About Health & Medicine

MYTHS ABOUT EPILEPSY

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:02:22 +0000

Epilepsy is a psychiatric disorder or mental illness

It used to be thought that epilepsy was linked to the phases of the moon (hence the origin of the word ‘lunatic’). The truth is that epilepsy is a medical condition with a physical cause. People with uncomplicated epilepsy are no more likely to suffer psychiatric disorders than anyone else.

You can tell someone with epilepsy because they have a typical epileptic personality

In the middle of the last century when little was known about epilepsy it was thought that epilepsy was always inherited and always led to a deterioration of the brain and to imbecility and crime. At that time there was no treatment for epilepsy and it was very common for people with severe epilepsy to fall and suffer head injury during their seizures. Many became brain damaged because of these frequent injuries. Later, at the turn of the century, the only anticonvulsant which was available was bromide. At that time it was not possible to monitor the amount of bromide in the blood and so people had very high bromide levels and became toxic, with a consequent deterioration in their behaviour and intelligence. It was these two factors which led to the myth that all epileptics had the same deteriorating personality. We now know that unless there is associated brain damage, people with epilepsy have personalities which are like anybody else.

All patients with epilepsy are violent or criminals

This myth is really an extension of the previous one. At the turn of the century some people became violent either because they were suffering from bromide poisoning, or because they had become brain damaged by frequent falls during severe, uncontrolled seizures.

The myth was perpetuated for a time because some early studies of people in prison found that there were more people with epilepsy than would be expected. However, it is now thought that, in many cases, the epilepsy was caused because of head injuries. It was also demonstrated that their personality was such that even before they had epilepsy, they tended to get into fights. Taking this into account, the number of people with epilepsy who are in prison is no greater than in the general population. The truth is that people with epilepsy are no more likely to be violent or criminal than the rest of the population.

People who have epilepsy are mentally handicapped

This is untrue. Although many people who have learning difficulties also have epilepsy, only a few people who have epilepsy also have learning difficulties. These are the few who have severe brain damage, which causes both their learning difficulties and their seizures. But few people with epilepsy have brain damage of this severity.

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Epilepsy

EPILEPSY: TYPES OF TREATMENT AVAILABLE

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:00:40 +0000

The accepted forms of treatment for epilepsy include:

medical treatment (anticonvulsant medication, anti-epileptic drugs)

surgery

More controversial possibilities include:

naturopathy

acupuncture

dietary management

Surgery

It is often asked if surgery will produce a cure for epilepsy. While the use of surgery to treat epilepsy has increased over the past decade, it is still only useful for a small proportion of people with epilepsy, mainly those with temporal lobe seizures. Even in this group of patients, surgery is only useful if the fits cannot be controlled by medication and if the fits are localised to one side of the brain.

Hypnosis

There is little place for hypnosis in the management of epilepsy. The only exception is the patient who has a long warning (aura) prior to the seizure. If the aura lasts long enough, it is possible to teach the patient self-hypnosis and it is conceivable that the patient may be able to prevent the seizure. This is hardly ever the case, however.

Naturopathy

Naturopaths feel that epilepsy is due to a deficiency of the B group of vitamins and possibly zinc. Some success is reported in absences (petit mal) but less so in other forms of epilepsy. Acupuncture

The role of acupuncture in the management of epilepsy is controversial. Acupuncturists see epilepsy as a liver problem because they feel the liver controls muscular rigidity. There is no good evidence that acupuncture helps people with epilepsy.

Dietary treatment

For patients with myoclonic epilepsy or infantile spasms who have failed to respond to medication, the use of a ketogenic diet may be of value. This diet, which is not very palatable, acts by increasing the blood concentration of a variety of acids in the body which, it is suggested, results in some chemical changes in the brain. This may reduce the tendency for brain cells to discharge and also prevent the spread of discharges within the brain. Most people who have been heavily involved in treating children with epilepsy will have had very occasional success with this form of treatment. However, taking into account all patients who have been treated with a ketogenic diet, the results have been disappointing.

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Epilepsy

KEEP YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH: SMOKING

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:17:24 +0000

All parents will be aware by now of the health risks associated with smoking. Even if you do not smoke yourself, you can still be affected by cigarette smoke. Passive smoking — the inhalation of cigarette smoke while you are in the vicinity of others who are smoking — has been shown to cause major health problems also. There have been court cases recently in Australia and in other parts of the world that have established a legal connection (the medical connection has long been established) between passive smoking and a host of health problems. Most work places are now smoke-free, or in the process of becoming so.

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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THE THIRTEENTH KEY: MAKING SEX A SNAP

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:29:46 +0000

The thirteenth key to super marital sex is to teach and learn, to teach and learn with each other as husband and wife and as a family. The thirteenth key is the most important of all the keys, and the one that has seldom been discussed from the first three perspectives. The focus has been an individual focus, an adult focus, when in fact sexuality is a lifelong process that begins in the uterus and affects the entire family every day. The thirteenth key is a family sexual orientation, an openness and specificity of sexual discussion to prevent the tragedy of abortion, sexually transmissible disease, sexual problems, even the emotional trauma that results in drug abuse and an alarming rise in adolescent suicide. Our children are, and we have been, looking for love in all the wrong places and in the wrong ways, seldom benefiting from a strong and supportive

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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YOUR MARITAL HEALTH/WHY HUSBANDS DON’T HAVE ORGASM: TEN MR. MYTHS

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:23:13 +0000

Without giving each item too much thought, answer true or false to each of the items below. If possible, take this test with your partner and discuss each answer. The process of super marital sex depends more on this open exchange than on learning new techniques.

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.

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THE JOY OF PERFECT HEALTH: MEDITATION FOR PURE MIND

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:21:48 +0000

The active practice of listening to your higher mind and developing a better connection with it is what many wise people call “meditation”.

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.

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LIVER – CANCER OF THE LIVER (DRUGS)

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:43:43 +0000

Jaundice, or a yellow discoloration of the body, may occur when the outflow of bile is obstructed. It may also occur if too many red blood cells are being broken down, exceeding the liver’s capacity to deal with them.

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.

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BOWEL CANCER – SYMPTOMS

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:53:19 +0000

A feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowel is another common symptom, usually of cancer of the rectum.

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.

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ENDOMETRIOSIS: TREATING ENDOMETRIOSIS WITH ACUPUNCTURE

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:01:11 +0000

With its basis in Taoist philosophy, acupuncture first struck western observers as little more than Chinese folklore or “barefoot medicine.” A vast majority of American physicians were dubious about the scientific credibility of this ancient medical system, equating it with superstitious kitchen cures, like chicken soup for colds and flu or pickle juice for removing warts.

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.”

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SKIN CARE: TREATMENT OF HIRSUTISM

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:33:37 +0000

Obviously if a major endocrine or hormonal disorder has been found, this may be corrected, possibly by surgery. If drugs are thought to be responsible, then on cessation of drug-taking the hair will disappear. Some minor hormonal causes may be treatable with a new male hormone antagonist called cyproterone acetate, or with a combination of dexamethasone to suppress the adrenals, and oestrogens to suppress the ovaries.

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.

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