About Health & Medicine

DEADLY EMOTIONS: HOSTILITY AND ITS STAGES

NUTRITION FOR INFANT: GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

CHILD’S HEALTH CARE/INFECTIOUS DISEASES: ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS)

AIDS has received wide publicity in recent years. It is important to remember that it is still a rare disease in children in this community. Infected children have usually acquired AIDS from their mothers, in particular during pregnancy if she is infected. In the past there was a risk of contracting AIDS through transfusions with contaminated blood. All blood is now carefully screened for HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes AIDS). Children infected with HIV are likely to develop AIDS. This causes marked suppression of their immune system, and they are prone to developing life-threatening diseases. There is currently no cure for AIDS, although certain drugs being developed show promise.

The HIV virus is spread by the exchange of human fluids such as blood or semen. It cannot be acquired by direct body contact or by kissing. There is no danger of your child contracting HIV by coming into normal contact with another child or adult who has HIV, unless there is an exchange of bodily fluids.

A family who has a child with AIDS requires expert medical and counselling support. If you need further information, contact your doctor. Each state has organisations which provide both information and support to those with AIDS and their families.

*272\90\8*

LEAVING YOUR CHILDREN SOMETHING TO LOVE BY: ONE OF THE RULE OF FAMILY SEX EDUCATION

    Your children know a lot already, but they think they know a lot more than they do, and a lot of what they know just is not so. What they know something about is the mechanics, but much less about values and right and wrong. They wonder about love, about how and what to do with whom sexually. They want to know what love is, what it means, how you know when you are in love. Start talking about that openly and see how much

discussion takes place. Another guideline is that the more they pretend to know, the more mechanical and mythological their knowledge really is. Teens seldom come to you and say, “You know, Mom and Dad, I’m really very vulnerable and immature. Your experience is so much broader than mine. Could you please fill me in?” Such statements may occur only when there is emergency need to use the family car, not when there is real need to know.

There are really four basic areas that need to be addressed. These are what I call the “BARE” facts. Â stands for biology. As I have said, many kids have learned something about the basic biology of sex. You may want to make sure all four, not just the first three perspectives of sexuality, are a part of your children’s biological knowledge. Most formal sex education emphasizes the same genital/energy approach of the early sex perspectives, not the fourth perspective of this twenty-first-century marriage manual.

A stands for attitudes. They need to know yours, you need to know theirs. What is their attitude toward premarital sex and intercourse, abortion, masturbation, various sexual behaviors and preferences?

R stands for reproduction. They need to know about menstruation, conception and contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, responsibility for sex, children, and family.

E stands for emotion. They need to know about your feelings, be able to clarify and express their own feelings. An important warning here! Your feelings, their feelings, change. Sometimes they may shock you and test you. Give it some time. They may try a feeling out for a while. Teenagers particularly use the “feeling for a day” system of trying out for life. They are less moody than they act, and they do tend to “act” moody. Don’t overreact, because overreaction is what they are testing for and afraid of, in you and within themselves. When you overreact, teens go from the more acceptable playacting and testing of parents to acting-out, which almost always signals unexpressed feelings of helplessness.

*308\97\8*

YOUR MARITAL HEALTH/WHY WIVES HAVE TOO MANY ORGASMS: “SEXUAL WITCH” FALLACY

He gestured with his hand as if he were erasing a chalkboard. “On and on and on. I work on her until she comes. She has two, maybe even three or four orgasms, then it’s my turn.” The husband described his typical patterned sexual process of pleasing as if it were an indelible code of sexual marital conduct.

“I know, and I feel worked on,” said the wife as she grabbed his hand from its circular path, took it in her own, and held it in her lap. “It’s like I have to come, usually a couple of times, for him to feel that he has done his job. Then he does it. I feel like a prerequisite instead of a partner.”

“Name one time, just one time we have ever had sex when you were not completed,” demanded the husband as he pulled his hand from hers and rested it in his own lap. “You are satisfied every damned time. I make sure of it. I know how it is with women. I know that they, I mean you, can go on and on and need a lot to get going but then you keep going.” His hand returned to its circular motion in the air. “I just use this technique and you know it takes work. I can’t believe after all of these years you don’t appreciate the fact that I take your feelings into account. Some men just don’t care. At least I’m not the T don’t care as long as I’m happy’ type.”

“No, you’re not that type,” answered the wife, again grabbing his hand, this time stopping it in mid-air. “You’re the ‘make ‘em come, then you get some’ type. You seem to think I’m some sexual object that needs preparing for your pleasure, some bagful of orgasms that you withdraw from until you deposit yours, ejaculation, I mean.” She held his hand firmly to her chest as she began to cry. “Why can’t we just make love? I’m sick of orgasm, orgasm, orgasm.”

The first three perspectives freed women^ at least theoretically, to be sexual persons, to respond, to enjoy, to be orgasmic, to be multiply orgasmic, to have sexual choices. Women were viewed as not only the erotic “equals” of men, but as somehow sexually superior, mystical persons with sexual capacities far exceeding those of men. In fact, their sexual-response model was seen not only as different, but as a goal, the standard against which the male sexual capacity fell woefully short. They became ‘’sexual witches” with almost magical sexual powers.

As many as nine million women were murdered in the 1500s and 1600s, burned, hanged, and tortured as possessed with erotic demons. The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches’ Hammer) was written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger. They wrote mat “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust which is in women insatiable.” Early sex researchers unknowingly gave indirect physiological and alleged psychological credence to the idea that women were much different, much more erotic, much more sexually responsive than men. The evil ascribed to women was related to their mysterious sexual prowess, the “evil woman” syndrome.

*135\9\78*

TRUE HEALING – PRACTICAL ADVICE/DETOXIFICATION PROCESS: OXYGEN THERAPIES-ORAL INTAKE

It has been demonstrated (see Oxygen Therapies by Ed McCabe listed in the References), that taking diluted hydrogen peroxide orally also is beneficial to our health. The most controversial issue is the concentration. In my opinion we should not exceed by much the concentrations which occur naturally in the rain water high in the mountains or in the water from natural mineral springs. Another good gauge is taste. The taste of hydrogen peroxide is extremely unpleasant and we are quite sensitive to it. So, if you cannot feel discomfort drinking the solution, the concentration is most likely safe. Again, do not use hydrogen peroxide sold in pharmacies for external use only, as it contains so called “stabilisers” which may be toxic. Use only “analytical” or “food” grade hydrogen peroxide.

*34\96\8*

MIGRAINE – INCREASING THE FREQUENCY

The menopause often brings relief to many women.

The contraceptive Pill and added oestrogen for other conditions may bring on migraine or increase the frequency and severity of migraine.

Many foods, such as red wine, chocolate, fatty foods, nuts, garlic, citrus fruits, flat beans and alcohol have, at times, been known to cause migraine.

Nervous tension, overtiredness or bright lights may all bring on an attack.

One feature which may be misinterpreted is a feeling of well-being before the attack.

A woman may wake up feeling great. She does all her cleaning, shopping and other tasks she, maybe, has put off for some time. Next day she wakes with a splitting migraine and blames overdoing it for causing the headache.

The typical migraine headache starts with some warning, usually a disturbance in vision. The headache is usually throbbing in character and, in a third of cases, is on one side only. Nausea and vomiting are common.

*503/71/1*

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME – INTRODUCTION

Pain is the commonest warning signal that something is wrong with our bodies. Pressure on nerves anywhere in the body will usually result in pain as the main symptom.

At the front of the wrist there is a groove formed by the small bones of the wrist. Lying in this groove and passing through it, as though a tunnel, run the tendons that flex the fingers and also the median nerve.

This nerve carries sensations from the thumb, index finger, middle finger and half the ring finger. It also carries nerve fibres to some of the muscles of the hand.

The fifth finger and the outer half of the ring finger are supplied by the ulnar nerve which does not run through this groove.

Roofing over and converting the groove into a tunnel is a broad band of ligament tissue. The median nerve can be compressed as it runs through this tunnel and cause the condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome.

This disorder is more likely to occur in the middle-aged. The cause is unknown although occasionally it is attributed to work, but this is not always definite. It may occur in the young as the presenting feature of rheumatoid arthritis. In this condition it is the swelling of the tendon sheaths which compress the nerve.

*246/71/1*

MENINGITIS IN CHILDREN

Symptoms: fever, stiff neck, headache, vomiting, exhaustion or collapse, convulsions.

Home care:

Meningitis is a medical emergency. Do not attempt home care. Take the child to the doctor immediately.

Precautions

-    A child, who is very weak, has a stiff neck, and fever should see a doctor immediately.

-    Laboratory examination of spinal fluid is the only way to diagnose meningitis.

-    Meningitis can follow an upper respiratory tract or middle ear infection, or certain types of skull fracture.

-    The unnecessary use of antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection may mask the onset of meningitis.

-    Meningitis is often contracted through direct contact with a carrier of the disease who appears quite healthy.

Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the layers of tissue that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord. Most often, meningitis is caused by a viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is usually caused by one of three types of bacteria: meningococcus, pneumococcus, or Haemophilus influenzae. Meningitis is seldom spread by a person who has the disease. It’s usually contracted by direct contact with a healthy person who is a carrier of the disease, or by inhaling airborne droplets of moisture from that person’s respiratory system. (A carrier is a person who does not get sick with the disease but can pass it on to others.)

Meningitis may be a complication of a skull fracture if the fracture has extended into the nose, middle ear, or nasal sinus. Meningitis can also follow an upper respiratory tract infection or middle ear infection.

Signs and symptoms

The characteristic symptoms of meningitis are moderate to high fever, headache, vomiting, exhaustion or collapse, convulsions, and a stiff neck – the child cannot touch his or her chin to the chest with the mouth closed. Purplish red spots (petechiae) scattered over the body together with fever may indicate one form of meningococcus infection. The diagnosis of meningitis can only be made with certainty by testing spinal fluid obtained by a spinal tap.

Home care

Meningitis is a medical emergency in which hours, if not minutes, count. Do not attempt any home treatment. See a doctor at once.

*148/84/5*

PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST HEART ATTACKS

•     Eat more fish oils. Studies of people who consume large amounts of fish (notably the Japanese and the Eskimos) show that they have very low heart-disease rates. Both groups have low blood-fat levels, high levels of high-density lipoproteins (the good, helpful kind) and a reduced tendency for their blood to clot. These people also have a high level of a particular type of fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This and its close relative, DHA, are found in fish, fish oils and the fat of marine animals. Many research groups have now looked at the role of fish-oil supplements and found that various risk factors for heart disease can be altered beneficially. The main advantage appears to be that the blood becomes less sticky and so less likely to form clots. This must reduce the risk of heart attacks because they are so often triggered off by a clot in one of the arteries that supply the heart. It is especially encouraging to find that the higher the blood fats before taking fish oil, the more they are affected by the treatment. So far there do not seem to be any drawbacks to taking fish-oil supplements-for example, the blood does not go on getting thinner and thinner. So, by increasing your fish consumption and possibly taking a food supplement of EPA, you can almost certainly reduce your chances of having a heart attack.

•     Eat more magnesium-containing foods. Recent work suggests that it is brief spasms of the coronary arteries rather than clots that trigger a significant number of heart attacks. It appears that a deficiency of magnesium could be behind this problem. Eat more fruit, whole grains, vegetables and pulses to enrich your diet with magnesium.

•     Make friends and be sociable. Social isolation has been found to be a factor in heart attacks, according to a study of 4,000 men in the US. The most sociable people had fewest heart attacks. In parallel with this an Israeli study found that men who had a good sex life were much less likely to have a heart attack. There is also evidence that loving care reduces the arterial disease that makes a heart attack more likely by narrowing the coronary arteries.

•     Control your diabetes if you have Type I (insulin-dependent diabetes) and cure it if you have middle-age onset diabetes. Diabetics have a very much increased risk of having a heart attack and this preventive measure is very worth while.

•     Don’t take the contraceptive pill if you have a history of heart disease in the family. It is not known why women have so much less heart disease than men-the hormonal differences are not an adequate explanation-but taking the Pill definitely raises the risk unacceptably for susceptible women, especially after the age of 35.

•     The weather, particularly the invasion of cold fronts and rapid falls in barometric pressure, has been linked to admissions to hospital with heart attacks. Things you can do to prevent heart attacks occurring in these circumstances are to avoid exposure to cold, especially the combination of vigorous exercise and cold. It is no coincidence that so many men die from heart attacks every year shifting snow from in front of their homes. The use of a light face-mask helps maintain temperature and humidity and can be a useful preventive.

*166/72/5*