OSTEOARTHROSIS – INTRODUCTION

2009-05-15T09:48:57+0000">May 15, 2009 – 9:48 am

The rheumatic disorders are common, cause great discomfort, invalidism, and loss of working capacity. Perhaps the commonest is osteoarthritis or more correctly osteoarthrosis as it is not an inflammatory disorder.

Osteoarthrosis is a degenerative joint disorder and evidence of this may be seen in joints as early as the twenties and by the forties 90 per cent of us have some signs. However, eventually only a third of those with this condition show symptoms.

It is so common and increases with age that it is regarded as a degenerative disorder, that is a wearing out process. Our joints are lined with cartilage or gristle, a smooth tissue that enables the bone surfaces forming the joint to move easily over each other.

This is living tissue and due to the constant wear and tear and the friction imposed on the surface of the cartilage, particularly in the weight bearing joints, it is constantly wearing out and degenerating but at the same time it is being replaced.

*515/71/1*

By admin | Posted in General health | Tagged | Comments (0)

ULCERATIVE COLITIS – DESCRIPTION

2009-05-15T08:03:01+0000">May 15, 2009 – 8:03 am

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the large bowel which is not uncommon, affecting about 80 people per 100,000 of the population.

The cause is unknown although it has been thought to be one of the auto-immune diseases where the body becomes allergic to its own tissues, producing antibodies which attach to and start to destroy those tissues.

The symptoms are diarrhoea with the passage of blood and mucus. Mild cases occur with little effect on general health but, in severe cases, there may be great weight loss, severe illness and even death.

Associated with the bowel disorder there are sometimes seen various inflammatory conditions of the eyes and a type of arthritis similar to rheumatoid arthritis. Inflammation of the lower joints of the spine may mimic the condition known as ankylosing spondylitis and lead to permanent stiffness of the spine.

The diagnosis can usually be confirmed by X-ray of the bowel and sigmoidoscopy, where an instrument is passed through the rectum and, under direct vision, the lower bowel can be inspected.

*259/71/1*

By admin | Posted in General health | Tagged | Comments (0)

AUTISM – INTRODUCTION

2009-05-12T12:20:13+0000">May 12, 2009 – 12:20 pm

There are several thousand children in Australia who are locked in a world of their own. Children who do not seem to understand love and affection and who do not seem to return it. These children are autistic.

The cause of this distressing condition is unknown, but current theory believes it is due to some organic change in the brain. Whether this comes from some inherited factor, some change which occurs before, during or after birth is uncertain. Some of these children are mentally retarded: others have normal or even above normal IQs.

The condition may be mild or severe. It is a disorder of infancy and most will become obvious before two and a half; 80 per cent of cases are boys.

These children seem to be locked into a world of their own, where others cannot enter. They have great difficulty with language. A few will never learn to speak but most will develop some language skills, but still have difficulty in communicating.

They strongly resist learning. Many do not like to be touched. These children seem not to recognise emotion in others and their faces may be blank most of the time, seeming not to show interest, happiness or sadness.

*6/71/1*

By admin | Posted in General health | Tagged | Comments (0)

YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – RIGHT TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS (RIGHT TO DECIDE ON YOUR OWN TREATMENT)

2009-05-12T12:03:01+0000">May 12, 2009 – 12:03 pm

Do you fully realise what I have just described? When given all the alternatives, many people realise that the best treatment for them is not the standard one recommended by their practitioner. Why is this so? It is simply because the person with exclusive and unique knowledge is not the practitioner but the patient. Never forget this. You know much more about yourself than your practitioner could ever know. You know how you feel inside: how it feels to be in pain, or to be free of pain; to feel nauseated or to feel ravenous; to feel listless or to feel energetic; to sleep poorly or to sleep well; to feel black and depressed or to feel hopeful. You know what you value in life, nobody else does.

Respect the fact that your exclusive inside knowledge makes you, without a doubt, the best judge of what is best for you. Your practitioner’s knowledge is important, but not of this kind. It consists of facts that can be shared. Provided these are explained properly, there is no reason why you should not understand the facts that are important to your case, as I have already told you.

So—find out all the alternatives, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Don’t just let your practitioner tell you what to do. You make the best decision you can at the time. Always be prepared to revise it later in the light of new knowledge, experience or feelings. Summed up like that it sounds easy. You and I know it isn’t: it’s very, very difficult. Try anyway— remem-I he raft?

*16/40/1*

By admin | Posted in Cancer | Tagged | Comments (0)

PROGESTOGEN: DISADVANTAGES

2009-05-08T12:49:28+0000">May 8, 2009 – 12:49 pm

The other disadvantage of progestogen is that it may negate some of the advantages of oestrogen in preventing disease of the arteries. Oestrogen appears to reduce fats and cholesterols that circulate in the blood, and progestogen may increase them. So, as long as you need to take progestogen, you might not be getting the lowered risk of heart attack and stroke that you would get from oestrogen on its own. Encouraging news is that the newer forms of progestogens have only minor effects on blood fats.

By contrast, small quantities of progestogen help to prevent osteoporosis. There is also a possibility that it might slightly decrease your chance of developing breast cancer, but as some research has suggested otherwise it is difficult to be sure.

In conclusion, if you still have a uterus, the form of HRT you take must contain a progestogen, but with any luck the new non-oral low-dose varieties will reduce the side-effects, new progestogens may overcome many of the present disadvantages, and the future of no-bleed HRT looks hopeful.

*23\42\4*

By admin | Posted in Hormonal | Tagged | Comments (0)

HYSTERECTOMY: ENDOMETRIAL ABLATION AND RESECTION (PART 2)

2009-05-08T09:58:35+0000">May 8, 2009 – 9:58 am

Endometrial resection and ablation were introduced in the late 1970s in the US and are now routine procedures in many hospitals. Many tens of thousands of the procedures are performed worldwide each year. The speed with which the techniques have been taken up by medicine has surprised and shocked many people who say that fundamental questions about their safety, effectiveness and long-term consequences have not been resolved.

Information about the suitability of different groups of women for these procedures is scant. The available evidence suggests that women with a normal sized uterus or those who are on post-menopausal hormone therapy tend to do well, while those with a uterus that is enlarged by fibroids, markedly retroverted (tilted backwards) or who have severe adenomyosis or endometriosis may be unsuitable. Women at risk from a general anaesthetic — such as women who are very overweight, and those with chronic liver, kidney or heart disease — may prefer the option of an endometrial resection or ablation because it is possible to do either under local anaesthesia. Selection of women most likely to benefit from the procedure is extremely important and obviously influences the outcome for them. In this regard, the visualisation of the reproductive organs using ultrasound can be especially helpful in deciding the appropriateness of these procedures.

Endometrial ablation and resection are not risk-free but complication rates appear to be lower than for hysterectomy. Complications include infection (affecting one in every 100 women having the procedure), bleeding (less than one per 100), damage to the bowel or other pelvic structures including major blood vessels (one to two women in every 100 suffers a perforated organ or blood vessel), and fluid overload (one to two per 100).u Studies to date suggest that about two women in every 10 000 having the procedure die as a result of it.

Studies comparing endometrial ablation or resection with abdominal hysterectomy suggest that the former offers benefits in terms of post-operative pain, hospital stay, convalescence, risks and financial cost. Satisfaction among women after having a hysterectomy seems, however, to be significantly higher than among those whose endometrium has been removed (94% compared with 85% in the Maine studies referred to earlier in this chapter). This may reflect the ‘failure rate’ of endometrial resection or ablation — women who are hoping that their bleeding problems will resolve are likely to feel dissatisfied with the procedure even if they have been warned in advance that it is not a universal success. It might also suggest that the procedure is being oversold or that patient selection is not as good as it could be.

Endometrial resection or ablation is probably the treatment of choice for women who want short-term relief from bleeding problems, and who are keen to minimise the risk of complications, the financial cost of treatment and the time off work. Hysterectomy is probably a better option for women wanting certain and complete relief from bleeding problems. It may also be the preferred option of women with an increased risk of endometrial cancer, which includes women with a family history of the disease, those with polycystic ovaries, those who use oestrogen on its own without added progestogen, and women who are obese or who have diabetes.

Cost is probably one of the major reasons for the rapid uptake of these procedures. In a recent Australian survey the cost of endometrial resection was estimated at $ 1500, which is less than half the cost of an abdominal hysterectomy.12 The cost of endometrial ablation was about $2200 to $2500 depending on the type of equipment used. The relative cost advantage of these techniques over hysterectomy may, however, be eroded if re-treatment and later hysterectomies occur more often than has been reported to date.

A recent article in the popular science magazine New Scientist emphasised that doctors who perform endometrial resection or ablation are on a learning curve. To produce good results they need to be experienced in the technique of hysteroscopy and to have served an apprenticeship in hysteroscopic surgery under a knowledgable supervisor. ‘Reports from surgeons suggest that serious complications are most likely to occur while the gynaecologist is still on the ‘learning curve’, which can last for anything between 10 and 80 operations,’ the article said. ‘Studies have shown that 50% of perforations of the womb take place in the first five operations a surgeon carries out.’ It is important to find out where on this learning curve your surgeon is before agreeing to any procedure.

*40\198\4*

By admin | Posted in Women's Health | Comments (0)

DID WE SLEEP?

2009-05-08T09:32:54+0000">May 8, 2009 – 9:32 am

But everyone seems to know that they have slept, even though there is a blank in the memory during NREM sleep. How do we know that we have slept? We depend on two cues:

* Dreams, which are an inside cue

* The clock, which is an outside cue

When we wake from our dreams, we can recall the contents of the dream and we know that the dream is part of our normal sleep. Hence we are convinced that we have in fact slept There are people who need to recall that they have dreamt before they are convinced that they have slept Without dreams as a marker in the blank space in the NREM sleep, we are unable to give an account of what follows after the thought of ‘the wonderful lunch’.

The other cue is the clock. We look at the clock before we go to bed; it is 10.30 p.m. at night. We may wake up and go to the toilet, it is 2 a.m. When we wake up again and look at the clock it is 7 a.m. in the morning. Hence we are convinced that we must have slept about eight hours. Have you ever had the experience of the clock, for some mechanical reason, stopping at 6 a.m. in the morning, letting you believe that there was still an hour to sleep before your normal wake-up time. You go back to sleep, and later discover that the clock never went to 7 a.m.; the clock was not working! Too late, it was already 9 a.m. At night we are depending on the clock as an external cue, for during the NREM sleep our mind is blank.

A number of people constantly complain of chronic insomnia and always seek treatment. When they are placed in the sleep laboratory, however, the EEG and other recordings all confirm that they have been sleeping soundly. Yet, when they wake up, they insist that they have not slept at all. These people cannot remember any dreams, and hence they do not have the inside cue to convince themselves that they have in fact been sleeping.

Most of us believe that we do in fact sleep. But this belief is not easily held in the absence of the dream experience or a visible clock. Those people who believe they do not sleep at night do so because they cannot experience sleep itself. All they can experience is the distress they feel while awake. The blank period of NREM sleep is very important in understanding insomnia and in overcoming it. People who suffer from insomnia nearly always underestimate the amount of sleep they really have. This is because the individual’s own view of how much sleep he has is always inaccurate, as no one can recall how much NREM sleep he actually has.

*38\174\4*

By admin | Posted in Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid | Tagged | Comments (0)

THE SELF-MANAGEMENT OF ANXIETY: THINGS TO REMEMBER-RELAXING MENTAL EXERCISES ARE NOT DIFFICULT

2009-04-29T10:23:12+0000">April 29, 2009 – 10:23 am

I am going to spend some time in describing the relaxing mental exercises. Do not be put off by this. The exercises are not difficult. In fact they are very simple, and it is their simplicity that necessitates this rather detailed description because it is easy to go wrong from sheer inattention.

Those who are unimaginative might find an initial difficulty in accepting the idea of doing mental exercises. It may seem rather strange to them. But we all accept the connection between physical exercises and physical health, so let us try to accept the idea of mental exercises for mental health. Actually the idea of mental exercises is not as foreign to us as we may at first think. At school each of us have done arithmetic and algebra. Doings sums is itself a mental exercise the purpose of which is to help develop the intellectual powers of our mind. Some people practise meditative and religious mental exercises to develop the spiritual aspects of the mind. Our relaxing mental exercises aim to develop yet another aspect of the mind—the emotional.

Those who are rather lacking in ordinary determination have sometimes complained of difficulty in actually doing the exercises. They are usually people who want a thing done for them rather than to do it themselves.

A very successful businessman well past middle age came to see me because he had developed a distressing compulsion about checking over people’s names. He was normally a robust, good-natured, jovial man, but had recently become tense, anxious, and depressed.

He had worked hard, and had been successful. Over the last few years he had grown to overindulge himself. He ate too much and drank too much. He liked the theatre and television and the company of his friends. In short he was living for pleasure, and had lost the

self-discipline which had characterized Ms earlier life. This man would do the exercises very well in my consulting room when I was there to supervise him. But there was always some trivial reason why he had not practised at home. He settled down very well finally, but only because I continually kept him up to the mark. As you read this, please remember that this type of supervision should not be necessary.

It is also true that the medical profession has rather foisted the “easy way out” on to people by its readiness to prescribe tranquillizing drugs, rather than help the patient to cope with his inner tensions and learn to be relaxed. The relaxing mental exercises are not difficult. They merely require the minimum amount of patience which any new skill demands. If when you first try them, you are tense, don’t give up; instead bear in mind that obviously tense individuals usually get the greatest benefit in the shortest time.

*64\57\2*

By admin | Posted in Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid | Tagged | Comments (0)

THE PROGRAM OF BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS OF ARTHRITIS: DIET

2009-04-29T09:03:08+0000">April 29, 2009 – 9:03 am

Fresh Juices

Although the classic form of fasting is the so-called pure water fast (abstinence from all foods and drinks with the exception of pure water), all the practitioners I interviewed in European clinics, including the champion of therapeutic fasting in modern times, Dr. Otto Buchinger, Jr., use fresh juices, vegetable broths, and herb teas during fasting.

Biologically oriented doctors feel that freshly pressed vegetable and fruit juices, given to the patient during fast, will speed his recovery. This is attributed to the fact that raw vegetable and fruit juices, as well as freshly made vegetable broth, are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and trace elements, which help to normalize the bodily processes and speed up recovery. At the same time, they are very easily assimilated directly into the bloodstream without putting a strain on the digestive organs.

Juices most frequently used in Sweden are: carrot juice, apple juice, black currant juice, and tomato juice.

Vegetable Broth

Vegetable broth is made by boiling all kinds of available vegetables, but predominantly potatoes, carrots, and celery, chopped to about half-inch pieces, for 30 minutes in a pot of water. (Use only stainless steel, glass, or earthenware utensils.)

Then it is strained and the vegetables are thrown away. The remaining liquid is a highly alkaline, mineral-packed broth, which is considered to be of extraordinary importance in biological arthritis therapy. It combats acidosis or a tendency toward a high acidity in the bloodstream and tissues. It helps to normalize the mineral balance in the tissues, which, according to Dr. Lars-Erik Essen, is of utmost importance for the effectiveness of the fast.

Both vegetable broth and fresh vegetable and fruit juices are concentrated nutrition. Perhaps, it would be more appropriate to call such therapy a liquid diet, rather than a fast.

Herb Teas

AH biological clinics use various herb teas, both during fasting and while on a diet.

The medicinal value of herbs is well known. Herb medicines are the oldest remedy known to man.

The herb teas used in Swedish clinics are usually made from native herbs: rose hips (very rich in vitamin C), peppermint, milfoil, etc. Swedish health food stores are well stocked with dozens of herb teas, many of them combinations of different herbs mixed for specific diseases.

*21\176\2*

By admin | Posted in Arthritis | Tagged | Comments (0)

TESTS IN EPILEPSY: OTHER TESTS

2009-04-28T12:35:57+0000">April 28, 2009 – 12:35 pm

Blood tests are seldom informative in patients with epilepsy but may be useful in the early days of life, when chemical abnormalities may precipitate seizures. A lumbar puncture may be carried out if an infection such as meningitis or encephalitis is suspected as causing epileptic seizures. Occasionally, removal of tissues (biopsy) for microscopic analysis may be helpful in rare causes of epilepsy; the tissues which are biopsied include skin or rectum (as these contain accessible nerve cells) or muscle. The diseases which are being tested for usually have manifestations other than seizures alone.

It is rarely necessary to repeat the EEG or a brain scan in most people with epilepsy. However, there are some exceptions to this general rule. Further EEGs may be helpful if treatment is not as effective as expected, or if, after a period of good seizure control, a patient’s seizures become more frequent. Some doctors recommend that an EEG should be repeated before a patient comes off treatment with anticonvulsants, but there is not much evidence that this helps reach a decision. There is rarely any justification for repeating a brain scan. However, if something suspicious is seen on a CT scan, then an MRI scan could be useful in confirming an abnormality, particularly if surgery for the epilepsy is being considered. Clearly if the epilepsy gets markedly worse, or the patient develops new symptoms such as weakness of a limb or develops new neurological signs, then it is essential to investigate the patient again.

In summary, laboratory investigation of seizures has a limited value. An ordinary EEG may rarely improve the certainty of diagnosis, though it more frequently helps ascertain the type of seizure and so the correct choice of anti-epileptic drug. The much more expensive tape-recorded EEGs and video monitoring of seizures do undoubtedly help discriminate between different types of seizures, and between real and simulated attacks.

CT or MR scanning may give a direct visual demonstration of the structural abnormality causing seizures, though this does not often influence management. Simple blood tests and skull X-rays, though cheap to perform, seldom show a relevant abnormality. With this knowledge, the neurologist will often embark upon few if any investigations. His perspective may be that he is faced with a problem that is common in his practice, and that there are well recognized and effective policies for coping with the matter. A good and kind neurologist will recognize that this professional perspective, based on his knowledge and experience, is not that of his patient, who is frightened and bewildered by the onset of events which he does not understand, but which he feels may have important effects on his life and career.

The technical aspects of the neurological consultation—the history, the differential diagnosis, the examination, any necessary investigation, and prescription of anti-epileptic drug—take

comparatively little time. Most of the consultation should be spent, in our view, in exploring the person’s attitudes and knowledge about epilepsy, and the effect that epilepsy may have on his life, so that practical advice and support can be given. Often this may take more than one consultation. How much of this support should be provided by the neurologist and how much by the family doctor depends upon the personalities of the doctors and the patient, as well as upon the available time. What is disastrous for the patient is if each doctor assumes that the other is coping with these aspects.

*53\188\2*

By admin | Posted in Epilepsy | Tagged | Comments (0)