Health News

Addiction means an increased tolerance of the body to the drug; hence a higher and higher dose is required to achieve the same drug effect. The body also becomes physically dependent on the drug to function effectively. If the drug is withdrawn suddenly, the body craves it, and the person experiences a whole range of psychological and physical symptoms. With benzodiazepine about 20 withdrawal symptoms have been described. These include tension, sweating, agitation, muscle ache, and irritability, but the most important is ‘rebound insomnia’.

Insomnia is a subjective feeling and is influenced by many factors. The main component of insomnia is the distress felt as a result of not being able to sleep. People who say they are suffering from insomnia may in fact be getting enough sleep. But why do these people say they are not sleeping? It is because of the distress they feel when they are not able to fall asleep when they want to. These people who get enough sleep biologically and yet complain of insomnia.

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Phobias arise through the individual’s anxiety becoming attached to the phobic situation. This is rather similar to the way in which anxiety may become focused on some particular organ of the body and produce symptoms in it. Thus anxiety focused on the heart produces palpitation; on the stomach, dyspepsia; or on the lungs, asthma. In the case of the phobias we can often see quite clearly how the anxiety became associated with the particular situation. A child, punished by being locked in the broom closet, may develop a phobia of being confined in a small space. In other cases the anxiety becomes attached to the phobic situation through the mechanism of symbolism. Thus snakes and, to a lesser extent, mice, may represent important sexual symbols to some people, and a phobia of these animals may be a symbolic expression of anxiety which is in fact sexual in origin. However, bringing the patient to understand the cause of his phobia does not in itself relieve the patient’s fear.

For instance, during the war in some bombers the rear gunners were locked into the tail gun turret by themselves. Many of these men subsequently developed a phobia of confined spaces. They would prefer to keep the door of the toilet slightly ajar. Of course, they knew the cause of their condition, but this did not stop the phobia.

We can use our relaxing mental exercises in three ways in the self-management of phobias. In the first place we practise our exercises when we are not in the phobic situation. Let us suppose that we have a phobia about going outside. We practise at home when there is no particular occasion for us to go outside. We do the exercises—very relaxed and letting ourselves

regress—and as we do so we think:

Relaxed.

Whole body relaxed.

Relaxed and calm and easy in myself.

Easy in myself.

Easy in myself wherever I go.

The exercise is repeated quietly and easily several times a day.

The second way of using the exercises is slightly different. As we relax we visualize ourselves at ease in the phobic situation. In our present example it means seeing ourselves in the street quite relaxed and comfortable. We do it very completely. As we relax we see ourselves; then as we relax more thoroughly, we see ourselves with greater and greater vividness. We are aware that we are calm and comfortable, and all the time that we visualize ourselves in this way, we are relaxed and at ease in ourselves.

Relaxed.

Utterly calm and easy.

See myself go out the door,

I am calm and easy.

Down the street.

I can see myself.

Calm and easy.

Nothing disturbs me.

In the third method we bring ourselves closer and closer to the centre of the phobic situation. We go to the door. As we do so, we pause and capture again the relaxed feeling in our mind which we experience during the exercises. We go outside, relaxed and easy, and then we return. We repeatedly venture to the edge of the phobic situation. If we experience the slightest feeling of anxiety, we consciously recapture the relaxed feeling of the exercises. We do it easily. There is no panic. We do it little by little, more and more each day. The secret is that we do not allow anxiety to develop. Because of this, the conditioning process allows us to go further each day. Soon we are rewarded by finding that we are at ease in the phobic situation. But remember that this takes time, and requires a good deal of self-discipline.

On the one hand, we must make ourselves do it; on the other hand, we must not push ourselves so far that we become anxious.

As you read this, you probably think, “I have done all this before and it has not helped me. In the past I have tried like mad, and disciplined myself, but I am still the same.” I must remind you again that the success of this approach depends entirely upon using the regression which comes with our relaxation. I believe that to overcome a phobia by self-discipline in cold blood is almost impossible. On the other hand, I do know for a fact that many people have overcome phobias when they have used the regressed state of mind to help them.

Mild phobias about moths are very common. They are usually not very severe, and are often regarded rather in the light of a slight idiosyncrasy and a matter for jest. However, an

eighteen-year-old girl was brought to me with a severe moth phobia. She was in fact terrified of moths. The phobia was so bad that it was ruining her life. She was refusing to go out at night for fear there might be a moth in one of the street lights or in any place of entertainment.

While I was talking to her, she suddenly thought that I might have a moth in the cigarette box on my desk. She screamed in real terror, sprang from her chair, and rushed to the far side of the room.

Because of her anxiety I had difficulty in showing her how to relax properly. However, she eventually mastered it. Then, when she was very relaxed I was able to show her a moth without it disturbing her. Soon she was able to take a moth in her hand. I don’t think she ever really lost her dislike of moths, but her phobia was relieved of all its previous intensity and she was able to resume a normal way of life.

A young professional man had a severe phobia about leaving his home. As long as he was at home and his wife was there with him, he was relatively free from anxiety. But each morning when leaving home and going to work he would be stricken with apprehension and panic. He would sweat, and would be nearly overcome by the pounding of his heart and the feeling of his stomach turning over. Once he reached his place of work, the acuteness of his anxiety would pass until it was time to return home. He had had a great deal of psychiatric treatment without help.

When I last saw him, he still had not gained complete peace of mind, but he had learned to manage the worst of his anxiety on his travels to and from his place of work.

A middle-aged housewife had become tense. As long as she remained at home she was relatively comfortable, and she had come to make excuses for not going out. The short trip to the shops to buy her household goods was becoming increasingly difficult. Sometimes she would stand petrified before bringing herself to enter a shop.

She learned to relax. Her general tension subsided, and she returned to doing her shopping without anxiety.

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First, all exercises should be planned in accordance with the individual needs and capabilities of the patient. No two cases are alike and, consequently, only a general outline of the program can be given here.

As was pointed out before, the body afflicted with arthritis usually suffers from poor circulation, stagnation, and sluggishness. Restoration of the proper circulation is, therefore, essential before the body can effectively accomplish its own healing task. The bloodstream carries fresh oxygen and nutritive elements to all the tissues and organs of the body. It also carries toxic waste materials from the tissues to the eliminative organs where they are expelled from the system. Thus, effective circulation is imperative for successful results in any program of treatment for arthritis.

There are many ways to stimulate circulation, such as massage, alternating hot and cold baths, dry brush massage, etc. But physical exercise in the fresh air is one of the most effective ways to rebuild circulation. For this reason outdoor walking is the most popular form of exercise in all biological clinics.

Of course we should not forget that often a patient is in such a weak condition that he is unable to take any walks. Also, if joints are badly inflamed and painful no exercises should be taken at all-such a patient needs rest more than exercises. But as soon as pain has subsided, immediately a gradually increasing program of exercises should be initiated.

Outside walking is the simplest and most effective way to assist your body’s healing and health restoring processes. It will stimulate your glands to secrete more hormones. It will accelerate your metabolism and digestion. It will saturate your blood and all the cells of the body with fresh oxygen. It will assist your eliminative organs in their detoxifying work through the lungs, skin, and intestines. Moreover, a walk in the fresh air, especially in the woods or some other beautiful natural surroundings, will put you in good spirits, stimulate your thinking, and make you feel happy and jubilant all over.

In addition to walking, various other exercises could be used, such as deep-breathing exercises, arm and leg exercises, etc. All this should be adjusted to the condition and ability of the patient. When any particular joint or part of the body is affected it should first be exercised very slowly and, as the movements become freer, the exercises could be gradually accelerated.

To summarize the answer to the question: What exercises are best for arthritis?, I must say that all specific exercises of various joints, limbs, and other parts of the body should be carefully planned in accordance with the needs of each individual case and preferably under expert supervision. However, of far greater importance to the recovery of the patient are various forms of “natural” exercise in fresh air: walking, riding bicycling, swimming, dancing, horse riding, playing games, or any kind of suitable outdoor work, such as gardening. I am a firm believer in natural exercises that give you the benefit of physical exertion without much will effort while simultaneously giving you emotional and spiritual stimulation and enjoyment.

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People with epilepsy have to cope with the effects of their seizures on their chances in

life—which may well be reduced if seizures are frequent. Throughout all of life with epilepsy, they have to act as their own public relations officer, deciding how much to tell and how much to conceal. Their circle of friends and choice of sexual partner may well be narrowed. Their inability to hold a driving licence and limitations in employment reduce their earning power, social status, and long-term financial security. By avoidance of factors which they believe may precipitate seizures, social activities may be greatly reduced. It is not surprising, therefore, that people with epilepsy become anxious, or depressed, or resentful and irritable.

The age of onset of epilepsy influences the psychological effects suffered. A robust man of 45 in previous good health who develops epilepsy following a head injury has established his personality, social life, family, and employment before the injury. Although he may encounter problems with future employment, there is no change in how his friends and family perceive him and react to him. The late age of onset and the clear-cut cause of seizures allows this man and his family to take up the position that although he may have a few blackouts he is not really ‘an epileptic’.

It is quite different for a girl whose epilepsy begins at the age of 12, with frequent seizures throughout her school career. Whatever her abilities, her friends and teachers perceive her as ‘an epileptic’. Epilepsy dominates social intercourse, the development of personality, and possibilities of future employment and establishment of married life. Such a person will have more profound psychological difficulties than the 45-year-old man described above. Anxiety, depression, and resentment are entirely comprehensible reactions to the fact of epilepsy. One might say: ‘I would feel like that if I had her problems’. To that extent, therefore, it would be wrong to categorize these psychological effects as an illness, though that does not mean that advice and support from friends, or the family doctor, or a psychiatrist may not aid the person with epilepsy to come to terms with their disability. However skilled the counsellor, we are convinced that the ability to cope depends primarily upon the strength of personality of the person with epilepsy.

Occasionally depression in association with epilepsy may become so severe that treatment with an antidepressant drug is indicated. This drug should be chosen with care.

Depression and inability to cope with the life situation caused by epilepsy may be so severe as to cause the unfortunate sufferer to take his own life. Suicide is approximately five times more common in those with epilepsy than in the general population.

A psychotic illness with symptoms similar to those of paranoid schizophrenia may occasionally be seen in those with epilepsy arising from a temporal lobe lesion. The occurrence of the psychosis is not necessarily related to the frequency of seizures. Indeed, there is a curious group of patients in whom the psychosis becomes prominent as seizures settle, only to remit as seizures return.

One cause of epilepsy is impaired fetal development of the brain or brain damage occurring at or around the time of birth. Children with such brain damage may be less intelligent than their siblings, be more easily distracted from work and play, and be prone to emotional extremes. Because of constant restlessness, this behaviour is sometimes known as the ‘hyperkinetic (or hyperactive) syndrome,. It should be understood that both the behaviour and the epilepsy share a common cause; the epilepsy in itself does not cause this behaviour.

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Let’s first have a look at sea cucumber, an ancient therapeutic agent used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine. Numerous modem scientific research studies show that sea cucumber helps to control inflammatory processes in the body. As a result, sea cucumber often provides relief of the inflammation associated with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, tendinitis, sports injuries, sprains, and joint pains, as well as other inflammatory diseases. One study found that it also improved the body’s overall resistance to stress.

Sea cucumber works by helping to regulate biochemical substances known as prostaglandins which are involved in inflammatory processes. It also contains chondroitin which the body finds valuable to help produce new joint cartilage, and it is a good source of lubricating compounds that are found in the joints and joint fluids. The famous nutritionist Earl Mindell describes sea cucumber as “an even more potent anti-inflammatory agent than hydrocortisone.” The benefits of sea cucumber for most arthritis patients has even been proved in medical studies. It has been approved by the Australian Department of Health as an effective treatment for arthritis and is widely used in the Orient and Europe for that purpose.

An analysis of dried sea cucumber reveals that it is about 80% protein. Other substances found are chondroitin sulphate, and the beneficial minerals boron, calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, silicon, and zinc. Good mineral balance in the body has always been recognized as being valuable for joint health. The safety and the effectiveness of sea cucumber’s therapeutic effects has been demonstrated over thousands of years in practical application, as well as now by modern laboratory testing and clinical trials. Though rare, a few sensitive persons have developed a minor rash from its use.

More evidence of the beneficial effects of the combination of CMO and sea cucumber has been provided by a study conducted by Dr Alan Edwards in England. He reports on a small trial with fibromyalgia suffers which showed improvement for the majority after only 4 weeks use of this combination. Importantly, those that improved showed a very promising improvement, whilst those that did not, had hardly any positive impact at all, perhaps because they failed to absorb the nutrients involved. At the time writing this report is awaiting publication in a respected journal, currently scheduled for the middle of this year.

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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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Knowledge about food allergy is as old as history; the ancient Egyptians, the Chinese, the Jews, and the Greeks all demonstrated an instinctive understanding of these allergies. However, allergy to food was studied scientifically for the first time only fifty years ago by Schloss who observed that:(a) a boy had epidermoids-animal hair and scales from dogs, cats, horses, goats, rabbits, birds, sheep, rats and mice, roaches, silkworms dyes cosmetics insecticides poison ivy plant hives after eating eggs, almonds, and oatmeal; (b) the same boy had an inflammation in his skin when injected with extracts of those foods; (c) the boy manifested either an immediate reaction to a food (which showed itself a few minutes after eating it) or a delayed reaction (which showed itself hours or days after eating it). Schloss concluded that in immediate reactions to foods the allergen is the whole food, while in delayed reactions it is one of the broken down products of the food absorbed during digestion. He advised avoidance of complicated foods which might be incompletely digested and absorbed as such by the immature intestines of a baby.

The symptoms of food allergy are hives, nose stuffiness, asthma, eczema, vomiting, diarrhea, gas, or migraine headaches. We know through experience that fish, shellfish, berries, nuts, and chocolate frequently cause hives, while cereals, milk, egg, or meat more often cause nose stuffiness and asthma.

A food allergy is usually diagnosed clinically with a diet diary, an elimination diet, or a provocative diet. Skin testing has little value in diagnosing food allergy.

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Mycoplasmas

Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are small organisms which are very common in all of us but found in higher quantities in couples who are not conceiving.

In the lab, mycoplasmas (including Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum) have to be grown on a special culture and whether they are tested or not can literally come down to a question of cost. For this reason they are not routinely tested on the NHS and most couples will need to go privately. But, as you will see, it is very important that, as a couple (whether trying to conceive or having experienced a previous miscarriage), you are screened for these very small pathogens.

In some clinics, when a sperm sample is analyzed it is also cultured to see whether any ureaplasma is present. This is because the presence of this infection can affect the quality of the sample, in some cases creating adhesions within the sperm. It has been found that the higher the number of ureaplasmas in the semen, the lower the zinc concentration. And we have seen how crucial good levels of zinc are for fertility.

The same study also found that the higher the number of ureaplasmas in the semen, the lower the fructose content. Fructose is a sugar normally found in semen. The absence of fructose in the semen can mean that the seminal vesicles are blocked, stopping both sperm and fructose from getting through. Some researchers have gone so far as to say that ureaplasmas are associated with male infertility, because when men were treated for the infection there was a significant improvement in the motility of their sperm.

The increase in these infections may be due to changes in sexual attitudes and the fact that certain conditions may increase their growth. For instance, it is known that mycoplasma proliferates when the Pill is used.

Unfortunately if a pregnant woman has an ureaplasma infection she can pass it on to her baby. Some interesting research, published in the New Scientist magazine in 1997, showed that if babies were infected by Ureaplasma urealyticum in the womb then they were more likely to develop asthma in later life. The researchers suggested that asthma could be prevented in some children if the parent were treated before conception.

Rubella (German Measles)

German measles contracted during childhood is a mild disease; and, once infected, the person builds up antibodies which give lifelong immunity to the illness. These antibodies can be measured by a blood test and the woman then knows whether she is ‘rubella immune’. The risk of contracting German measles during pregnancy is not to the mother but to the baby. If the mother develops this illness during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, there is up to five times greater a chance of the baby being born with congenital abnormalities (such as deafness, blindness and heart disease) or being miscarried.

If the woman finds out that she is not rubella immune then she may opt to be immunized before embarking on a pregnancy. One woman I know of, who did not want to be immunized, used a homeopathic remedy to which her body produced the rubella antibodies when subsequently measured on a blood test.

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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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A herbalist has a holistic approach – that is, treating the whole person and not just the disease.

Although no two women are alike, similarities often emerge which include the need to correct biochemical imbalances, assist in the elimination of toxic waste and treating the inherited miasm.

We asked a herbalist to answer some following questions.

What is miasm

A miasm is the term alternative therapists give to a genetic weakness which is the foundation of a chronic disease. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, considered there to be three basic miasms (taints): psoric, sycotic and syphilitic (having their ancient origins from leprosy, gonorrhea and syphilis respectively.)

There is also a tubercular taint which is a mixture of psoric and syphilitic. From a homoeopathic view, these miasms have the potential to express themselves in various symptoms which are particular to the taint and each miasm can show an identifying pattern in the iris.

The herbalist explained that from a homoeopathic point of view, there are three main inherited factors which are the miasms discussed above. She said that someone back in the family tree may have had one of four things: tuberculosis, psoric, gonorrhoea or syphilis. Generations ago, these illnesses were treated with suppressive methods or left unresolved and there will still be a modified form of the disease present in the-family tree today.

This doesn’t mean that you are going to inherit these diseases, hut you will have a potential towards certain complaints. For instance, the gonorrhoeal (sycotic) taint bequeaths a tendency to pelvic discharges, inflammations and adhesions.

The inherited taint itself will initially be dealt with by herbs but finally with homeopathies of a very high potency.

Homeopathies are also used for treating thrush, bladder pain or infection, infertility, hormonal imbalance, Candida, imbalances in blood sugar levels, pain or other problems needing a specific focus.

She believes that in women with endometriosis the immune mechanism is possibly altered in a way which allows the implantation of tissue outside the normal area. Such an internal environment allows the hereditary weakness (defective immune mechanism) to come to the surface. Her theory is that it also might be likely that many women have retrograde bleeding at some stage of their menstruating life without consolidating it into a long-standing problem.

What type of woman do you see

As far as I am concerned there are three different types: many are post-endometriosis in as much as they have had surgery and are still unwell; there are those who have been diagnosed with endometriosis and who are either dissatisfied with the treatment or who want to investigate further before making a decision about what they should do — hormone therapy, surgery, get pregnant or whatever; then there are those who have a vague suspicion they have endometriosis but have been told they were either imagining it or needed a holiday and consequently have decided to investigate further.

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