Archive for April, 2009
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO PAIN OF ORGANIC ORIGIN: RELIEF OF PAIN BY DISSOCIATION
Posted on April 29, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.
Under normal circumstances there is a wholeness about the individual. The body and the mind work as a whole. The different parts of our body and the different aspects of our mind all function in harmony. But in certain conditions this harmony in the working of the different parts of the body may become disrupted. This is what we call dissociation. One part or one function may become dissociated from the rest of the body. Dissociation occurs particularly in hysteria and in hypnosis.
Dissociation can be used in the control of pain. A person may be hypnotized and his arm may be made quite numb so that there is no feeling in it whatsoever. In these circumstances sensation in the arm has become dissociated from the rest of the body. The individual can tolerate any degree of injury to his arm without feeling the slightest discomfort. For practical purposes his arm does not belong to him. Some people can learn to do this themselves by first inducing an autohypnotic state. Others can produce a similar effect by consciously dissociating themselves from the pain or the painful part. If it is a leg that is injured, we hold ourselves apart from it as it were, and we develop the feeling that the painful leg really does not belong to us.
It is easy to see how this works for an arm or a leg, but it can also be used for pain in the abdomen, or the chest, or even the head. We develop the feeling that this pain does not really belong to us. We are dissociated from it. It has nothing to do with us. We can stand off as it were, and think about the pain as if in fact it were some other person who were suffering.
People vary a great deal in their ability to use dissociation to control pain. It is much easier to use in the relaxed state of mind that we attain in our relaxing mental exercises. For those who can do it, it is a very good way for the self-management of excessive pain. But it would be wise to confine the use of dissociation to this purpose. It is just possible that unwise experiments in dissociation could lead a very susceptible person into a state in which he might dissociate inadvertently, from having developed a too great facility in the technique, and so produce other symptoms either of his body or mind.
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TUMMY TROUBLES: HEPATITIS
Posted on April 29, 2009, under Gastrointestinal.
Q. Hepatitis seems to be a common disorder in Australia. Please tell us about it?
A. It is common. To confuse the issue, there are several different kinds, with strange names such as Hepatitis A (once called infectious or viral hepatitis) and a more severe form named Hepatitis B, once called serum hepatitis because it was related to blood transfusions. Another kind which is neither of the above two is called “non-A and non-B hepatitis”.
Q. Let us hear about the first kind, Hepatitis A.
A. Hepatitis A is the most frequent notifiable infectious disease in Australia and the most common infection of the liver. It may occur in epidemics but it generally smoulders on in isolated cases throughout the community at any time of the year. It takes about 2 to 6 weeks for the virus to produce symptoms after attacking the system.
Many people have sub-clinical bouts. They may feel off colour for a few days and recover without the typical picture of jaundice.
At the other end of the picture are severe fulminating cases in which death is imminent within a few days. These, fortunately, are rare. Middle-aged women tend to have more serious bouts and are more likely to develop the dangerous stages.
Q. What are the symptoms?
A. The onset may be abrupt or insidious. Often there is an elevated temperature, a sense of feeling unwell and general malaise, aches and pains in the muscles all over the body, often with severe backache and a headache that persists. Fever, chills, becoming very tired and symptoms like the “flu” are common symptoms.
Later, lack of appetite, nausea and maybe vomiting are common. Sometimes there is abdominal pain and maybe diarrhoea or constipation.
Often with the appearance of jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes occurs. The eyes are often the parts in which this is first noticed. The urine becomes progressively dark (colour similar to that of strong, clear tea). As this deepens, the stools often become light in colour.
As the liver, spleen and lymph glands in the body become affected, they swell and may become tender. The liver can often be felt as it juts down from underneath the right lower margin of the rib cage. The spleen on the opposite side may be felt also. When an epidemic is in swing, diagnosis is often fairly simple. However, in milder, sporadic cases, this may be much more difficult, especially in the absence of the typical tell-tale signs, particularly jaundice.
Q. What about diagnosis and treatment?
A. Sometimes diagnosis is fairly easy but in others it is difficult. Various tests may be carried out to assist the doctor. Mild cases are treated at home, serious ones require hospital attention. Bed rest is advisable in the early stages. Whatever food that is desired is given — there are no restrictions, as in previous times, when fat was excluded rigidly. A high level of personal hygiene is essential to prevent its spread. Drug medication is usually kept to a minimum for it seldom helps. The patient is allowed to resume normal activities when he feels able. Although most cases improve fairly quickly, some deteriorate and specialised medical therapy becomes necessary. At present there is no vaccine available in Australia although it is being used overseas. Contacts are often given gamma globulin by injection and this confers some temporary protection.
Q. What about the other kind, Hepatitis B?
A. A more serious form of hepatitis has been occurring with increasing frequency over the past few years. It is referred to as Hepatitis B. Symptoms come on slowly after infection and may take as long as six months or more to develop. It is transmitted through contaminated blood contacting a person. At first, it was found in some patients following blood transfusions. But now it is well recognised that a person with few if any symptoms may act as a silent carrier of the disease for many years. Minute amounts of infected blood may set up the infection in another person who contacts it.
Although some laboratories have claimed to have isolated the virus, a product called hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is readily detected by special tests. This is not the virus but is present in all cases and indicates the virus is also present. In recent years, HBsAg has been detected in many other body fluids in infected persons, such as saliva, breast milk, urine, vaginal and seminal secretions. Whether or not these are all infectious is not known. The infection is much more common among male homosexuals, the promiscuous, and sexual transmission appears likely. The effect of kissing on infection is also unknown but it may be a hitherto unrecognised route.
In recent years, it is believed there is a close link between this disease and AIDS, for both appear to be more common in certain lifestyles.
Q. We often hear that Hepatitis B is more common in drug addicts. Is this true?
A. Because the virus is transmitted by blood, the disease is common amongst drug addicts and those using unsterile needles and syringes for injections. Several cases (and fatalities) have followed ear piercing when carried out in unsterile establishments.
For several years, Hepatitis B was a major problem in hospitals using large volumes of blood, particularly in open heart surgery wards and haemodialysis units. However, with an improvement in methods used for screening blood, and testing all nursing and medical staff, this problem has now largely been overcome in Britain and Australia.
The mortality rate is much higher than with Hepatitis A and figures ranging from 12-20 per cent have been quoted by authorities.
Q. What about treatment of Hepatitis B?
A. This must be under the doctor’s supervision. General cleanliness and personal hygiene are essential. It is essential all precautions be taken to prevent the spread to others. General therapy is necessary, for at present there is no universal cure. It is treated symptomatically.
A specific immunoglobulin has been produced overseas and it is highly likely this will be used in persons who have been exposed and will probably greatly help in reducing the severity of symptoms. But this is not yet universally available and it will probably take some time before it is.
A vaccine has also been produced and this is given to those at special risk. It is said to be very effective. It is readily available in Australia via your own family doctor.
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TIPS TO PREVENT BACK PAIN AND SCIATICA: GOOD POSTURE – THE KEY TO A LESS TROUBLESOME BACK
Posted on April 29, 2009, under Pain Relief-Muscle Relaxers.
Posture – that is how the various parts of your body are positioned at a given time – will greatly affect how much pressure is exerted upon your spine as well as, perhaps more importantly, how that pressure is exerted. As we’ve seen, the spine is at best a somewhat unstable structure whose design is such that it takes relatively little of the wrong kind of pressure to set off back pain. The ‘building-blocks’ that make up the spine will be at their most effective and stable in carrying the weight of the upper body when your back is relatively straight, as well as supported correctly whenever support is possible or available. Translating these general principles into specific recommendations, you’ll reduce the demands placed upon your spine by following these guidelines:
When walking, try to maintain as upright a posture as possible, keeping your shoulders reasonably far back rather than allowing them to drop forwards. Keep your head up straight – as though it were suspended from an imaginary ‘sky hook’.
Also, seek to maintain an upright posture when standing still. However, if you have to stand still for any length of time, do try to move somewhat, even if it’s only a few steps, at frequent intervals. Not only will this make it easier for you to stand upright and avoid slouching, it will also help the blood circulate better to your legs and lower body.
When seated, make sure that the chair you’re using gives good support for the small of your back and also is of the correct height for you. Heavily-padded ‘soft’ chairs you sink into are usually bad news for your back as is half-lying, half-sitting on a sofa or large easy chair. Once again, try to keep your spine and head as upright as possible.
Other excellent recommendations to reduce the risk of back and muscle trouble are to be found in Muscles Matter, a booklet published by DDD/Dendron Ltd, the makers of Ibuleve, from which many of these tips for members of groups especially at risk have been extracted.
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THE CRAMPS (SPASMODIC DYSMENORRHOEA): THE SYMPTOMS
Posted on April 28, 2009, under Pain Relief-Muscle Relaxers.
If you suffer from the cramps you may get very little warning that your period is on its way. Some women feel niggling pains for a few hours before the flow starts, some have bad headaches and some tend to feel sick. But many have no warning at all. The flow of blood and extreme pain start together. Some women have very bad pain for the first day and then it clears; others are in pain for almost the entire period. Some are constipated, which makes the pain even worse; others have sickness or diarrhoea.
It’s a very natural reaction to tense your body against pain. We all do it. But one of the many annoying things about tension is that the more tense you are, the more acutely you experience pain. The more relaxed you are, the less acute the pain. Incidentally, this works in almost exactly the opposite way for pleasure. If you’re tense even the most pleasurable sensations and experiences can leave you cold and unmoved. But when you relax you increase the pleasure you feel.
If you’ve been practising relaxation for three weeks or so and it’s made sense to you, you may well find that your next period is already less painful. You may now be able to cope quite easily by relaxing for an hour or two and you may find that the pain almost goes away when you are not so tense. Alternatively, you may perhaps find that although you can relax well when you are practising, it’s more difficult when the pain begins. You may need two or three months’ practice before you get the whole thing under control, but every month should see an improvement.
You may find you are still experiencing a lot of pain, but have recognized that it isn’t one long continuous agony but a series of pains, with gaps between one and the next. Each pain is rather like a surf wave, starting fairly gradually, building up to a climax and then gradually dying away again. Severe pains like this are like labour pains, and you need all the help you can get. Fortunately the same techniques often work for both. So if you have recognized this sort of sequence in your period pain, here’s a trick to help you.
*24\177\2*
THYROID DISORDERS IN CHILDREN
Posted on April 28, 2009, under General health.
Symptoms
Underactive thyroid: excessive sleepiness; choking while nursing; severe constipation; noisy breathing; retarded growth; protruding tongue; hoarse cry; thick, dry skin; goitre (in some cases)
Overactive thyroid: irritability; restlessness; behavior problems; hand tremors; increased appetite without weight gain; excessive sweating; protruding eyeballs; goitre (in some cases)
Home care:
Take your child for regular checkups. Be aware of signs that might indicate thyroid malfunction.
Precautions:
- Some symptoms of underactive thyroid may appear in older children whose thyroid is normal. Only a doctor can diagnose thyroid malfunction.
- A cyst on the neck should be seen by a doctor; it could be an abnormally « positioned thyroid gland.
The thyroid gland is located in the neck just below the Adam’s apple; it produces hormones that control the body’s temperature, energy production, growth, and fertility. The thyroid gland may become underactive (resulting in hypothyroidism) or overactive (hyperthyroidism). Either condition can occur in infancy or at any age thereafter.
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HOW CHILDREN FEEL ABOUT DIABETES
Posted on April 23, 2009, under Diabetes.
It is sometimes hard to know how a child feels about his illness and how he sees diabetes and the way it affects him. Children are not always able to express their feelings and often they are not given the opportunity to do so anyway. Sometimes these worries and fears or misconceptions may not come out until years later, or may never be discussed. Often a child may feel awkward about talking about himself to older people, even to his parents.
On the other hand, it may be encouraging to hear the comments of intelligent teenagers who have diabetes, and know that most children with diabetes do in fact make a very good adjustment to their condition.
Tony, aged 14 years
‘My name is Anthony and I am 14.1 have had diabetes for 2 1/2 years.
The first sign of illness was one morning when I woke up early with a great urge to pass urine. I had gone through the day passing urine quite frequently. This was continued for a week and at the beginning of the second week Mum had arranged for the family doctor to see me. After examining me thoroughly and testing my urine, he said that I had an infected tooth and should visit the dentist immediately. Being scared of dentists, I didn’t arrange an appointment but later in that week I found myself drinking enormous amounts of water. After this I became weak and drowsy and at this stage I had lost a considerable amount of weight. For the first time I lost my appetite and at this stage I was quite dehydrated. Then I noticed that a vile smell had built up and anything I drank was soon brought up again. During the night I had very little rest and next morning I felt very ill. Mum had rung our doctor again and this time he diagnosed me as diabetic. I felt relieved in a way and confused in another way. I overheard a conversation about an ambulance having to come and escort me to the hospital. In the ambulance I felt excited. This excitement was soon ended when I was rolled away into a cubicle at casualty.
‘All of a sudden I felt scared: babies crying, parents quarrelling, doctors and nurses rushing about me. Blood was being taken from my fingers and I had to pass urine for other tests. I was all confused when finally I asked someone what was wrong with me. The answers were all the same, “Nothing that you should worry about”, they would say. Soon I was moved to a ward. There I had an intravenous put in. Being terrified of injections I asked some questions but they were in vain. Starting to feel better, I asked for something to eat. This was refused quite politely. I felt terrified when the time for my insulin injections came round for I had always dreaded injections all my life. Thirty hours later the intravenous was taken out and I was able to get on my feet again. I was given some food but found it wasn’t enough and when I complained, I was confronted by a dietitian.
‘After a tedious talk from one of the staff about a few complications of diabetes I was very discomforted for a while. I had become very solemn, losing interest in life, and bored. After a few days of this boredom I was taken with my parents down to the first floor of the hospital to my physician’s office. At first my doctor asked me to come in alone. He introduced himself and sat me down. The first question he asked was how I felt about being diabetic. Well, by this time, I had some knowledge about diabetes and its complications so I answered disheartedly, “It can’t be helped”.
‘By this time I had given quite an impression that I was depressed. He asked me what I felt and I replied, “I don’t know, actually”. I shouldn’t feel this way I know – millions of children have diabetes. Why should I feel any different? It is a normal healthy way of life. Besides most people won’t have to know. But why be ashamed of it? Family pride, loss of friends. All these questions and answers revolved around my mind and I felt numb all of a sudden, not physically but mentally. I also felt like crying. But why cry? What is that going to solve? Nothing, of course. Eventually I was asked to leave the room. As I walked out I felt hot and cold, happy and sad, strong and weak all at the same time. Suddenly I stopped pitying myself.
‘I was curious what the doctor was saying to my parents at first and I became more curious when my mother came out crying. This time I was asked to enter and join my parents. Doctor asked them how they felt. My mother replied, still sniffing, that it was a way of life and that they would have to accept it. My mother was stubborn and persisted that she believed there was a cure. Doctor explained that it would be wrong to believe that there was a cure. He also explained that it can be controlled and they have proved it on the same way as me on millions of other children in the world.’
*59/54/5*
STRESS AS A FACTOR IN PSYCHONEUROSIS: AGORAPHOBIA
Posted on April 23, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.
“I am housebound. Simply can’t go out. I am perfectly well. Except I can’t go out. Get to the gate and feel tense. Down the street a little and I am shaking like mad. Buy something in the corner shop. Rush home. Exhausted for the rest of the day. It’s the going out that does it. Spoiling my life. Not so bad if my husband is with me. But even then it is not right. Have to get him to take me home. He gets cross. I don’t know what will happen to me.”
Agoraphobia occurs in both men and women, but is more common in women.
Various psychological mechanisms may operate to cause it. Sometimes there may be some incident of the person feeling suddenly ill when out by herself. This may result from any acute infection. She may be frightened that she may faint. She gets home, but next time she goes out she may have the fear of a recurrence. To overcome this she seeks the company of her husband. This may easily develop into an unconscious way of keeping her husband with her.
Sometimes agoraphobia has a sexual background to it. We all have sexual desires and fantasies. When first travelling alone, girl or young man, in a strange town, the feeling comes that this is different from home. Nobody knows me. Do what I like. A pick-up, why not? Fun. Then a panic and retreat off the streets. She might have done something that she would have been sorry for. And we have the genesis of a case of agoraphobia.
As with the other phobias, agoraphobics often gain great help by reducing their level of stress by meditation.
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SOME PROBLEMS OF OUR OWN PERSONALITY CAUSING STRESS: PERFECTIONISM AND MATERIALISM
Posted on April 23, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.
Perfectionism
“I am neat and tidy. I know that. I like things in order. But people say I am too fussy. It seems that my simple desire to have things just right irritates people with less orderly minds. They say, “Leave it until the morning.” But that is not my way of life, and tension comes between us.”
Perfectionism is a psychological defence against anxiety. Unconsciously we feel that if we can have everything just right there will not be anything to worry about. Unfortunately such behaviour brings us into conflict with those who have a freer approach to life. Tensions develop, forming a background for the development of stress.
If we reduce our level of anxiety by five or ten minutes effective meditation each morning, the motivating forces to have everything just right is so much the less. We become a little freer in ourselves, and these problems are alleviated.
Materialism
“They say I am tough. But you have to be tough to get on. That’s what business is all about. No loafing around. It is a good day’s work, or out. What of his wife and children? They are not my business. It is as simple as that. That’s life, and I don’t see what’s wrong with it. But some of the softies see it differently. There’s tension with them. Feel it everywhere I go, even at home.”
On the one hand he is tough, and can stand up to it. But on the other hand this same tough materialism alienates him from his fellows, and so provides a background for stress. The answer, of course, lies in our basic values. If ever we find ourselves drifting in this direction, let us take a good long quiet look at things. And let us remember that we cannot really cope with stress unless we are prepared to take into account the moral significance of some issues.
*24/98/5*
PREVENTION AND HEALTH: ULCERS
Posted on April 23, 2009, under General health.
What are they?
An ulcer is any naturally occurring break in a lining surface of the body. Ulcers can, for example, occur in the mouth, on the skin, in the vagina and in the gastro-intestinal system. Peptic ulcers get their name from the digestive enzyme called pepsin which is found in the stomach. A combination of pepsin and gastric acid erodes the lining of the stomach or duodenum (the part of the intestine immediately after the stomach) to produce an ulcer. In hiatus hernia and gastro-oesophageal reflux these substances produce an ulceration of the lower end of the oesophagus (gullet) where food enters the stomach.
We all have acid in our stomach and some have more than others. There is a general tendency for those who produce more acid (whether this is inherited or in response to life’s stresses) to be more likely to have ulcers.
About one in ten westerners will have peptic ulcers at some time in their lives-usually during middle age. Duodenal ulcers are about four times as common as gastric (stomach) ulcers and men are affected more than women. For some unknown reason duodenal ulcers are becoming much less common than they were twenty or thirty years go. A high proportion of duodenal ulcer patients are of blood group Î and close relatives of these patients are more likely to have an ulcer than are others.
The most common symptom of duodenal ulcer is a gnawing pain, usually in the middle to upper abdomen. The pains come on 1-3 hours after a meal and some sufferers wake every night at about 2 or 3 a.m. with their pain.
Most ulcers heal themselves but treatment with simple antacids, newer gastric-acid blocking medications or even surgery may be needed.
Gastric ulcers are less well-defined in their symptoms.
What causes them?
• Heredity definitely plays a part (see above).
• Men are more likely than women to get a duodenal ulcer. This difference is becoming less marked as more women smoke and so raise their gastric-acid secretion.
• Stress produces more acid in the stomach and so makes duodenal ulcers more likely.
• The heavy use of coffee, tea and cola drinks increases gastric acid production.
• Aspirin in large doses (especially as non-soluble tablets) can produce gastric ulceration.
• Milk actually raises the production of gastric acid in some people though it has for years been erroneously used as a treatment and preventive for duodenal ulcers.
• Refined foods are harmful too (see below).
• Alcohol produces dramatic rises in gastric-acid production and should be avoided.
Peptic ulcers are always more common in smokers than in non-smokers and a recent study found that smokers who continued even when taking the latest anti-ulcer medications (H2-antagonists) had higher relapse rates than non-smokers.
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PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: BAD BREATH (HALITOSIS)
Posted on April 22, 2009, under General health.
What is it?
Foul-smelling breath produced by one or more of several causes.
What causes it?
• Infective conditions within the mouth, the commonest of which by far is dental decay and associated gum disease.
• Infections in the nose or sinuses.
• Infections in the throat. The average child with a sore throat has very unpleasant, smelly breath.
• Infections with pus in the lungs.
• Smoking.
• Dirty dentures.
• Eating smelly foods such as garlic, onions, alcohol or certain volatile substances that are excreted by the lungs or in the saliva.
• Severe toxic conditions including peritonitis.
• Fasting. This produces a smell of pear drops on the breath, caused by the body breaking down fat to produce energy in the absence of food.
• Certain drugs.
Prevention
The prevention of any of the above causes of bad breath starts with finding out which of the causes are active in any particular case. This may need the help of a doctor. By far the commonest causes are the dietary ones (in which case the cause is usually fairly obvious) and tooth decay or gum disease. Given that about nine out of 10 adults in the West suffer from some degree of gum disease, bad breath is understandably very common. If your gums bleed when you brush them they are inflamed and you should see a dentist for further advice.
• Sucking lozenges and peppermints simply masks the smell. Mouth washes reduce bacterial counts but not for long-soon there are even more bacteria in the mouth than before. Gargling too is not advisable because the tissues of the back of the throat can be damaged and become inflamed-leading to further bad breath. Heavy users of mouth washes have been found to have a higher risk of head and neck cancers. In one study of eleven people with these cancers who had never used alcohol or tobacco (the two main risk factors for this type of cancer) ten had been heavy users of mouth washes.
• Apart from preventing the preventable causes listed above a useful preventive and curative procedure is tongue brushing.
Tongue brushing is an ancient pursuit: Mohammed told his followers ‘you shall clean your mouth including the tongue’; the Romans used iron tongue scrapers and other cultures made them from ivory, whalebone and wood.
A study was conducted in Vancouver to find the most effective way of reducing bad breath. Eight volunteers used one of three methods to freshen their breath in the morning: brushing the teeth; brushing their tongue; and a combination of the two. The results showed that tooth brushing reduced mouth odour by 25 per cent but brushing the tongue reduced it by 75 per cent. When the two were combined odour was reduced by 85 per cent. Even those who had never brushed their tongue before soon got into the habit.
• Diet provides another preventive method. Bad breath can be caused by processes involved in the digestion of caffeine, refined sugar, white flour and cows’ milk. According to researchers in the US these foods produce either the fermentation of carbohydrates or the putrefaction of proteins in the digestive tract. In both cases noxious chemicals enter the bloodstream and are excreted in the lungs to produce bad breath.
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