Medical Articles, Medicine Information. Health related information and news from around the world.

There are vegetarians who assert that they can get by quite well without dairy products. True, this is perhaps possible in the lowlands where practically all the land can be used for farming and vegetable growing. A typical example of turning pasture land into arable land is provided by China, where the huge increase in population required the conversion of much of their pasture land to allow the cultivation of more grains and vegetables, which yield more protein, minerals and vitamins. The Chinese example, however, would be impossible to apply to mountainous regions where fruits and vegetables will not grow. With very few exceptions, dairy farming is usually the only activity that can be successfully undertaken for the production of food. In my own country, Switzerland, the best milk comes from the mountainous regions and is instrumental in stabilising the national economy through the production of various kinds of cheese and other dairy products.

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Not everyone knows that the blackthorn or sloe is a shrub that also bears stone fruit, sloes, although they are not edible. Nevertheless, to complete our list of the various stone fruits that have healing properties, we must not omit to mention it. As far back as antiquity this shrub was widely used. The flowers were picked and the essence made from them was used to cleanse the blood, as a laxative, as a remedy for the stomach, for coughs and for the lungs. A syrup made from its fruits, especially in combination with tormentil, was good for chronic diarrhoea. It is also beneficial for the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines. Even anaemic persons will find sloe syrup to be a good and natural remedy. So the fruits of blackthorn serve exclusively for curative purposes, while we enjoy the other stone fruits as wholesome and healing food.

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Avoid Fried and All Denatured, Refined Food Fried foods have no place at all in a liver diet, or where a person has a sensitive liver. Of all fats, only fresh butter or a good vegetable margarine is permissible, or a little unrefined oil. Although vegetable oil may be better tolerated when used for frying, it is to be avoided in more serious cases of illness.

To complement a proper diet and support any treatment you may be taking for the good of your health, you would do well to cut out all white flour and refined sugar products, also all canned food and any other refined and denatured food items.

If you would like to enrich your soil with valuable trace elements from the sea, spread it with calcified seaweed (seaweed lime) from time to time. The soil will then receive potassium bound to iodine.

It has been observed that plants given calcified seaweed are much healthier and less susceptible to mould and similar diseases.

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This does not mean that a healthy person must be just as careful as a liver patient, but it certainly would do him no harm to heed the advice given regarding oils and fats. A little less fat would mean less strain on the system, although this fact may be disputed by those cooks who adhere to the old-fashioned opinion that we need plenty of fat to keep healthy and fit. This is untrue because the body benefits more from a modest intake of fat, since it is able to produce its own anyway. People who become obese even though they consume very little fat will confirm the truth of this statement. Just think of those who drink a lot of beer. The malt supplies the carbohydrates, which in turn produce unwanted fat deposits. We do not need much fat, although we think we might. In fact, we could reduce our fat consumption by half and still be well nourished. It would not cause a deficiency, nor would it lead to ill health. On the contrary, it would increase our chances of maintaining good health. It is an excessive intake of fat that is responsible for ill health.

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Years ago the surgical removal of the vermiform appendix was considered hazardous and often ended in death. But today, with highly developed surgical techniques, it is a safe and simple matter, generally free from complications. If difficulties do arise they are usually caused by other existing circumstances rather than the operation itself. For example, the risk of thrombosis or embolism is naturally higher in people who have varicose veins or who show a tendency toward venal stagnation. However, this condition may be greatly improved or even eliminated with the help of simple natural remedies. For effective precaution, it is useful to take Aesculaforce before and after the operation. Echinaforce decreases the susceptibility to infection and also promotes and speeds up the healing process after surgery.

The danger of infection is much greater in tropical areas and if at all possible a visitor should avoid having to undergo an operation because of a sudden attack of appendicitis. An operation performed under primitive conditions could be a real problem for the traveller and his friends may later hear that ‘the operation was successful but the patient died’. So, if you intend to visit the tropics and are suffering from a chronically inflamed or grumbling appendix, it may be better to have it removed before your departure, a precaution that will make the trip safer and more enjoyable.

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If you suffer from insomnia, therefore, it will be necessary to discover and eliminate the cause of it. You may have been drinking strong coffee for years and should replace it by a cereal or fruit coffee. Should you find it difficult to give up your favourite drink, wean yourself away by mixing both kinds of coffee, gradually reducing the proportion of real coffee as your palate becomes accustomed to the new taste. In the end you will be taking a harmless drink that will permit you to rest throughout the night undisturbed.

A good drink to have before you go to bed is lemon balm tea, the relaxing effect of which may be increased by adding hops.

The homoeopathic remedy indicated for sleeplessness is Aven-aforce (oat extract). Lemon balm, hops and Avena sativa taken together are sleep-inducing and a ready-made preparation containing these ingredients is Dormeasan. Passiflora or Valerian may be added to these sleeping drops for an even stronger effect. Valerian is often prescribed on its own, but as its effects are narcotic it does not provide lasting help.

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Do you have a garden? If so, there is another way to help prevent or overcome thyroid problems. The answer lies in fertilising your garden. Feed the soil with iodine-rich bone meal and other iodine-containing fertilisers. The plants grown in such soil will be richer in iodine and thereby satisfy the body’s requirements, for they are able to process the mineral iodine in such a way that our body can absorb it without any trouble and damaging effects. For the same reason iodine in sea salt can do no harm. It is a biological solution that is therefore much to be preferred to the orthodox medical way of taking iodised salt.

If you have been using iodised salt and are experiencing a faster heart beat, other disturbances of the heart, palpitations and excessive anxiety, you should definitely stop adding it to your food. This salt may be effective, though not always in the desired manner, but one thing is sure, it is by no means harmless, judging by the debates its usage has caused. Iodine is one of those medicines for which one cannot establish general rules. In the same way as one cannot say that alcohol is harmless because most people drink it, nor can one argue that nicotine is not harmful because so many people smoke. It may be true that a number of people do not succumb instantly to the bad effects of alcohol and nicotine, showing visible signs of damage right away; others, however, who happen to be more sensitive by nature do not get off so lightly and soon suffer the usual consequences of these poisons. Does this not convince you of the necessity to observe nature and abide by its rules? In accordance with your sensitivity and inherited disposition, the final effects, one way or the other, cannot be avoided. In fact, one cannot even conclude that if certain things are harmless to one person they are harmless to everyone. So, if you are a sensible person you will consider your own individual nature and reactions and let these be your guide, never making your condition worse by taking potentially hazardous substances. However difficult this may be, if you prefer to remain healthy and active rather than having to suffer unnecessarily, abstinence – the effort to cut out certain things — is no doubt the course of wisdom. After all, your health is at stake!

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Disturbances in the venous system are much more frequent than in the arterial system, and women especially suffer from stagnation of blood in the veins. When young people complain of cold feet it is usually a sign that the circulation is malfunctioning. Lack of exercise or inadequate clothing are generally responsible for young women and girls feeling cold. And cold feet often leads to ailments of the abdominal organs and the kidneys. In this way, young girls frequently ruin their prospects of good health later in life. Their parents ignore the fundamentals of appropriate clothing and the girls themselves know little or nothing about them anyway. They are usually more interested in fashion and fads than in matters of health and what is necessary to maintain it. Their periods are frequently accompanied by cramps and all sorts of upsets, and much of this is due to stagnation of blood in the veins. Even chilblains are not warning enough for such people, because they have no idea of their cause. So chilblains are simply treated locally, where it hurts, and no thought is given to treating the veins, the origin of the trouble. In such cases alternating hot and cold foot baths and long baths would be indicated and should be complemented by taking herbal remedies.

The fashion for wearing trousers would be better for many women and girls because they would hide their knotted and swollen veins. However, if some women follow fashion blindly to the point of wearing high-heeled shoes, with the heels often pencil thin, then I am afraid to say that we lose our pity for their condition. High heels, tight clothes and underwear with tight elastic help to promote varicose veins. For this reason it would be much more prudent to dress in accordance with sensible rules for good health. Surely it would be more reasonable to find out and meet the requirements for good health, would it not?

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Calcium antagonists, also known as calcium entry blockers or calcium channel blockers, act by blocking the movement of calcium into cells. The cells respond less briskly and so use less oxygen. The supply-demand equation is also improved by the vessel-dilating effect of calcium antagonists. “Afterload” is reduced when peripheral vessels are widened and more blood may reach the heart muscle because coronary vessels are relaxed. Calcium antagonists also relieve spasm and are often used for Prinzmetal’s angina.

Unlike beta-blockers there is no proof that calcium antagonists reduce mortality even though they do reduce angina. Therefore they are not your doctor’s first choice. They may be added to beta-blockers and nitrates to form “triple therapy” for angina that is hard to control.

Calcium antagonists are a diverse group of medicines and while they are generally easier to tolerate than beta-blockers, they do have their side effects. Verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, Verelan) can make heart failure worse, is rarely given in combination with beta-blockers, and is famous for causing constipation. Nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia), is-radipine (DynaCirc), and nicardipine (Cardene) form a group more likely to cause dizziness, flushing, headaches, rapid heartbeat, and swelling of the feet. Amlodipine (Norvasc) also causes headache and dizziness in some people. Diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor) can cause any of these problems but is often the best tolerated of the class.

Long-acting formulations of these drugs, taken once or twice a day, are safer than the fast-acting forms as well as more convenient. Be especially careful to store these drugs out of reach of children as they can cause swift death in young children even when only a few are swallowed.

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Reasons for stopping smoking vary from generation to generation. Those teenagers who smoke heed health warnings only rarely; they think the possibility of death is too far away to bother about, and the danger may even attract them. However, they will often listen if a potential partner says that smoking is smelly and dirty, and immature. They will sometimes also listen to the environmental argument, such as that big multinational companies are exploiting Third World poverty to their massive benefit. Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Brazil put hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land, which could be used for food, under tobacco, to serve the appetite of the developed world for tobacco. That profit does not reach the average person in these tobacco-producing countries.

Even worse, the tobacco companies are vigorously promoting their deathly products to the poorer countries, adding lung and heart diseases to their already huge health problems. What right-minded person can collude in that process? Ask any teenager!

The appearance of a smoker can be another powerful motive to stop. Smoking induces wrinkles and a gray, pasty complexion. Women who smoke could save themselves the horrendous costs of beauty creams and of cigarettes, and look far better by stopping smoking.

For older men and women, and particularly people with angina, the main motivation to stop must be health. Cessation of smoking decreases coronary risk by almost 50 percent within the first year. Remember the statistics given a few pages ago. They are horrific for the smoker with angina. A third of all men do not live to collect their pensions, mainly because of their smoking. There are few merry widows outside of opera—that fact alone should be enough to make people stop. But how to do it?

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