend much time with feelings,” reported the wife. “He’s a realist. See it, do it, and that’s it.”
“Yes,” agreed the husband. “And she is all feelings. There is not a bone of practicality in her.”
This “locus of control” issue becomes important in sexual interaction. Some partners respond to sexual stimulation coming from within, from feelings and sensations that seem to originate from the psyche. Others react to visual or touch stimulation almost exclusively, are more haptic, sensation-oriented. How would you characterize yourself and your partner on this branch of the love map, reactive to the outside or active from the inside?
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VENEREAL DISEASE – TESTS
Author: admin
Sometimes the infection spreads through the blood and may cause an acute arthritis, usually involving only one joint.
Blood tests are unreliable and the diagnosis can be made on smear or culture from the affected area.
Most cases respond to a short course of injected penicillin. The long-acting penicillins, sometimes used in treating syphilis, are ineffective and so are penicillin tablets taken by mouth.
Penicillin derivatives such as amoxycillin are effective when given by mouth.
Some strains of gonococci, mainly from South-East Asia, are resistant to penicillin and so other drugs are necessary. Spectinomycin may be given as a single injection or the other tetracycline antibiotics given by mouth.
Non-specific or non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU or NSU) is essentially a male disorder. Following exposure some two to three weeks later a man may develop a discharge and pain on passing urine. As a rule, the symptoms are not as marked as with gonorrhoea.
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EPILEPTIC FIT – GENERAL INFORMATION
Author: admin
Following the attack, the person will recover, usually in a matter of minutes. There is no need to summon an ambulance or a doctor unless one fit follows on top of another or the person does not regain consciousness within 10 minutes.
If you remain calm and protect the epileptic from danger during the fit, on recovery he will usually be able to tell you who he is and whether he has had these before.
If so, once he has recovered, he is usually able to go about his business. If the fit is the first one, medical help should be sought.
A few who have epilepsy may suffer severe and persistent convulsions and may be mentally retarded. These may require institutional care and be unemployable. These cases are difficult to manage but they are in the minority.
Epilepsy in itself is not an inherited disorder, although a low threshold to attacks may run in families. The children of epileptics have one chance in 40 of developing the disorder, whereas generally the risk is one in 200.
It is important for all of us to remember that the great majority of those with epilepsy can have this controlled by drugs and lead normal lives.
If you suffer from this disorder or have a relative or friend who does, or if you are an employer and reluctant to employ an epileptic, contact the Epilepsy Association or Foundation in your State.
What they offer the epileptic is hope, what they offer the community is knowledge, what they ask in return is understanding.
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STRAWBERRY MARKS; WAKING TIMES FOR BABIES
Author: admin
The strawberry naevus is a common childhood problem and causes anxiety.
The lesion is a new growth of immature blood vessels. It is not present at birth, but appears some time in the first three weeks. It is red and raised and, if pressure is applied, the blood empties out and loses its color, to regain it immediately the pressure is removed.
From the age of three months to a year, it grows with the child. Then growth ceases and it slowly regresses, the dilated blood vessels shrivel up, white patches appear in the centre and it eventually disappears.
This eventual disappearance is the natural history of these marks and so treatment is not indicated. If they are removed or interfered with, scarring may result and be present for life.
About a third of babies wake frequently or, on most nights, cry. This causes parents a great deal of distress, lost sleep and anxiety and guilt that their baby is abnormal.
Even if you’re thick-skinned and put it down to sheer bloody-mindedness on the baby’s part, persistent crying is hard to ignore and you eventually have to get up.
As you pace the floor, be comforted that you are not alone. As I said, about a third of babies have this sleeping pattern.
Don’t be frightened to get up to the baby, fearing you may spoil him if you do. There is some evidence that early attention — so the crying is not prolonged — may result, over a few months, in less crying.
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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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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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