Health News

Cause

Eczema has a genetic basis and tends to run in families. It is often associated with other conditions such as asthma or hayfever. Children with eczema have dry, sensitive skin which is easily irritated by certain chemicals (such as soaps or bubble-bath solution) and by contact with woollen or polyester garments. In some children diet seems to play a role in eczema, although it is often very difficult to find the offending food. Eczema is not contagious.

Clinical features

Eczema is a common condition in childhood. It is characterised by a very itchy, red rash, usually present in patches on the elbow creases and behind the knees, although it may occur on the face, neck, hands and feet. The rash may develop cracks and weep or bleed, especially when the child scratches excessively because of the itch. This may cause a problem with infection by bacteria which enter the skin via the cracks. In between attacks of eczema, the skin looks thickened and dry (lichenification).

Eczema usually begins at some time during the child’s infancy, often in the first few months of life, and may be present initially only on the face and scalp, or in the nappy region. Most children tend to ‘grow out of eczema by adolescence, but in some it will persist throughout adult life, usually flaring up at times of stress or after contact with irritating chemicals or other substances.

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From birth to 6 months, the baby must travel in an approved capsule or baby restraint. Many councils have bassinet lqan schemes, whereby you can borrow the bassinet for a nominal rental. Check with your local council, or with your local Child Safety Centre for more information. Older cars not fitted with anchor points for capsules can usually be easily modified.

When your child reaches 9 kg, and up to 4 years, a child safety seat (toddler seat) with its built in harness is the safest restraint to use. Check and adjust the restraints frequently, and make sure that the straps are always snug without being too tight.

From 4 years to about 11 years, a booster seat, initially with a harness (until about 6 years) and then with an adult lap/sash seat belt, offers the safest option for car travel.

Up to the age of 8-9 years, it is a good idea for the child to travel in the back seat of the car. Never nurse the child on your lap, and do not allow the child to stand up on the seat while the car is in motion.

Be aware that the laws governing the safe transportation of children in cars may vary from state to state and you need to be aware of the legal requirements in your state.

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EJACULATORY URGENCY: It gets like a fire drill. I can just feel like I am going to come and a bulldozer couldn’t stop it. I don’t care what I say or do, I am going to come.

HUSBAND

The ejaculation reflex is under much more control than men have learned, but running hot results in neurohormonal changes that diminish or prevent that control. Six hundred twenty-three of the thousand men reported the ejaculatory-urgency problem as characteristic of their sexual encounters, and again hyperarousal often accompanied this difficulty.

CONTRACTIVE URGENCY: I thought only men did this, I mean had this happen, or whatever. I just start to come. I get strong squeezing in my vagina. This happens mostly when he does oral love to me. I can’t hold back.

WIFE

Forty-six women reported this problem as typical of their sexual experience. Since the early perspectives of sexuality considered immediate, even out-of-control, sexual response in the woman to be desirable and a time and effort saver for the man, this problem has not been explored in prior sexual programs. I found in the couples now being treated that questions about such a problem lead to a higher percentage of reports than the 4.6 percent rate in the thousand couples included for this report.

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She expects me to kill all insects, catch all mice, and seek out the source of any sound in the night. Why me? I hate bugs, am afraid of mice, and would die of fright before any burglar could shoot me.

HUSBAND

Okay. But I’m the medical corps. All cuts, bruises, bangs, and bumps come to me. I hate blood. I just pour on peroxide, and squeeze tissue on all wounds. If he had a heart attack, I’d pour peroxide on him.

WIFE

Does your marriage have roles that are clear and of long standing, essentially unchangeable, so rigid that almost every problem is solved with marital partners filling and living up to their expected and assigned roles (order)? Or does your relationship lean more toward unclear, ever-changing roles, with each problem resulting in conflicts, readjustments, confusion, and role-reassignment (disorder)? Toward 0 is toward high order in your marriage and toward 10 is toward lack of order. There are not high scores or low scores (and 10 is not of more value or better than 0).

The woman at the deserted dinner table finds herself in a relationship of order, predictable role assignment and expectation. She prepares the dinners, calls the family for dinner, serves the dinner, and cleans up. Sexually, her role is to respond to her husband. He sees her as “broken” sexually due to what he perceives as her lack of spontaneity and passion, when in fact he is part of a highly ordered system that places both of them in their respective roles.

The wife accepts her husband’s role as “fourth child,” serving and cleaning up after him as much as her children.

When audiences hear the story of this couple, women get angry with the wife for her passivity and with the husband for his sexist ignorance. Men get angry at the husband for his neglect of his wife and his fitting the cliche role of “couch potato” and “boy child,” and at the wife for her maternal tolerance of her husband’s infantile and selfish behavior and her failure to represent herself. What these audiences are really bothered by is the “stuck system,” the unbending order that traps both partners in an unfulfilling marriage. Too much order (0) or total lack of order (10) always disrupts systems in nature, for there is no adaptability.

The husband in this couple felt he was responding to his wife’s sexual needs, but was in fact responding to his own misperceptions and misreadings of his wife’s needs for closeness and personal attention. “If she wants it, we do it. Where and when she wants it. I never turn her down” was the report of the husband.

The wife felt totally responsible for sex. “If I don’t mention it, we probably won’t do it. I find myself trying so much to guess when he needs it that I can’t tell if I ever need it.” They were trapped by their order, not in charge of it, not planning and adapting together, not aware of and responsive to a natural rhythmic flow that characterizes all of living and the Tao of marriage.

Systems thinking is relatively new in our culture. Give yourself time to understand it and how it applies to marriage and sex. It’s a new way of viewing marriage and sex, but it is the only way you will find super marital sex.

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Psoriasis is a miserable complaint because there is no cure and as it doesn’t kill anyone, it doesn’t have the “glamor” to attract money for research.

Few doctors see psoriasis as a challenge to their therapeutic skill and many leave their patients to their own devices, yet many people have turned away from life, hiding their skin and themselves from an insensitive world because of this disease.

Psoriasis is a skin disease of unknown cause. The fault appears to lie in the superficial skin cells which are produced too rapidly. The rash is usually dry, reddened and covered with silvery scales.

It is common on the extensor surfaces, such as the elbows and knees. It is also common on the lower back and can affect the hair and the nails and, sometimes, can affect the whole body. It may or may not itch.

Psoriasis usually starts in the teens or early 20s, but may appear for the first time in the elderly or it may develop in young children.

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These stronger cortisones, if used on the face may cause an acne-like rash around the mouth — peri-oral dermatitis — so the older hydrocortisone, which is weaker, is preferred for use on the face because it doesn’t have this side effect.

The pituitary gland at the base of the brain is the master gland producing hormones which stimulate the other endocrine glands to produce their own specific hormones.

A rise in the level of cortisone from taking tablets has a feed back or dampening effect on the pituitary. It produces less of its stimulating hormone and so normal production of cortisone from the adrenal is shut down. Cortisone is necessary to enable the body to deal with situations of stress.

Prolonged use of cortisone may upset this balance between the pituitary and the adrenal and so if the body is subject to stress, such as an operation, the adrenal may not have the capacity to produce hormones to deal with the stress.

After a prolonged course of cortisone, should an operation be required, a temporary cover of cortisone over one or two days may be necessary.

Short courses over one to two weeks can safely be stopped abruptly and the body rapidly regains its ability to produce the natural hormone.

Those on prolonged courses of cortisone should be given the smallest possible dose.

It has been suggested that if the total dose is given every second day in the morning this mimics the body’s natural morning surge of cortisone, and then on the second day, when it is not given, the body may produce its own.

Addison’s disease is failure of the adrenal gland — cortisone must then be taken for life.

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Respiratory infections: children suffer the same infective illnesses of the respiratory system as adults, but infecting agents which cause only a mild “cold” in an adult may cause a severe infection, like croup, in a child.

Aspirin and paracetamol may be used to reduce a fever, paracetamol being better-tolerated and less dangerous for infants under 18 months.

Decongestant drops might be necessary to reduce the nasal swelling before feeding infants on the breast or by the bottle. It is difficult for them to suck if they have to keep pausing to breathe through the mouth. Decongestants also can be taken by mouth.

Cough suppressants should be used cautiously for babies. They are either ineffective or, if they work, may suppress the cough reflex.

An adult can cough voluntarily, but a small child can cough only on reflex, that is, when a plug of mucus irritates the bronchi. If this reflex is impaired, the child might not cough up this material and it might block the bronchial tube and lead to collapse of a portion of lung.

CROUP: Croup is an infection of the larynx or vocal cords and may involve the trachea and bronchi as well.

It is usually caused by one of the para-influenza viruses or the respiratory syncytial virus, but also may be due to bacteria.

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Symptoms

Visibly curved spine

Hip-shot standing position

Home care

Check the child’s posture periodically.

Precaution

Scoliosis can worsen rapidly. See your doctor if you suspect scoliosis.

Scoliosis is also known as curvature of the spine. In profile (a side view) a normal spine, or vertebral column, traces an S curve from top to bottom of the back; viewed from the front or the back, the spine is straight from top to bottom. In scoliosis, the spine curves toward one side or the other when viewed from the rear. That curve toward one side produces a second, compensating, curve in the spine to keep the head straight.

One type of scoliosis (idiopathic scoliosis), which more frequently affects girls than boys, has no known cause. It develops during adolescence and stops getting worse when the child stops growing. The other types of scoliosis can develop at any age and can be caused by damage to the vertebrae (bones of the spine) from infection, a tumour, injury, radiation therapy; abnormal development of the vertebrae or ribs; or weakness in the muscles of the trunk. Scoliosis can also result from a difference in the length of the legs. Unlike other forms of the disease, this type of scoliosis does not result in a fixed curvature of the spine; the vertebral column straightens when the child lies down.

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What is it?

Until a few decades ago childbirth was dangerous for the mother and her baby. As recently as 1930 between forty and forty-five women in every 10,000 having babies died. Today this figure is one in 10,000. Great progress has been made in saving mothers’ lives and in the 1950s attention turned to improving the lot of the baby. Considerable progress has been made in this direction but there is no room for complacency. Infant mortality today is still a real cause for concern-as many babies die in the first year of life as children and young adults die in the following twenty-four years! Although a few of these deaths are totally unavoidable most are part of a much bigger problem. Some babies are born dead (still-born); some are born alive but too early and so stand a poor chance; others die in the first weeks of life; and yet others live but are handicapped-often for life.

The problem is not a small one in terms of numbers. In 1984 there were 3,640 still-births in England and Wales (who died between the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and the end of the first week of life). French estimates have suggested that for every one ‘perinatal’ death 2.5 babies survive damaged. There are today about 16,000 damaged babies surviving in England and Wales each year. Some are very little affected and others are grossly handicapped and will live in an institution for all their lives. There are probably a quarter of a million children in the UK in special schools and attending normal schools who are mentally and physically handicapped, and 5,000 children live in long-stay hospitals from which they are unlikely to emerge.

What causes it?

• Poor pre-conceptual care.

• Poor diet in pregnancy.

• Medicines, drugs, X-rays or the Pill.

• Infections during pregnancy.

• Alcohol in pregnancy.

• Smoking before conception and during pregnancy.

• Environmental hazards.

• Genetic problems.

• Poor ante-natal care.

• Birth problems.

• Congenital abnormalities.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

Gradual hair loss is a normal sign of aging. But if your hair begins to fall out in clumps, a serious health condition is probably causing it and you need to seek medical attention immediately.

Frequently, during an illness that is serious enough to require hospitalization, hair growth will cease altogether for a few months. After the initial onset of the illness, the hair will fall out and then begin to grow back when the illness has disappeared. Though everything from emotional stress to surgery can cause this type of baldness, called telogen efuvium, the hair loss is temporary. Some diseases that can cause telogen efuvium include kidney disease, diabetes, and certain skin diseases. And a low-calorie diet can cause temporary hair loss. In rare instances, when the illness is particularly severe, a person can lose all the hair on her body, including the eyebrows and eyelashes and even the pubic hair.

Chemotherapy for cancer will often cause a person to lose all of her hair over the course of several days. Then, when the therapy is over, the hair will usually begin to grow back.

Alopecia areata is the term for when hair falls out in clumps all over the head. It is frequently used to refer to women who have a severe, sudden hair loss that is due to a serious illness and for which there is no other apparent cause.

Treatment

Hair loss due to aging is basically irreversible, hair loss caused by a disease is almost always temporary. Though this is the good news, the bad news is that you need to treat the underlying disease before your hair can grow back. Since one of the causes, kidney disease is life-threatening without proper treatment, if your hair is suddenly falling out in clumps, you need to see your doctor to determine the cause right away.

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