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Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid It is extraordinary how people tend to give up even before they have started. “Relaxing the body, yes, I can do that; but relaxing my mind, that is impossible; that is why I have come to you.” I hear this almost daily. Yet experience has shown that anyone who can achieve physical relaxation can likewise attain the sensation of relaxation of his mind, if he will only try—and try in the right way.
A common difficulty is that our thoughts seem to become too active. We keep thinking of the problems of the day. All the small inconsequential things of our business keep running through our mind. In an effort to stop it, we consciously turn our thoughts to our home. But the same thing happens again, and we become exasperated by the flow of unwanted thoughts. This particular difficulty is more common in people who have well-developed obsessive traits in their personality. The main problem is the rather vivid awareness of these thoughts, the way they intrude into our consciousness and the way they disturb us. We cope with this difficulty simply by giving our thoughts full rein, as it were, and letting them wander where they will without us worrying about them. We do this in a way similar to what happens in our moments of reverie. In it we are idle, and we daydream. Our thoughts wander far and wide; but it does not disturb us, and we still remain completely relaxed in our mind. This is the approach to the difficulty of active thoughts while we are first trying to relax. We just let the thoughts go. There is no tension. We let them go easily, just where they like, and it does not worry us.
There is another approach to this same problem which is also a help. As we do our exercises we have to maintain the physical reaction of our body. We do this by thinking of different parts of our body in turn, and making sure that each is relaxed.
I can feel my legs relaxed, both of them relaxed.—My body, it is relaxed, and I just feel the weight of it.—My arms relaxed, my face smooth, my jaw loose, the muscles around my eyes relaxed, my forehead relaxed deeply.
The sequence is then repeated easily and leisurely, starting with the legs again. By this simple means the mind is kept occupied so that other thoughts do not get the chance to intrude and worry us.
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Arthritis The worn-out cliche, “the balanced diet,” has been so misused and abused that it no longer has much meaning. The term optimum diet would better signify a diet so well planned and chosen as to assure optimum health.
What is a balanced diet? Is it a diet made up of “four basic foods” as you were taught in grade school? Or is it the “seven basics” as it is sometimes advised? Whichever it is, meat has always been considered the most basic food. We have all been brainwashed for years with the pseudoscientific slogan “high protein—low carbohydrate.” We believe that we should eat as much protein as possible. We are living in an era of the high-protein cult!
When I recently met Dr. Karl-Otto Aly, M.D., the prominent Swedish doctor, upon his return from an extensive lecture tour in the United States and asked him, ‘What is singularly the most memorable impression of your trip?” he had an immediate answer:
“The American high-protein craze! Not only the general public, but even so-called health enthusiasts are so thoroughly brainwashed on the question of protein in their diet, that, to my mind, this point alone may be held responsible to a great degree for the deplorable state of health of the American people.”
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Epilepsy The use of anti-epileptic drugs is clearly the principal method of treating epilepsy. In those situations where a specific cause for the seizures has been found, then other treatments may be necessary. This will include antibiotics if the cause is meningitis or a cerebral abscess, antiviral drugs for certain types of encephalitis caused by viruses, supplementation of the diet with vitamins or other substances in those rare disorders where there may be a deficiency, and the use of surgery to remove cysts, tumours, or abnormal areas of the brain. Counselling and other specific psychological programmes designed to help modify behaviour may also be required for certain people, including those who drink alcohol to excess, or who use illicit drugs.
Dietary manipulation-There have been a number of attempts to control epileptic seizures by modifying the diet. This arose from the observation many years ago that fasting or starvation seemed to be associated with a reduction in the frequency of seizures. In the fasting state, normal metabolism is altered with the appearance of substances in the blood and urine, called ketones. It is not known how or why ketones are linked with seizure control. Of course, there may be no direct relationship between the two, and the occurrence of the two together may be coincidental. A diet was discovered which produced ketones, but without the child having to be starved. The diet is very rich in fat and oils, which makes it rather unpalatable. Because 70 per cent of the diet is in this fat form (the remaining 30 per cent coming from protein and carbohydrate), extra vitamins and minerals (such as calcium and magnesium) must be given. In spite of all the fat and oil eaten in this diet, there is no change in the blood level of cholesterol which is responsible for causing coronary heart disease. The main disadvantages with this diet are the unpalatability, often unpleasant diarrhoea, and the fact that the diet must be strictly followed. Its use is usually restricted to infants and children with very severe epilepsy (often with the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome). Unfortunately its success is limited and usually short-lived.
A rarely used and less successful diet is oiled the oligoantigenic diet. This entails trying to identify those substances in the diet which may cause an increase in epileptic seizures, and then to exclude them from the diet.
There are few, extremely rare conditions, where the epilepsy is caused by an ‘inborn error of metabolism’. This means that either the body is missing, or is unable to use, a particular substance—usually a vitamin or enzyme, and, as a result the person develops epilepsy, and often other problems (for example, skin rashes, loss of hair, failure to grow). If the missing substance is then given in large doses, then the epilepsy may stop. An example of this is a condition called pyridoxine (vitamin B6)-dependent seizures, which usually begins by affecting babies or infants in the first few days or weeks of life.
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Arthritis Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in persons over 65 years of age in the USA. It starts with a thickening of certain fibres in the eye and deterioration of the capillaries of the blood supply. Detachment of the pigmented layers of the eye may occur eventually. Total blindness or loss of central vision may result.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in adults from 20 to 65 years of age in the USA. It involves dilation and bleeding of the veins in the retina which can also lead to retinal detachment.
These ailments are often associated with diabetes, hypertension, sarcoidosis, toxoplasmosis, or syphilis. Corrective surgery, often by laser, is very costly but frequently recommended as the only conventional therapy. Most cases treated with CMO have responded exceptionally well, eliminating the need for surgery.
Just what autoimmune processes, if any, are being affected by CMO in these diseases has yet to be determined. We have so much more to learn about the secret mechanisms of CMO and its broad range of influence on so many ailments.
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General health Symptoms
Bacterial pneumonia: mild upper respiratory tract infection; high fever; chills; cough; rapid breathing; chest pain.
Viral pneumonia: headache; fatigue; fever; sore throat; severe, dry cough.
Home care:
Viral pneumonia usually clears up on its own.
Bacterial pneumonia requires medical attention.
Precautions
- Watch for signs of pneumonia in a child whose resistance is lowered by a cold or infection.
- If a cold suddenly gets worse and is accompanied by high fever, cough, chills, chest pain, or rapid breathing, suspect pneumonia.
- Flaring of the nostrils, grunting breathing, and pulling in of the chest in an infant are serious and require immediate medical attention.
- If a child coughs up a discharge tinged with blood, consult a doctor.
Pneumonia is an infection of one or more areas of the lungs. It’s caused by bacteria or viruses. The common bacterial cause of pneumonia is pneumococcus or, less often, streptococcus or staphylococcus. The viral causes include the influenza and parainfluenza viruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, and adenoviruses. Pneumonia also may be caused by mycoplasma organisms.
In order to contract bacterial pneumonia, the child must be exposed to ê at a time when he or she is particularly susceptible. Pneumococci, streptococci, and staphylococci bacteria frequently are present in the nose and throat of a healthy child. Before these organisms can invade the lungs, however, the child’s resistance must be lowered by a cold or some other upper respiratory tract infection. Therefore bacterial pneumonia is not considered to be contagious in the usual sense.
The types of pneumonia that are caused by viruses are known as “walking pneumonias” and are contagious. The incubation period – the time it takes for the symptoms to develop once the child is exposed to the disease – for mycoplasma is one to three weeks; for most viruses it is two to five days.
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Diabetes Humulin NPH (Isophane Insulin NPH)
Humulin NPH has a moderately slow action.
This is a Human Isophane. Humulin NPH may start to have its effect within two hours of the injection (sometimes even before) and has-its maximum effect from between four to twelve hours. Activity fades rapidly after twenty four hours. For some children on small doses, it may provide good coverage of insulin through the whole day, but many children need a small addition of quick acting insulin (Humulin R) to the Humulin NPH to cover the early part of the day. The proportion of quick acting insulin to Humulin NPH will usually be about one to four, but this varies according to how a child responds to the insulin. For many children, the effect of Humulin NPH is not strong enough through the night and it may be necessary to give an evening injection as well.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Humulin NPH given before breakfast is likely to occur in the late afternoon, but may occur during the night.
Actraphane (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Actraphane is a mixture of Protaphane (70%) and Actrapid (30%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves.
Its effect may start in one hour and it has a maximum effect from four to fifteen hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Actraphane given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
Mixtard 30:70 (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Mixtard has a combined fast and moderately slow action.
Mixtard is a mixture of Insulatard (70%) and Velosulin (30%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves. It has a start effect in one hour and a maximum effect from four to eight hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four
hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Mixtard given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
Mixtard 50:50 (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Initard has a combined fast and moderately slow action.
Initard is a mixture of Insulatard (50%) and Velosulin (50%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves. Its effect may start in one hour and it has a maximum effect from four to eight hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Initard given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
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Women's Health Household pesticides
A number of children have been diagnosed with Charge Syndrome which is characterized by major abnormalities including heart disease. It’s believed that the condition is caused by exposure to pesticides and insecticides during pregnancy. One baby was born with severe handicaps after her mother had been exposed to a cockroach pesticide when she was six weeks pregnant. Another woman gave birth to a handicapped child after exposure to flea insecticide during pregnancy.
Dr Jeff Howell, of South Bank University, has strong concerns about the use of permethrin to treat woodworm. This chemical has been linked to skin and eye irritations but also to birth defects. Home-owners have always been told that the treatment chemicals fall to safe levels eight hours after application. But research carried out by the Faunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Aerosol Research in Germany shows that house dust picks up permethrin and deposits it on food and kitchen surfaces. So you can end up breathing and eating it.
Parents in the UK and USA are suing the manufacturers of a garden pesticide they claim caused eye deformities in babies following use in the early months of pregnancy.
What You Can Do
• Try not to use pesticides in your garden. If this is not possible then make sure you don’t handle any of this stuff in the four months leading up to conception.
• Do not have your home treated for woodworm in those four months either. Do any house treatments before you actually move in so that you are not living, breathing, eating and sleeping in a potentially toxic environment.
• Treat your pets for fleas with natural herbal sprays. They do not kill the fleas but repel them, making them less likely to stay on the animal. There are also other ways of dealing with fleas which can be obtained from the vet. You can feed your cat a substance or put drops on their necks which change the blood so the fleas don’t like the taste. Garlic works the same way. If you crush up garlic tablets into your pet’s feed, this may keep the fleas off.
• Garlic can also be used to deter other insects. A few years ago we had some ants in the kitchen. We opened up some garlic capsules and spread the garlic around the opening the ants seemed to be coming from. Interestingly, the ants would not cross over the ‘garlic’ line and went back down the crack.
Household Chemicals
Decorating your home can be a problem. Solvent-based paints and white spirits release gases into the air and these can stay around for weeks after painting has finished. Apart from causing irritation, these gases can be inhaled and cause dizziness, nausea and headaches. Years ago, paint and furnishings were made from natural products but nowadays they are usually made from chemicals. Unfortunately, there is also a tendency to paint the baby’s room just before it is born so the baby ends up sleeping in a sea of chemicals. In addition, new carpets often contain chemical preservative called formaldehyde which can irritate the mucus linings of the eyes, nose and throat.
What You Can Do
• Decorate at least four months before conception.
• When you redecorate, buy solvent-free paints.
• Minimize the amount of chemicals you use in your home (such as polish, bleach, detergents, air fresheners, etc). Buy more natural and more biodegradable household cleaners, available from health food shops.
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General health • Jetlag and shift work are well-known promoters of insomnia. Both alter the body’s time clock and as a result sleep suffers. The effects of jetlag are worst when crossing several time zones and get much worse if the time changes 8 hours or more. It is possible to overcome the pattern by keeping to your home time but if you are going somewhere on business or for more than a day then this won’t work because you will have to fit in with the clock in the country you have travelled to. You can prepare yourself in advance, at least to some extent, by gradually altering your sleeping times in the week before you go-change them by an hour a day.
When it comes to shift work the most disruptive pattern is the combination of day and night work. Most people eventually come to terms with night work if they do it all the time-the natural body clock simply resets-but with a mixture of day and night shifts you are fighting nature all the time. Avoid such work if you possibly can.
• Bad beds are a very common, yet preventable, cause of insomnia. Many people have a bed which is too small. Since 1920 the average height of young men has increased by 2 in and the proportion of men who are 6 ft 3 in or more has gone up from one in 250 to one in 40 today. So the old ‘standard’ bed is too small for many people, especially as the metric equivalent is even smaller than the old imperial standard size. A bed should always be at least 6 in longer than your body.
Your bed may also be too narrow. Lie down with your hands behind your head. If your elbows overlap the edges of the bed, it is too narrow. Anyone over 6 ft tall probably needs a king-size bed. Until very recently in historical terms people slept on wooden boards or on the floor or a mat. This does not mean that all mattresses are unhealthy, but many are too soft. As we pass through periods of REM sleep most muscles of the body are paralyzed. They give our bodies little or no support and a very soft bed will not support us either. Young people are not too badly affected by this but middle-aged and older people certainly are and wake up with backache and aching limbs. Replace your mattress at least every ten years.
A double bed is usually more spacious, even for two people, than two singles, but when two people share a bed there is a potential for sleeplessness. One of them may snore, toss and turn, sleepwalk, have nightmares, or get up to go to the bathroom. On the plus side cuddling someone else gives a sense of warmth and security that helps promote sleep. But sharing a bed does not mean that both have to have the same mattress. Today there are excellent zip-and-link mattresses available that enable one half of the bed to be softer and the other firmer, according to individual taste.
• Some people sleep badly because they are too hot or too cold. Old blankets become thick and matted, so that they hold the heat less well than when they were soft and fluffy. It is better to replace old blankets rather than pile more on top because the weight can be uncomfortable, especially for older people. A duvet is the perfect answer because it is light and makes bed-making so easy. Room temperature and ventilation can make a real difference to insomnia, especially at the extremes of temperature-a hot, stuffy room and a cold draughty room both make insomnia more likely.
• If your room has thin curtains, you may be woken too early on light, summer mornings. Fit heavier ones, line existing ones or fit a blind inside the curtains. This could give you two hours’ more sleep.
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Women's Health When a woman is faced with the decision of whether or not to have a hysterectomy she has almost invariably had a harrowing and traumatic fight with unrelenting endometriosis for many years. Her symptoms are usually so severe and persistent that they have taken over her life completely and there is no other way out. The decision to have a hysterectomy simply becomes a quality of life issue.
Nevertheless, most women have to hit rock bottom and cross that ‘invisible barrier’ of knowing emotionally that they have reached the end of their tether before they can make the decision to have a hysterectomy.
The decision to have a hysterectomy should be yours and yours alone. Do not allow anyone else – your gynecologist, your partner, your mother or your best friend – to make the decision for you. You have to live with the decision, not them.
The decision must also be made at your pace. Do not let yourself be pressured into making a hasty decision just because your gynecologist or someone else wants an answer by a certain date. Only you will know when you have finally reached the end of your tether so take as much time as you need. If you have to ask yourself whether or not you are ready for a hysterectomy then you aren’t.
Even though you must make the final decision it will usually be beneficial if you discuss your options with your gynecologist, partner, family and friends, as well as other women who have been through the same operation. It is often worthwhile talking to a counsellor to help explore and resolve the issues.
Before you make a final decision get as much information as you need about the operation and its likely consequences. Do not hesitate to ask your gynecologist any questions that you may have. If you have any doubts about the need for the operation get a second, or even a third, opinion.
Women who make the decision themselves and at their own pace usually recover more quickly and have less physical and emotional problems following their surgery.
Deciding to have a hysterectomy is a major and irreversible decision that will affect all aspects of your life. In making the decision you need to consider both the physical and emotional aspects.
You need to think about the degree to which your quality of life is compromised by your endometriosis and weigh that up against the likely advantages and disadvantages that the surgery will bring.
A hysterectomy will probably mean much less pain and disability. It will also mean that you cannot have children in the future so you will have to decide whether retaining your possible ability to have children is more important to you than relief from your symptoms and getting on with life. Your sexual response will probably change too – for better or worse – but you will not know how until after you have had the surgery
You need to think about what effect not having all of your reproductive organs will have on your self-image. You may also need to consider the reactions of others after you have had a hysterectomy and what effect that will have on your relationships with them.
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Cancer Antioxidant Dressing
125 ml low-fat acidophilus yogurt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons apple concentrate
50 grams cottage cheese
1 tomato
1 small red onion
1/2 red capsicum
3 cloves garlic
5 ml lime or lemon juice (fresh)
1 pinch of chilli powder
1 teaspoon flaxseed or linseed oil
Combine the yogurt, mustard, vinegar, apple concentrate and cottage cheese in a food processor. Blend until it forms a smooth mayonnaise texture. Peel and de-seed the tomato. Dice the flesh. Dice the onion and capsicum, and crush the garlic. Add all of the ingredients to the yogurt mayonnaise, together with lemon juice and chilli powder. Mix well and serve with salad.
Garlic Dressing
1 cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded
2-3 cloves garlic
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend for 1 minute. Place in a sealed jar and store in the refrigerator until needed.
Lemon Tahini Dressing
1 tablespoon tahini
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed Pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon apple juice or pear juice concentrate
Mix all ingredients together. Pour over salad.
Vitality Dressing
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil or organic flaxseed oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
If desired, chopped herbs for flavouring
1/2 lemon, squeezed
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or food processor. Pour over salad.
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