Young children cannot make a choice about whether or not to smoke. If one or both parents, or other family member’s smoke, then they will also inhale the smoke. Passive smoking has been linked to over 50 children’s ailments and disorders. These range from relatively minor things such as sore throat and irritated eyes to serious and even life-threatening problems. Young children whose parents smoke have an increased frequency of respiratory tract infections such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and suffer more from acute asthma attacks. Passive smoking results in decreased lung growth, and there is a definite increased risk of Sudden infant death syndrome in babies when parents smoke. The risk to the child’s health is worse if the mother smokes (because she usually spends more time with the child) and increases if both parents smoke.

So the message is clear. Do not allow your child to smoke nor to be exposed to smoke! Even if you wish to continue to smoke (and we would advise strongly against it), please give up for the sake of your child’s health. Your doctor will be able to provide advice and support for you to quit this deathly habit.

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sexual and loving education from within our family, educational, and religious institutions.

This chapter is about sex education in the United States. In spite of all of the talk and writing about sex education, there are very few programs that are successfully teaching the combination of love, sensuality, morality, and responsibility. With few exceptions, we continue to teach mechanics and the first three perspectives with their genital and energy-release focus. We are not offering love education, not talking about the purpose behind the struggle of the young people in the story you have just read. We are teaching “preventive sexuality,” a way of preventing disease and pregnancy rather than an enhancing intimacy that can bring the joy of closeness with another person.

Think about your sex and love education. Where and how did you learn about sexuality? Have you really learned enough to teach it yourself? There will never be a school- or church-based sex-education course that will do the job that needs to be done, the job of telling the whys and hows of making love and not just the mechanics of procreation and contraception. As long as sex remains a dirty joke in our schools and a mystery in our homes, we will continue to suffer in a sexually stagnant society. There has never been a sexual revolution at all, but a sexual involution, a turning in to a mechanical, pleasure-oriented sex rather than a looking forward to loving, fulfilling, long-lasting sexual relationships in a daily living context. We will never really be able to have super marital sex by looking only for super sex. You have read throughout this book that sex and love, and all the learning that each requires, cannot be separated from each other. This is the connection that can be opened with the thirteenth key, the key of lifelong learning.

Teaching sex will never be enough. We have to role-model love and caring, talk about everything sexual with everyone in our home, and continue to learn about sexuality and intimacy throughout life. We cannot leave our children to struggle blindly in parked cars. We will have to talk about the snaps on bras and the zippers on jeans. We will have to help them find a safe place and a safe way to be sexual, and not tease them with the joys of sex, then try to hide sex from them. They will always find it. They have already found it. They were born with it and born doing it. Do we want them to suffer without our help? If that happens, what they find will never be super marital sex. We have to put the love, the real snap of sex, back into sexuality.

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1.Orgasm and ejaculation are the same thing.    

2.Men cannot be multiply orgasmic.    

3.Men must learn to control themselves sexually, so    

that they are able to fulfill their partner through an

appropriately timed sexual response.

4.The best time for sex as a man is when you are

completely rested.

5.    The penis is the most sensitive part of the body for

sexual interaction.

6.    Intercourse is the ultimate form of sexual fulfillment.

7.    The fewer sexual outlets you have, the more aroused

you become. By having less sex you can become

sexier and want sex more.

8.    Firm erections are necessary for fulfilling sex for

yourself and your partner.

9.    Excessive masturbation can interfere with sexual

interactions with your partner.

10. Whether we like it nor not, new and different partners are more arousing than the same partner.

*122\97\8*

There are many meditation techniques passed on to us by our wise ancestors. There is again no room here to analyse them even briefly. Perhaps the best I can do is to summarise some of my personal experiences.

In my opinion, the single most important thing common to the best meditation techniques is the teacher, or master, who is capable of showing you the access path to your own higher mind. No words can describe this connection. You actually have to be shown the beginning of your own path, together with some instructions, so you can progress along it yourself every day.

I had two meditation teachers: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a leader of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement, whom I never met and Master Ching Hai.

TM people will charge you about a thousand dollars for the basic technique, and several thousand dollars if you want to learn more advanced techniques. In my opinion, the gaining of knowledge, for those who are ready to learn, should be essentially free of any charges, so I could not justify the latter. However, I must say, that I have had considerable degree of success, using the basic TM technique.

Master Ching Hai, on the other hand, teaches you the Quan Yin method, known for thousands of years to be the best meditation technique, totally free of charge. Her organisation does not even accept donations. The only way to help their activity financially is to buy books, works of art, fashion clothes and other things they produce. Master Ching Hai’s requirement to teach you the Quan Yin method is your commitment to become a vegetarian for life and to meditate 2.5 hours each day. (Master Ching Hai books are listed in the References).

After meditating for some time I noticed, that my life has become much easier. Most problems, including stress, have been practically eliminated. I have found that nothing is truly difficult to understand, you just need to learn to listen to your higher mind.

I have also found that development of our wisdom is actually the purpose of our existence. Life is just a lesson. If we do not learn, it becomes harder, until we do.

*21\96\8*

Interference with the function of the liver cells may allow the bile to accumulate in the liver and spill over into the blood rather than passing freely down to the gallbladder and into the duct.

The liver makes the proteins in the blood and many of these are concerned with normal clotting mechanism so that impairment of liver function can lead to a bleeding disorder.

Glucose is stored in the liver ready to be released when the blood sugar levels drop. Vitamins Â12 and A are also stored in this organ, which is also the major site for the breakdown of most drugs.

The liver can suffer injury, infection or cancer. Primary cancer of the liver is rare but secondary spread of cancer from other organs is common.

Drugs, particularly alcohol, may damage the liver and, if the insult is severe and, in the case of alcohol, prolonged, the liver cells can be destroyed and replaced with scar tissue. This is cirrhosis.

This hard-working and fascinating organ is hardly thought of by most people until, for some reason, its function starts to fail.

*489/71/1*

This may lead the person to go to the toilet several times a day. Yet all that is passed is a little wind and sometimes some blood-stained mucus.

Alteration in bowel habits is the next most frequent symptom, and the commonest deviation from normal is constipation.

This may lead to taking increasing amounts of laxatives and so diarrhoea may be caused.

Pain is a late symptom.

Although any of these symptoms should take the sufferer to the doctor for a full examination to exclude the possibility of bowel cancer, they may not be due to this cause.

Routine screening tests for bowel cancer are becoming common, although these may be too expensive in terms of both time and money when applied to the whole population.

You don’t need to totally change your diet until there is more proof.

But eating more fibre and less animal fat and sugar is probably good for your health, and all forms of alcohol — not only beer — ought to be taken in moderation.

In case you did not know, moderation is three to four drinks a day.

*233/71/1*

Few people heard of acupuncture until New York Times columnist James Res (on was stricken with appendicitis upon his arrival in Peking about sixteen years ago. His appendix was removed under conventional anesthesia, but the surprise was that Reston agreed to postoperative acupuncture treatment to relieve his abdominal pain. He reported that within an hour and thereafter, he was free of any abdominal pressure or distention. Subsequently teams of American doctors toured Chinese medical centers to observe the alleged range of acupunctures capabilities, beyond that of inducing anesthesia. What they found, among other things, was that acupuncture treatments were shown to combat infectious diseases, reputedly by raising the level of bacteria-fighting white blood cells.

How does acupuncture work? In China this needle therapy developed in conjunction with the accompanying practice of moxibustion, or the burning of the herb mugwort, at or near the appropriate points on the patient’s body. According to Chinese theory, disease is an imbalance of yin (female) and yang (male) forces disrupting an orderly flow of Ch’i, or energy. Bodily organs as well as behavior, temperature, and other functions are assigned yin or yang attributes. Even the ingestion of food is based on this principle ofopposif.es: there is yin (such as fruit) or yang (such as red meat) as well as foods that are balanced (like brown rice and other grains). Chinese physicians believe that all forces—universal or earthly—-influence human organic functions and fluctuations, which will be different for each of us.

Acupuncturists take as truth that energy flows from organ to organ through channels, or meridians, beneath the skin. There are twelve such meridians running on either side of the body, one along the center front and one in back- There are up to eight hundred points spaced systematically along these meridians that acupuncturists must learn to pierce with needles, thereby correcting imbalances in the corresponding organs. Once needles are in place, they may be twirled or not, depending on the complex law governing the relationship between the type of needling and the organs.

The bafflement for many Westerners is that the needles need not be placed anywhere near where the trouble is. For example, acupuncture needles stuck in a specifically designated point on the hand can reduce abdominal cramps, while a needle placed in a governed point around the knee can help kidney function. How could this happen? No one actually knows. In fact, no one knows why acupuncture works at all. Naturally, theories abound to explain it. Dr. Ronald Hoffman, M.D., medical director of the Whole Life Medical Center and a general practitioner in New York City who practices holistic or alternate medicine, including acupuncture, told me: “I think acupuncture is extremely helpful in the treatment of endometriosis, although we don’t know exactly what’s happening. In Chinese medicine, there is no actual formal diagnosis of endometriosis. But with menstrual problems, such as dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation, it was considered pelvic congestion or stagnated energy. The acupuncture treatment, then, was designed to unblock the channel and release that stagnation.”

*59\43\4*

Failing this, and this will include about 95 per cent of cases, various physical procedures can be tried. Mild cases can be satisfactorily masked by simply bleaching dark hair with hydrogen peroxide. Depilatory creams, usually containing thioglycolates, are also reasonably effective in dissolving hair.

Various cosmetic waxes, which are applied warm as a liquid and then allowed to harden before being peeled off, may be used to remove the hair which has stuck to the wax. Although this method is somewhat painful, it has the advantage that because the hair is removed at a lower level, it regrows more slowly, and with a naturally pointed tip; hence the bristly feel of hair cut at an angle by shaving, is avoided. Shaving is very effective but is strongly resisted by most women, often because of the rough feel of emerging hair and the masculine association. The belief that these procedures may encourage more rapid, coarser, or darker regrowth of hair must be strongly refuted. There is absolutely no evidence, in spite of careful investigation, to confirm this mistaken belief. Depilatron treatment, using tweezers to hold the hair whilst a small electric current is applied, does nothing but burn the hair at the point of contact. As a result it very quickly regrows from that point. Electrolysis, or diathermy, in the hands of an expert is useful. Here a needle is inserted into the follicle, hopefully destroying the hair matrix without scarring the skin. Obviously, only a certain number of hairs can be treated at one time, and the procedure is not painless. The problem with this mode of treatment is that too weak a current will not completely dislodge the hair, whereas too strong a current can result in scarring; furthermore several treatments are usually required to permanently damage the follicle sufficiently to prevent hair regrowth. It is indeed wishful thinking or deceptive advertising to promise single treatment, permanent hair removal.

*86\44\4*

- Fat is oxidised under aerobic conditions.

- Optimal fat utilisation in unfit people occurs at a lower exercise intensity compared to fit people.

- Fat utilisation also increases proportionately with exercise duration.

- Hence, low-moderate intensity, long duration activity is most appropriate for fat loss in those likely to require this most.

- Increasing both ‘planned’ and ‘incidental’ physical activity is important in any fat loss program.

- In general, weight-bearing physical activities are best for fat loss, except perhaps in the initial stages or for the very obese.

Ask anyone what they think is the best way to lose fat and the two sure answers are ‘diet’ and ‘exercise’. And while diet—or at least a change in eating patterns—is well accepted at the scientific level, it is surprising how little scientific support there is for exercise. Most scientists working in the area will agree that some form of exercise (or perhaps more appropriately, physical activity) built into an individual’s lifestyle, is probably more important than food restriction for long term prevention of fat gain, but there is much less agreement on the benefits of exercise in initial fat loss.

Some researchers have pointed to the relatively small levels of energy expenditure involved in significant levels of exercise. It is typical to find popular diet programs, for example, pointing out mat walking a kilometre uses only around 100kcal, which is quickly negated by a glass of beer or small piece of cake. However, the benefits claimed for exercise by its exponents are greater than this. Some forms of exercise have been claimed to increase long term metabolic rate (although this remains controversial) and increase fat oxidation. In addition, exercise is often claimed to be much more psychologically pleasurable than restrictive dieting.

One of the problems in assessing the benefits of exercise in fiat loss has been the large individual differences in response to a given exercise load, and the many different types of physical activities that have been used in scientific research. The effect of a certain type of exercise in one group of people, such as young women, doesn’t necessarily mean that the same type, intensity and duration of exercise will have the same effect on another group, e.g. fat men.

*138\186\4*

The main reasons for prolapse are difficult childbirth, other types of damage to the pelvic support structures (sometimes brought about by a hysterectomy itself), ageing processes in tissues and inherited defects of the pelvic support tissues. Women who have a chronic cough or constipation seem particularly vulnerable to prolapse.

When a doctor refers to a ‘uterine prolapse’ this means that a weakness in the uterine support structures has caused the uterus to drop into the vagina, causing that tissue to move downwards. A ‘first degree uterine prolapse’ means the cervix is ‘low’, being within easy reach of a finger inserted in the vagina. In second degree prolapse, the cervix has dropped to be near the vaginal entrance. Occasionally, the uterus is completely prolapsed, which means the cervix appears at the vaginal entrance. This third degree prolapse condition is known as procidentia (pronounced pro-see-dench-ea) or uterine descent. Sitting and walking are understandably difficult and, if the protruding cervix chafes during walking, this can cause a blood-stained discharge.

Other sorts of prolapse are often described under the umbrella-term, ‘Vaginal prolapse’. They are described as:

• cystocele, in which part of the bladder drops into the vagina

• enterocele, when a loop of intestine does the same thing

• urethrocele, where the urethra (the 3-4 cm long canal through which urine passes from the bladder to the urethral opening near the entrance to the vagina) presses into the vagina

• cystourethrocele, where a cystocele and a urethrocele occur together

• rectocele, in which the wall of the rectum protrudes into the vagina.

In the case of a cystocele, urethrocele or cystourethrocele, bladder weakness is common as well as the general feeling of downward pressure in the vagina (women often liken the feeling to a lump coming down or out of the vagina). Leakage of urine may occur on coughing, laughing or sneezing, and urinary tract infections may be a recurring problem. A rectocele can produce a feeling of incomplete emptying of the rectum as a pocket of tissue may form which traps faecal matter. Some women find they can complete their bowel action by pressing firmly on the bridge of tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus.

The incident which prompted 37-year-old Marjorie to visit her doctor was an evening out with friends during which she had laughed long and loud. She felt the leakage of a small amount of urine and became embarrassed and uncomfortable. Visualising a patch on her dress that her friends and partner would see if she stood up, she spent twenty agonising minutes glued to the chair until an opportunity to casually leave the room arose. Her local doctor asked Marjorie to complete a urinary diary for a week and diagnosed a cystocele after a full pelvic examination, including a rectal examination.

Prolapse carries no risk to life, provided there is no urinary tract obstruction or current infection of the urinary tract. If prolapse is not causing symptoms, watching and waiting to check on progression is a reasonable approach. Medical as well as surgical treatments are available if necessary, and choosing the best approach depends on factors like a woman’s age, state of health, and her desire to have children and to retain the ability to have sex. If surgery is not suitable, a supporting plastic or rubber device called a pessary can be inserted in the vagina to support the uterus in its normal position. Women with uterine prolapse or a cystocele may be helped by ring pessaries, made of inert plastic. These can remain in place for several months without removal and cleaning, provided they do not produce any adverse effects such as a smelly vaginal discharge. Considerable improvement may be achieved when the pessary is combined with a vaginal oestrogen ointment and exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor.

Surgery for prolapse problems dates back more than a century and recent advances include techniques to repair muscles and ligaments, and repositioning of the pelvic organs. In some cases a vaginal hysterectomy may be suggested. The choice of surgical approach may be affected if a woman wants to remain sexually active, so this should be discussed with her doctor at an early stage.

*12\198\4*