Healthpharmablog. About Health & Medicine

The first step to appropriate treatment is accurate diagnosis. If you suspect that your baby has visual problems, first see your doctor who will refer him to an eye specialist for thorough eye tests. Most causes of visual impairment cannot be cured, the exception being surgical repair of a cataract. However, much can be done to meet your child’s specific needs.

Make sure that you provide a safe environment for a child who is blind or cannot see well, by checking around your home for things which could cause accidents. As the child gets older, it is important to provide a suitable educational setting for him. This may involve a special school for the visually impaired. Parents should always be involved in helping to develop an appropriate program, which makes maximum use of other senses, such as hearing and touch, for learning. Some children who are visually impaired are able to read large print books; others need to learn braille, or learn from audio tapes and ‘talking books’.

A child who is blind or visually impaired needs to become as independent as possible. At a later stage the use of a special cane or a seeing-eye dog may afford him maximum independence.

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The young couple in the parked car struggled so not only because they didn’t have a place for sex or a way to be safely comfortable and communicate sexually, but also because they had learned well the wrong lessons of sex. Ironically, this young couple’s struggle was similar in many ways to sexual struggles within marriage. They didn’t have their own place, they couldn’t find privacy, they didn’t talk about sex, they didn’t work as a team. They were trying to do sex to each other or for each other, not with each other, and they were victims of the same genital focus I have discussed throughout this book.

Here is a list of the twelve erotic errors that have served as the sexual lesson plan for the first three perspectives of sexuality.

1. Sex is an impulse. It is the strongest, the most difficult to control of all human impulses.

2. If you start touching erotic zones, it is difficult to turn back, to control the “sexual impulse,” the gravity of sexual drive pulling us helplessly toward intercourse.

3. “Foreplay” is a preset collection of guaranteed sexual maneuvers that must be learned primarily by boys to get girls ready for sex.

4. Boys are always ready for sex, always want it, will do it with almost any girl if they have the chance. Anything less than constant sexual urgency is less than manly. A quote by Emo Philips illustrates this focus. “My schoolmates would make love to anything that moved, but I never saw any reason to limit myself.” So goes the “folk myth” of sex in the school years.

5. Good girls don’t want sex. Bad girls may want it, so boys should have it with them and then find a good girl to marry. Good girls need a lot of “foreplay,” so boys, who are never bad for wanting sex and are “queer” if they don’t, should practice their technique on bad girls.

6. Everything you do sexually is for intercourse. Intercourse is the best, most adult thing in the whole world.

7. “Playing around” with hugging and kissing is fun, but if you don’t finally “go all the way,” you aren’t grown up and you may end up hurting yourself.

8. Sex is natural and simple. Anybody can do it. You don’t have to learn how to “make out,” you just have to let yourself go.

9. You had better use contraception and always have it ready. It takes away I from the “real thing,” but you have to have it ready, because once you I start “playing around,” you will lose control and always want to “go all I the way.”

10. If you are really deeply in love, you will want to have intercourse. If you I are a girl, intercourse means love, so if you have done “it,” you are I probably in love. If you are a bad girl, and just like sex for fun, feelings, I and closeness, you can have a lot of sex and never been in love. Intercourse I is something good girls try to save and give later as a marital gift. Bad I girls might trade intercourse too soon and for too little.

11. If you are a boy and in love, you will know just what to do to please your I girlfriend. You will magically know, through love, every secret turn-on. I Love is so strong that it makes sex remarkable.

12. Your parents would never understand about your sexual feelings. They are f older, times were different for them, and they just want to tell you about [ not doing it or contraception, sperm, and eggs. Nobody tells their parents what they really do or would want to do sexually. Old people don’t have the same sex feelings as young people, if they have any left at all.

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You can’t tell me that ejaculation isn’t orgasm. This is just a bunch of crap, some type of psychobabble. You come or you don’t. I don’t want to hear any more about this stuff. It is just crap.

HUSBAND AT SESSION ONE

I never would have thought it. It seems so obvious now. How could I ever have thought that ejaculating was the same as really enjoying sex? This is remarkable. I can see that psychasm is not a gimmick. It’s real. You have orgasms and psychasms, it’s just obvious. But I can’t convince my friends. Now they think I’m crazy, like I bought some new sexual mantra.

SAME HUSBAND AT FIVE-YEAR POLLOW-UP

The danger in discussing the difference between ejaculation and orgasm is that the earlier perspectives on sexuality are so firmly established in our society. The mere suggestion of psychasm sounds like the worst of pop psychology, like some strange throwback to a psychology of the past. The Masters and Johnson position is clear and dominates our thinking. They write, “Orgasm refers specifically to the sudden rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region and elsewhere in the body that effectively release accumulated sexual tension.” Kinsey reported orgasms without ejaculation, but was referring to the same contraction concept, and he reported it only in young boys, sexually immature persons. Masters and Johnson state, “Ejaculation without orgasm . . . can occur in certain cases of neurological illness.” They clearly feel that ejaculation is orgasm in the male.

I suggest that ejaculation and pelvic muscular contractions are “orgasm,” organ-based, and that more generalized emotional, cognitive, and body response is “psychasm.” Men are capable of both, separately and simultaneously, and understanding this capacity in men is important not only for super marital sex but for other health-related issues.

Women can emit a fluid during sexual response that may come from the Skene’s glands along the urethra. Women do not typically define their orgasmic experience by this fluid release, but for men, “the fluid is the fun.” Fear, anxiety, and joy can all result in ejaculation, so it is a response that is typically but not exclusively related to sexual stimulation.

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We will discuss only natural detoxification methods here. By natural I mean methods of assisting and/or enhancing the natural cleansing mechanisms the body already uses every day .

Let us consider some of the organs which are responsible for the excretion of the toxic waste from our body, and see how we can assist in this process.,

Lungs. All our blood passes through the net of blood vessels in the lungs and is oxygenated. This process provides oxygen, necessary to the process of extracting energy from our food. Using this oxygen our body is able to oxygenate (burn) food as well as toxins. Excretion is achieved by exhaling carbon dioxide together with other (sometimes quite aromatic) gases. How can we assist ? Surely lots of clean fresh air would make a difference. Improved breathing techniques could also help. According to the teachings of yoga our breathing should be quite slow and contain four distinct phases: slow inhaling, a wait period, slow exhaling and another wait period. For some people it happens so naturally, that they do not pay attention to it. However it is possible to acquire bad habits, in which case some breathing exercises may help. For instructions regarding breathing technique, look up the books “The oxygen breakthrough” or

“Oxygen therapies” or read a book about yoga.

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There are some scholars who believe the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was not due to moral decadence but to the debilitating effects of malaria.

Malaria was once widespread through Europe but is not longer endemic there.

The Romans believed the disease was due to the effects of the bad air, or “mal aria” arising from the swamps outside Rome. These swamps were the breeding ground of the anopheles mosquito, which spreads the disease to man.

A protazoa, or small one-celled animal, Plasmodium, causes the disease. There are four types of Plasmodium, P. ovale, P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae, which can affect man and the falciparum is the most dangerous.

Until a few years ago, there was great hope that public health measures might lead to almost total eradication of this most ancient plague.

Unfortunately, this optimism was misplaced and the world situation is rapidly becoming worse. The control of malaria lies mainly in getting rid of the vector which is the anopheles mosquito.

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Bunions may be due to narrow-pointed shoes — too narrow for the feet that occupy them.

But I don’t think scientific opinion will stand against fashion.

The main deformity in this condition is the displacement of the big toe toward the other toes.

This is known as hallux valgus and this disrupts the joint between the toe and the long bone of the foot, or metatarsal.

The head of the first metatarsal moves towards the centre of the body, that is, in the opposite direction from the toe, and as a result of pressure between this bone and the toe a bursa, or bag of fluid, forms in the tissues.

This is the bunion. The bursa becomes inflamed and painful and may even become infected.

Pressure on this bunion causes considerable pain.

As well, osteoarthrosis develops in the joint and causes further pain.

As the big toe moves across, the second toe, especially if it is longer than the first, has no room and then tends to bend upwards at the first joint.

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Should you try acupuncture?

Many patients dislike taking medication, or they find that it is no longer working for them. Others suffer from undesirable side effects. Acupuncture is a relatively benign therapy that may help in some cases for pain management. A study done by Dr. Joseph M. Helms, a family practitioner in Berkeley. California, demonstrated how this ancient treatment may be effective for sufferers of dysmenorrhea.

Dr. Helms set up an experiment in which he divided forty-three women into four groups. One group got real acupuncture treatment at appropriate acupuncture points (specific points on the feet, knees, forearms, and lower abdomen). A second group was given false acupuncture, that is, at random points on their bodies. A third group was followed without medical attention or acupuncture, and the fourth group just “visited” the project doctor once a month. All of these women were regularly taking medication to control their monthly pain. (Remember, cramps are caused by high prostaglandin levels prompting the uterus to contract. Antidotes for cramps arc prostaglandin inhibitors.)

Dr. Helms’s study was undertaken for a period of twelve months before tabulating his results: 90.9 percent of those treated with mil acupuncture (ten out of eleven subjects) showed improvement; four out of eleven given false acupuncture said they felt improved. The real acupuncture group reported a decrease in cramping, pain, nausea, headache and backache, and premenstrual symptoms of fluid retention and breast tenderness, and they improved immediately. From his firsthand analysis. Dr. Helms theorises that acupuncture may work for any number of reasons, the concentration of prostaglandins in the endometrium is altered either directly by the stimulation of the acupuncture treatment or “indirectly via the concentration of estrogen or progesterone.” Again, he reported, it may be some other “neural mechanism triggered by the acupuncture treatments.”

Part of such a positive result of acupuncture treatment, Dr. Helms feels, is a “bias of self-selection.” This means chat it is possible that patients trilling to accept acupuncture as a valid medical treatment would be more willing to participate in such a study, while those who were against acupuncture were underrcpresented.

Nevertheless, the study had an interesting resolution, since most women in these groups wanted to stop taking medication and handle the treatment of pain in some other way. Dr. Hoffman feels that acupuncture can help in certain cases, but that women with endometriosis in an advanced state may get little pain relief Acupuncture has mystique, but it’s not a miracle cure.

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There are a number of relatively minor disorders of the nails and the surrounding skin. These are fairly common in the community, and for this reason will be mentioned. Most of the more major disorders are fortunately less common, so only some of these will be discussed.

Paronychia is the most common nail condition seen in medical practice. It is an infection of the nail-fold caused by bacteria and yeast, and only very rarely by fungi. Most commonly, it affects people whose hands are frequently immersed in water. Women are more often affected than men, and diabetics more often than non-diabetics. It is particularly common among housewives, barmen, cooks, and cleaners. The predisposing factor is the loss of cuticle, which has most likely been damage by constant wetting or manicuring. This allows organisms to enter the exposed space between the nail-fold and the underlying nail. One or several fingers may be involved, but the index and middle fingers of the right hand are the most commonly affected.

As a result, the nail-fold becomes red, swollen, and painful. Pus will discharge from beneath, and the nail become discoloured and ridged. Treatment involves keeping the nails dry until the cuticle reforms and is able to exercise its protective function.

This means minimizing contact with water, soap, detergents and other irritants—a formidable undertaking for the housewife with young children. Loose rubber gloves with cotton linings should be used for all wet work. Unlined rubber gloves should be avoided, as they increase the softening of the skin by making the hands sweat. When getting the hands wet is unavoidable, then a drying spirit lotion should be immediately applied to the nail-fold after thorough drying of the hands. Overnight, an antibiotic cream effective against both bacteria and yeast should be applied.

Hangnails are splits in the skin along the sides of the nails, resulting in pieces of skin breaking away. They are due either to nail biting or to excessive dryness of the skin. Because dried skin loses its elasticity and tends to crack, the tendency is to pick at it. Often the cause of the dryness is repeated washing and/or inadequate drying of the hands. Protection of the hands, adequate drying, and careful manicuring followed by the application of softening ointments, will help prevent hangnail developing.

Nail biting is an extremely common habit, particularly amongst children. Often several members of the family may be nail biters. The patient is usually somewhat anxious, and the family background may contain elements of insecurity. Usually all fingernails are bitten, frequently right back to where the nail plate separates from the nail-bed. Consequently paronychia, nail deformities, hangnail and warts are very common. Occasionally, the application of foul-tasting paint to the nails may discourage the habit, although it is rarely an effective treatment. Some form of psychotherapy is probably the most useful treatment for adults.

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There are three main energy systems that provide fuel for muscle. Two of these are anaerobic (literally, without oxygen), and the third is aerobic (with air or oxygen).

The final product used by each of these three systems is the high-energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which, when split, provides energy for the muscles to contract. For those

Studying exercise performance, it’s the outcomes of these energy systems, particularly muscular contraction, and the types of exercises which improve them, which are important.

For those interested in fat loss, however, it is the fuel use, or substrate utilisation, operating within these systems and leading to the end product of ATP, which is most important, because this determines the rate at which energy is utilised and excess fat ‘burned up’.

The energy systems in relation to exercise have been covered in much more detail elsewhere, and so muscle physiology will only be considered in summary form here. We will then look at the metabolic pathways that provide the options for fuel for muscle. The implications of these for exercise planning for fat loss will be considered in detail. These pathways are complicated and much information is still to be learned from research in this area, but the following will provide an introduction for an understanding of the fat-burning process in humans.

Myth-information. Sit-ups to reduce abdominal fatness will result only in a “tight’ fat waist instead of a ‘loose’ fat waist. Sit-ups can tone muscle but will have little effect on the subcutaneous fat overlaying this muscle.

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Chronic pelvic pain is associated with as many as 10% of hysterectomies but its cause is uncertain. Some studies suggest that there may be a link between this type of pain and psychological factors or a history of childhood sexual abuse. Investigation of the underlying cause usually entails a pelvic examination, laparoscopy, and ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigations. These can help rule out the presence of fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, disorders of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes, and pelvic inflammatory disease. When no cause is identified for the pain, medical treatments such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents and the contraceptive Pill are often tried, with hysterectomy being the last resort when pain is so severe that it is disrupting everyday activities and seriously diminishing quality of life.

There are two main types of period pain or dysmenorrhoea (pronounced dis-men-or-eea). Primary dysmenorrhoea usually affects young women who have never been pregnant. It begins when bleeding starts or just beforehand and rarely lasts more than twenty-four hours. The pain is cramp-like and is usually felt in the lower abdomen, lower back or the insides of the thighs. Occasionally it is so severe that it causes fainting, nausea or vomiting. The cause of the pain is linked to an increase in contraction of the uterus. This may be related to excessive secretions of prostaglandin substances by the endometrium or an increased sensitivity of the uterus to them, causing stronger contractions. Secondary dysmenorrhoea is more often experienced by women whose periods have been painless for some years. The pain may last throughout the menstrual bleeding phase and is thought to be a symptom of something amiss in the reproductive system, for example tissue inflammation, endometriosis, pelvic infection or fibroids. Drugs with anti-prostaglandin activity are often used to treat dysmenorrhoea; in severe cases of primary dysmenorrhoea the pain can be stopped by the inhibition of ovulation through hormone treatments such as the contraceptive Pill.

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