Natural Health and Herbal Remedies Blog
information on herbal medicine
Archive for April, 2009
Different people react in different ways when they are confronted with pain. The way we react is important, as it has its effect on how we feel the pain, both in its severity and its duration. There are two very common types of reaction: the hostile and the depressive. Both have a bad effect and make the pain worse. These reactions come about unconsciously without our thinking about them, but a little understanding can do much to modify them, and thus help in the
self-management of the pain.
The Hostile Reaction to Pain-”Why should this happen to me?” We hear these words often enough. It means the patient is reacting with hostility to the situation in which he finds himself. He feels that what he is suffering is an injustice. He is angry about it. and because there is no appropriate way for him to vent his anger he has to contain it. This results in an increase in his general level of anxiety. There is increased tension and increased perception of pain.
You have done nothing wrong. Do you think that some of these remarks could apply to yourself? If so, remember that we do not expect this sort of justice in other spheres of life. Perhaps we can expect something grander and deeper. Remember too, we strive for understanding; and when we can understand that some things transcend conventional logic, then we have come to understand something important indeed.
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read comments (0)TUMMY TROUBLES: APPENDICITIS
Author: admin
Q. I suppose appendicitis is one of the most common causes for emergency surgery.
A. True, and most people are unaware that about 60 Australians die each year from this disorder, mostly from a delay in seeking medical attention. This should never happen.
Q. What are the symptoms?
A. Appendicitis commonly commences with pain around the epigastrium and navel. From 2-12 hours later, it slowly extends to the right lower side of the abdomen, the so-called iliac fossa. There may be some vomiting, increase in pain, mild fever and constipation, although often symptoms are minimum. The pain may be worse with coughing, walking or running.
Q. What treatment is advised?
A. Any symptom that could indicate appendicitis should receive prompt medical attention. Deep tenderness in the R.I.F. region is usually felt on firm pressure at the doctor’s examination. Sometimes tests are ordered, for urinary infections can often mimic a diseased appendix.
However, if there is any doubt, surgical removal is advised and this is often carried out promptly. An acute appendix may burst, causing serious symptoms. Uncomplicated cases recover well, the patient being up the next day and home a few days later. A light diet for a few days, reduced activity for a couple of weeks and the patient soon returns to normal.
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Using treatments that are extremely similar in many ways to those employed by osteopaths, chiropractic techniques are particularly successful in treating low back pain, slipped discs and sports injuries.
A well-established health care system that originated in America, chiropractic’s underlying principle is that a patient’s overall state of health will be greatly governed by how comfortably and easily the various parts of his body move, naturally paying special attention to the back and the neck.
This works broadly on the same principles as acupuncture, but the essential difference between the two is that in acupressure the various points on the patient’s body are stimulated by the practitioner’s finger or thumb instead of by the insertion of needles. One major advantage of this approach is that a patient (or a relative or friend) can perhaps be taught to perform the treatment and therefore it can be repeated as often as required at home. Most practitioners of acupuncture also offer acupressure therapy because some patients cannot face the idea of having needles stuck into them.
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SURGERY AND WEIGHT LOSS
Author: admin
Because of the operative mortality (about 1 percent), surgical treatment for obesity should be undertaken only for emergency medical reasons (e.g., hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes, severe arthritis), and when the person is at least 100 pounds over ideal weight. Only under circumstances such as these can the risk of surgery be justified, since the risk of operating would then be less than that of not losing a lot of weight almost immediately.
Dramatic weight loss after an operation that reduces the size of the stomach sometimes also severely disturbs the emotions. This side effect of the surgery, the American Journal of Gastroenterology (78:321) reports, is sometimes caused by deficiency of vitamins of the B group which, like other foods, are no longer so well absorbed following the operation. Nervous system and brain functions depend upon absorption of normal amounts of the vitamin B complex.
With this in mind, the Journal suggests, anyone rapidly losing weight, whether because of dieting or surgery, must take a vitamin supplement that includes the B complex. No megadoses, please!
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CHILDREN’S HEALTH: TEETHING
Author: admin
Symptoms: Drooling; fretfulness; sleeplessness; loss of appetite; pain or discomfort; chewing fingers or objects.
Home care:
Give the baby dry toast, teething biscuits, or a teething ring to bite on; this will help the teeth erupt.
To ease pain give aspirin or paracetamol, rub the gums with a cold object, or have the child bite on a cold object.
Distract the baby with activities.
Precautions
- Do not be too quick to assume a baby’s symptoms are caused by teething; look for other causes.
- Do not try to force-feed a child whose eating and drinking habits change during teething.
- Diarrhea and constipation are not related to teething unless there has also been a significant change in the child’s diet.
- Teething does not cause fever, cough, or discharge from the nose.
- Drooling from teething may cause the face to become chapped, but any other rashes are due to other causes.
- Overuse of teething ointments and solutions that contain local anesthetics can be harmful.
- A baby may be fretful, wakeful at night, or unwilling to eat for many reasons other than teething.
A baby usually cuts 20 teeth during the first three years of life. All 20 are temporary (deciduous) and are partly formed within the gums at birth. The age and sequence of the eruption of the teeth varies from child to child. Usually, however, the lower central front teeth (incisors) are the first to break through the gums. This can occur before birth or as late as one year of age. The upper four central front teeth (incisors) and the lower side incisors on either side of the lower central front teeth usually follow. The four one-year molars appear next (in the gums inside the cheeks), then the four canines, (the cone-shaped pointed teeth on either side of the upper and lower front teeth), and finally the four two-year molars.
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Frigidity
«I just can’t make it. I try and try, but I can’t. It used to come so easily. Our sex together used to be one of the happiest parts of our life. Natural. I’ve lost something. Something within me, and I’ve lost it. Try and try. Sweat and sweat. Then try to pretend it has come. Hopeless. Restless. Can’t sleep. Sometimes cry. »
Stress increases our level of anxiety. Anxiety prepares us to act. In preparing us to act, our anxiety inhibits those functions of our body which are not required for the immediate situation demanding that we fight or run away. It can be seen that this reaction would be biologically to our advantage in some acute crisis. Then when the stress of the crisis is passed, anxiety subsides, and normal bodily function returns. If, however, the stress continues, and anxiety becomes chronic, our bodily functions may remain disordered.
Of course an underlying fear of pregnancy or loss of love for one’s partner may add to the effect of stress. In cases that are not complicated by these factors, the frigidity often responds quite dramatically to the relief of the stress by relaxing meditation. In it there is not only the reduction of the inhibiting effect of the underlying anxiety, but the patient is also helped by the letting go which is experienced in relaxing meditation. A letting go, not only of the muscles, but also of the mind, and in fact a letting go of one’s whole being. This kind of experience helps free the nervous connections for the letting go of orgasm.
Loss of sex desire
«Used to look forward to sex. It was a great part of our lives together. Now just don’t seem to care. Not opposed to it. Just disinterested. Couldn’t care less. A kind of thing you do. That’s about all there is to it. Loss of desire. »
It is not uncommon for both men and women to talk like this. When we come under chronic stress, the underlying anxiety inhibits the free flow of our emotions. The person under chronic stress is not easily aroused to happiness, joy or laughter. In the same way both men and women are not so easily aroused in sexual desire.
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“Not by the asking. Just by the circumstances. By act of God, if you like. To me it is an inescapable fact. We are the custodians of this earth where we live. Custodianship is thrust upon us. We are custodians of our children, custodians of our mate in life. Men of old accepted custodianship of water, lest the streams be polluted. Peasants care for the earth, letting the land lie fallow. Custodianship is a law of nature. If we break the law, we alienate our children, our mate grows weak, our water is polluted and the earth becomes barren.
‘They say I am obsessed with it. That is all right. They say it’s a burden that is not for me to carry. Carry it I will. As much of it as I can. But that is not the trouble.
‘The trouble is the disturbance within me. So disturbed, so worried I cannot carry as much of the burden as I would wish.”
Many of us have our philosophical burdens. Some are burdened with the materialistic philosophy of how best to keep the economy of the country running profitably. Others ponder their own particular philosophy of God and religion. But this is a ‘greenie’ pondering the preservation of the earth. It is well for all of us that these matters are thought out and worked through. But if our preoccupation becomes too disturbing to us, it forms a background of stress. And, of course, if we become stressed our ability to deal with such matters is reduced.
Some other interests. If we are entirely preoccupied with one subject we lack breadth of vision. We become too intense, and the background for the development of stress is itself intensified.
A quiet time, letting our mind run quietly. A little each day. And our coping ability is so much the better. And fun!
The experience of fun helps our brain integrate the messages. Fun with our fellows, even for a little while, and the problems of it all do not seem so great. Not so great because our brain is handling things better.
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The air in a house may be excessively heated in winter. It becomes dry and acts as a sponge, soaking up the moisture of the skin and the lining of the nose, throat, sinuses, and lungs. As a consequence, mucus in the respiratory tract becomes thick and infected.
The amount of moisture in the air as compared to the amount it can hold is called its relative humidity. The ideal relative humidity of a heated house whose indoor temperature is between 60° and 70°F is 50 percent; however, most American homes have a relative humidity in winter of about 14 percent, which is supplemented with vapor from large humidifiers that have an automatic control (cold water vapor provides better results than hot water vapor). Pans of boiling water in different rooms of the house cannot serve the purpose of constant and controlled humidification.
In summer, the situation may be reversed; excessive humidity can be controlled by installing a dehumidifier. There are many excellent units on the market suitable for a private home, an apartment, or both.
The treatment of sinusitis depends on its cause, which may be allergy, infection, or both.
Allergic sinusitis is characterized by sneezing, a watery flow from the nostrils, clogging of the nose, a history of allergy, polyp formation, and a nasal smear that contains eosinophiles. Its treatment is specific through testing and desensitization and nonspecific with decongestants.
Infective sinusitis is characterized by a foul odor in the nose, temperature elevation, pain in the sinus region, a discharge of pus from the sinus opening, and response to antibiotics. Measures to ensure sinus drainage after the passing of the acute infection imply control of the allergy, removal of large adenoids that may hamper sinus drainage, and the avoidance of exposure to further respiratory infections.
Chronic sinusitis may cause anatomical changes in the nose and sinus linings that can make drainage of the sinuses impossible. Surgical procedures (to be done preferably in winter, and, if possible when snow is on the ground) are used to establish new drainage pathways. Puberty may improve chronic sinusitis because obstructing adenoids may become smaller with age.
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PREVENTION AND HEALTH: TOOTH DECAY
Author: admin
Dental disease is the commonest disease in the western world. It consists of three interlinked problem areas:
1. Tooth decay.
2. Gum disease; and
3. The problems of those with no natural teeth.
We have looked at the second and third of these elsewhere. This entry deals with tooth decay.
The majority of tooth loss comes about because of tooth decay in early life and gum disease in adult life. Both start with plaque-a sticky substance that collects on teeth all the time. Plaque is laden with bacteria that live off the sugar in foods we eat. The bacteria produce acid and the acid erodes the bone-hard enamel of our teeth. The bacteria in plaque also play havoc with our gums.
In 1984 25 per cent of the population of England and Wales over the age of 16 had no natural teeth. This is a great improvement on 1968 when the figure was 37 per cent, but the figure is still shocking.
But is the picture for children any better? Unfortunately not. In 1983 in England and Wales 48 per cent of children aged 5 had some experience of decay; and at the age of 14, the average number of decayed, missing or filled teeth was 4.6. Things have improved a little since then and there is increasing evidence that the level of dental decay in children is falling, for some unknown reason, even in areas that do not have fluoridated water. In areas where the drinking water is fluoridated the level of tooth decay in children is much lower than elsewhere.
Only about half of all people with natural teeth go to a dentist in any one year, and a quarter of schoolchildren and three-quarters of pre-school children fail to get regular dental care.
More and better treatment of dental problems is not the answer to this situation-prevention is. Dental diseases are almost all preventable; indeed no area of preventive medicine has been so extensively studied and pursued as has the prevention of dental decay, and the wisdom of trying to treat, rather than prevent, dental disease in whole populations has been seriously questioned. The World Health Organization has stated that, ‘Dental caries cannot be controlled by treatment alone and the problem can be reduced to manageable proportions only by preventive measures aimed at decreasing the prevalence of the disease.’
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SELF-HELP PREVENTION: ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM
Author: admin
What are they?
Arthritis and rheumatism are woolly terms used to describe a host of painful conditions of the joints and muscles. True arthritis is either osteoarthritis, in which the bone surfaces are worn away with age (a degenerative condition), or rheumatoid arthritis in which inflammation destroys a joint and its surrounding tissues. General aches and pains in muscles and joints that we all seem to get as we get older are often referred to as ‘rheumatism’ or ‘arthritis’ when in fact they are neither.
Arthritis is, however, just about the commonest disease in the western world, according to the World Health Organization. Almost half the population has at least some signs of osteoarthritis and almost 1.5 million in the UK alone suffer from the effects of rheumatoid arthritis. In the USA 26 million working hours are lost each year through arthritis, which claims a million victims every year.
Only 2 people in every 100 will reach the age of 70 without experiencing some kind of rheumatism or arthritis. Lorry drivers, those who lift a lot and housewives are most affected.
Although drugs have done much to alleviate the pain of many arthritis sufferers, and joint replacement has come a long way, there is still no ‘cure’ for these diseases, which blight the lives of millions of people.
What causes them?
The true causes of arthritis and rheumatism are not known and there is no cure. However, there are many factors that are known to contribute to these conditions and some can be prevented. Preventable factors are:
• Too much fat in the diet.
• Food allergies (for example to gluten-containing foods).
• Too little vitamin C.
• Too much sugar.
• Too little calcium.
• Too little zinc.
• Under-nutrition in general.
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