Health News

Over the past 11 years in Melbourne, a private pain clinic has been closely associated with university departments of psychiatry and also a private psychiatric clinic. During this time, about 800 patients a year have been assessed and treated as outpatients and another 120 to 130 a year in the four-week in-patient programme over the past four years.

About 70 per cent have been women with an average age of 35. The major conditions treated have been neck and back problems resulting from industrial and motor vehicle accidents. Other conditions treated included chronic headache, abdominal pain and repetitive strain injury.

In the early days, the link was established by the common interests within the University of Melbourne’s Department of Psychiatry and later by the involvement of a private psychiatric clinic.

A pilot programme was established to involve patients with chronic pain in a weekend pain management programme through the common interests of the various medical and para-medical people, such as psychiatrists, physiotherapists, general practitioners and psychologists involved in these areas.

From approximately 1979 until late in 1985, weekend pain programmes were held at the Melbourne Clinic on at least fifteen occasions. These have since been replaced by a longer, more involved programme. On each of these weekends, approximately ten patients would be admitted to the Melbourne clinic where they would be assessed by a multi-disciplinary team and given a virtual ’smorgasbord’ of treatments over a two-day period.

These treatment methods included TENS therapy, laser acupuncture, hypnosis and biofeedback as well as orthodox physiotherapy. During this time, they were given lectures on the origin of pain, how pain affects the individual and how they could cope with their pain in the wider circle of their family, employers and friends.

The programme proved extremely helpful, with a large number of patients reaping rewards from relatively brief periods of hospitalisation. But it was recognised early on that there were deficiencies within the programme since there was little follow-up and patients often returned to country homes. In so doing, they lost the impetus they had gained from the programme.

In late 1985, the Melbourne Clinic established a ten-bed inpatient programme. This is now called the Pain Management Unit. Traditionally, chronic pain units have been established by anaesthetists, surgeons and physicians with the occasional clinical psychologist being involved.

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The early introduction of forms of these powerful drugs which can be taken by mouth should take place if the more simple pain-killers are not effective.

The myth that narcotic drugs should be avoided until the pain becomes severe has resulted in a great number of patients suffering unnecessarily. It is important for those suffering from pain associated with cancer and their medical practitioner to know that if pain is controlled early in the cancer by adequate tailoring of the dose, tolerance and rapid escalation of dose should not occur.

The narcotics used for cancer pain include morphine and methadone. Although these cause some depression of respiration (breathing) in some , dependence should not be a problem when supervision is adequate.

Other narcotics, such as Endone and its suppository equivalent Proladone, are useful pain relievers and may be of more value in the early stages prior to hospital admission. These drugs appear to act for a similar period as morphine.

A slow release form of morphine has been available outside of Australia for some time. At the time this book is being written its introduction here has been held up by bureaucratic involvement.

Administering the drugs

Where sufferers cannot tolerate continuing or massive amounts of injections of strong pain-killers or when even large doses have been ineffective, the drug can be administered on demand through direct injection into the spinal fluid or under the skin. The drug can be introduced by a tube which can be inserted into the spine and left in place. The drug is then introduced under the control of automatic battery driven pumps.

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Keep your eyes closed and place your hands in your lap with the palms facing down and resting comfortably on your lap. By focusing your thinking, you can make your right hand feel hot. Picture the sun shining on your right hand and let yourself feel the heat. As you think of the sun shining brightly, let yourself feel the heat increasing. Feel the sun getting hotter. You can feel the sun penetrating your skin and going deep into your hand. Think of it getting really hot now. Getting very hot. Feel that heat increasing. Think of the sun getting very hot as it penetrates into your hand. It’s getting very hot now. Tell yourself: the rays are increasing. The heat is increasing. It’s getting hotter and hotter on my hand. ‘ Feel the heat penetrating through your skin. Feel the heat going deeper into your skin as you think of the rays of the sun increasing and becoming more and more concentrated. Your hand is getting hotter and hotter. Feel your hand getting hot from the heat of the sun. It’s a good feeling of heat as it penetrates deep into your hand. It’s hot, pleasantly hot, as it penetrates into your hand now. It’s a pleasantly hot feeling. So pleasantly hot. Now tell yourself it’s all in your own mind and make your hand feel perfectly normal again.

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Treatment with TENS should be totally safe providing a few precautions are taken. There is no risk of electrical shock because the power source is usually a battery with an output of 3-9 Volts only.

The major inconvenience which occurs with TENS is an allergic reaction to the TENS electrodes. Changing electrode types or gels is the major way in which this problem can be overcome. In a very small group the rash can be bad enough to prevent the use of TENS altogether.

However TENS should not be used by a person with a demand-type heart pacemaker. Also:

• Electrodes should not be placed over the front of the neck because of the risk of stimulating the nerve receptors in the carotid arteries which control the blood pressure.

• The electrodes should never be placed directly over the heart because of the almost negligible but slight possibility of micro-electrocution.

• Special care should also be taken in anyone with coronary artery disease.

• TENS electrodes should be applied around the eye with caution.

• Care should be taken when the wearing a TENS unit and driving. The intensity should be decreased as it is possible that changes in pressure on the electrodes can suddenly increase the stimulation.

• The machine and its electrodes should be kept dry to prevent damage to the machine, and to stop the unwanted spread of the electric current over a wider area of the skin than prescribed.

• It is probably advisable not to use the TENS unit during sleep owing to the possibility that pressure on the electrodes may change leading to the stimulus being too strong or unevenly applied.

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Coeliac disease is not usually thought of as ‘food intolerance’, although it is an adverse reaction to food. In this disease, there is just one type of food at fault -wheat and related grains (rye, barley and oats). Moreover, the symptoms are very specific. In babies they consist of pale, foul-smelling stools, wind, bloating and poor growth. These symptoms usually develop a few weeks after cereals are introduced into the diet. In those infrequent cases where coeliac disease begins in an adult, the symptoms are diarrhoea, pain, bloating, weight loss, malaise and weakness. In rare cases, however, constipation may be the main symptom. When the lining of the small intestine is examined under a microscope, it shows clear signs of damage.

The offending element in wheat is the main protein, commonly known as gluten. In fact gluten is a mixture of dozens of different proteins, which fall into two main types, the glutenins and the gliadins. The part, or parts, of these proteins that produce coeliac disease have still not been identified.

Exactly what goes wrong in coeliac disease is not entirely clear, and the disease seems to be quite complex. There is definitely an inherited component because coeliac disease runs in families. And the immune system is involved in some way, as shown by the large numbers of immune cells found in the coeliac’s gut lining.

The most widely accepted theory at present is that one or more components of gluten are lectins and that they specifically bind to carbohydrate markers on cells in the gut wall of coeliacs. We all have these carbohydrate markers, and they are determined genetically. The theory is that coeliacs inherit a particular type of marker molecule on the surface of their cells, which happens to be bound by the lectins in gluten. The combination of lectin-and-marker looks like an unwelcome alien to the immune system, which then proceeds to make antibodies against it. In the relentless war against the bound lectin, the immune system causes severe damage to the gut lining, which is then unable to function properly. The available evidence suggests that this theory may be correct in broad outline, but the details still need to be filled in.

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If, however, some sorrow strikes you down, face things bravely with determination to overcome it. Eventually you will reach the place where the warm sun of peace and happiness will once again soothe or even heal your pain completely. Always look ahead with optimism.

Should the enemy of all living things rob you of one of your loved ones, try not to be overwhelmed by inconsolable grief. Prophetic words have been written, which promise us a time when there will be no more sorrow, when pain and death will no longer exist. These are not empty illusions. The God of Life will put a stop to evil and destruction and the resurrection of the dead will become a reality. This faith in a happier future brings a warm glow of comfort and hope to our hearts. Nothing can strengthen our morale as much as the thought of the restoration of all things to a state of perfection. What a comfort it is to know that our pain- and fear-ridden world will one day be freed of all destructive forces! No one who wilfully wielded evil power will be allowed to return from death to spread sorrow and anguish once more. Those who mourn their dead, a result of inherited imperfection, should not stubbornly reject joyful hope and faith in the resurrection. True, the superficiality of our lives and the cares of day-to-day living are apt to obscure our understanding of such matters. We think that things have always been and always will be the same. We cannot envisage a time when blood will no longer be spilled, when swords will be turned into ploughshares, spears into pruning knives and man will no longer learn the art of war. This must now seem a quite unbelievable blessing for our war-weary and warmongering world. However, the God of Life, the God of Peace, will make good his promises. Each one will have his own vineyard and sit beneath his own fig tree, at peace with the world and without fear for the future. These are sacred words of hope and comfort spoken under inspiration by the prophets of old and can be considered as good as fulfilled. The kingdom for which we learned to pray as children is no Utopia, no matter how much the worldly wise may scoff at the idea. Those who believe these words must eventually be filled with hope and positive happiness, even though they may have many trials and tribulations to overcome.

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Scientists have pointed out that watching television puts a great strain on the eyes and that the oscillations harm the nervous system, especially in the case of children. I do not want to go into details here about the additional mental and emotional harm inflicted by programmes that are inappropriate for children, since that has been done elsewhere. Every person is impressionable to a greater or lesser degree, but children in particular are easily influenced because they have not yet acquired a firm position and are therefore receptive, and vulnerable, to everything that rushes into their minds. As it is, our modern times with their frequent changes and innovations in every field, their dangerous radical changes with respect to moral codes and values, do more harm than one can bear. Whether we want to or not, we transmit unrest and bad impressions to our children, who are entitled to protection from these things. So why should we let television programmes put additional stress on them and divert them from their wholesome course through life? Parents should be constantly aware of these factors and take great care.

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More than twenty years ago, Dr E. Eckmann gave a lecture in which he pointed out that metallic salts, especially of heavy metals, become deposited in the lymphatic system. Other scientists have proved that these salts can form a barrier in the kidneys and that they also become lodged in the spine, causing problems even decades after originally settling there, as is the case with arsenic.

Plant poisons can also do us harm, but it is usually4 much easier to expel them, whereas metallic poisons remain in the body and do extensive damage, as a rule, years later. It is not quite clear yet how far metallic poisons contribute to the onset of paralysis, muscular dystrophy, lymphogranuloma and all kinds of conditions connected with the spinal column and cord.

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Considering all these factors, it will be seen how vital it is to change over to unrefined fats and oils, such as those made from sunflower and safflower seed, olives, poppy seed and linseed. Also, fresh tree seed products, or nuts, are suitable for meeting our vital requirement of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. A first-class source of highly unsaturated fatty acids are sesame seeds, which contain up to 43 per cent of these oils, in addition to interesting combinations of minerals and proteins, making these seeds a valuable food item indeed. Sesame seeds and products made from them serve millions of people in the Near East as a daily health food. So it would be quite appropriate to include them in our diet. It would help to rectify a deficiency in our unnatural diet that has been permitted for much too long.

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While living on 57th Street in New York for a short time during 1950, I used to go for a drink of freshly squeezed orange juice at a certain ‘health bar’. Whenever I went there I was amazed to see people drinking cabbage juice from enormous glasses. I had, of course, known the benefits of raw cabbage juice for certain disorders for along time, but I also knew that it was a rather unpalatable drink.

Later I came across an article in the Toronto Magazine Digest,

which extolled the virtues of cabbage juice in the treatment of gastric ulcers. Here, then, was confirmation of a treatment we in Switzerland had known for quite a while, based on our own experience with cabbage juice. Dr Garnett, the author of the report, referred to experiments with ‘vitamin U’ (U standing for Ulcer) which, according to him, is responsible for the curative effect of this juice. What he may not have known, however, is that raw potato juice is even more effective, and it is quite likely that he would have found ‘vitamin U’ in it as well. Another researcher, however, may advance Ragnar Berg’s explanation proposed many years ago. According to him, the alkaline properties of raw juice neutralise the free acids in the system and so rehabilitate the mineral metabolism, making possible the successful treatment of gastric ulcers.

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