Doctorshealthsystems

Fat, as we’ve seen, is vital for existence. However, as is often the case, too much of a good thing can be dangerous. Health experts have long known the problems of overfatness, but it has often been under-rated as a primary health risk, partly because BMI is only a blunt measure of fatness. Fat distribution as well as total fatness is of critical importance. European researchers have known this for some time since the famous French endocrinologist Jean Vague published it in 1956. More recently, North American and European researchers have gone back and re-examined the epidemiological data using measures of fat distribution such as

waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) instead of weight, and found that abdominal fatness (i.e. a ‘pot belly’) is just as powerful and important a primary risk factor in determining ill-health as other risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking in causing problems such as heart disease, late onset or non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and some forms of cancer.

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Several studies indicate that a deficiency of the trace mineral zinc may be associated with poor sexual performance due to retarded genital development or hypogonadism. Medical researchers have found that in Iran and Egypt, where many people live on zinc-deficient diets, many boys suffer from the retarded development and growth of the gonads—the sex organs. When the diet is supplemented with zinc, they rapidly mature sexually.

Zinc has also been found to play a vital role in the health of the prostate. There is a very high concentration of zinc in the sperm, the seminal fluid, and in the prostate itself—more than in any other part of the body. A deficiency of zinc causes enlargement of the prostate and other unhealthy changes in this vital sex gland. Thus, zinc is definitely related to man’s sexual performance and potential. This is especially important to men past middle age, when prostate troubles usually start.

Is it possible to have deficiency of zinc if you eat a normal well-balanced diet? Yes, more likely than not, your diet is deficient in it. First, the soil of 32 of our 50 states is deficient in zinc, and the nutritive elements in your food can come only from the soil. Then, zinc is taken out of our foods by refining and processing, especially when bran and germ are removed from the grains. Foods rich in zinc are oysters (long believed by folklore to be a source of virility), herring, wheat bran and wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, onions, and eggs. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of zinc, also.

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Are Waerland’s wife Ebba Waerland is an accomplished practitioner in the application of Waerland therapies in the treatment of many diseases. In her book, Naturlakekonstens Bokf she describes dietetic Waerland therapies which she has applied in many clinics in Germany and Sweden in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. They are also described in an English language book by Are Waerland, Health Is Your Birthright.

First, Waerland and Evers agree completely as to the cause of multiple sclerosis: a diet of denatured foods which is lacking in important nutritive elements and which causes metabolic disorder and poisons the system. Their general dietetic measures are similiar as well. Ebba Waerland recommends complete removal of all processed, refined, and devitilized foods, as well as sugar, tobacco, alcohol, salt, coffee, tea, spices and other foodless products.

The Waerland therapy for multiple sclerosis

Treatment begins with a short fast of not over five days’ duration, with vegetable and fruit juices. After fasting, a strict alkaline diet is prescribed for at least two weeks. This diet consists of two meals a day of raw fruits and vegetables with the addition of sprouted wheat* and 1 slice of whole meal bread; one meal is a vegetable meal, the other a fruit meal. This is followed by the standard Waerland diet with the addition of sprouted wheat. Only unpasteurized, raw milk is permitted. Bread consumption is limited to one or two slices of sour-dough bread a day. Cold-pressed oils are used instead of butter. No cheese, except whey cheese and homemade cottage cheese, is allowed. Brewer’s yeast is recommended as a food supplement.

In addition to the diet, other biological means of detoxifying the system advocated by Ebba Waerland are increasing the blood circulation by massage, exercises, and special hydrotherapeutic treatments.

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Stomach and intestines have their iris positions in the first major zone, directly around the pupil. In contrast to the other organs they are concentrically arranged, and take in a third of the iris.

When looking at an iris, attention is first directed to the stomach and intestinal zones. In health the stomach and intestinal zones are of equal size. They take in a third of the iris and do not differ in essential colour and structure from each other. This normal form of the first major zone is very seldom found in these days.

A. Stomach zone:

1. Hyperacidity: The stomach zone is lighter than its surroundings, almost white and elevated. The patient complains of heartburn. If the stomach zone is circular and with a sharply marked outer circumference, then there is swelling and cramp of the stomach. Such patients have a constant sense of pressure in the stomach with cramp, associated with eructations.

2. Gastric insufficiency: The stomach zone becomes dark grey and sinks inwardly. There may appear black lines deeply furrowed in the stomach area, in which case there will be functional deficiency of the mucous membrane. These patients also complain of heartburn, which is in this case a false indication of acidity (= lactic acid). If with these signs the stomach zone is too small, then that is a sign of induration/sclerosis.

3. Inflammation of the mucous membranes = Gastritis: In this condition one finds small white flakes lying directly against the pupillary margin, especially when viewed with side floodlighting.

4. Inflammation of the stomach muscle layer: This is of a rheumatic nature, and shows small white flakes or clouds in the outer rim of the stomach zone (therefore on the boundary with the intestinal zone). Patients with these signs cannot tolerate cold food or drink—they have the feeling of ‘a cold lump in the stomach’.

5. Gastric ulcer: (Ulcus ventriculi et duodeni). The ulcer shows itself in the stomach zone as a black point, and is most frequently found in the posterior wall of the stomach (right iris about 20′, left iris about 40′), and in the pylorus. In the pyloric area the signs are more oblong than round, and usually extend over into the intestinal zone (ulcus duodeni). An open ulcer is a black point or line which is accompanied by a small white cloud (black point or line loss of substance, white cloud -= tissue inflammation, therefore the pain). When the ulcer has healed, the black spot becomes surrounded by a fine white closed ring (healing ring).

6. Gastric carcinoma: Cancer signs are small putty-like steel-grey signs which shine out from the depths of the iris. The iris appears putty-like and ’smudged’. Not infrequently a stomach cancer develops, especially a scirrhous cancer, from the so-called Ulcus callosum. This is shown in the iris in the form of several serrated black spots which overlap each other. The iris is then seen to be flattened in the outer rim.

7. ‘Nervous, stomach: A red-brown stomach zone points to a toxic poisoning of the gastric nerves ( = the so-called ‘nervous’ stomach). In most cases this colour change also extends over to the intestinal zone. Often also, radiations extend over the brain areas—an indication that any headaches have their origin in the stomach.

8. Dropped-stomach = Gastroptosis: When through over-contraction of the pylorus the muscle layer of the stomach weakens (= dilatation of the stomach), or when through general slackening of the abdominal muscles there arises a ptosis of the stomach, then this condition will be recognised in the iris by an expansion of the stomach zone—from 30′-45′ in the right iris, and from 15-30′ in the left iris. If the stomach zone areas—right iris 45′-60′, left iris 60′-15′—are enlarged, then that is a sign of gastric enlargement/dilatation. The reason for this is the accumulation of gas in the stomach.

One also finds patients with an enlarged stomach zone—from 15′-30′ in the right iris, or from 30′-45′ in the left iris. Here it is the posterior wall of the stomach which is relaxed and which gives rise to the ptosis.

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Babies and small children can be a real joy when you are fit and well and on top of the world. But if you’re below par, they can change almost immediately into fiends. And if that happens, your feelings towards them can change just as abruptly. It was no surprise to me to read in Dr Dalton’s book Once a Month that so many babies are battered when their mothers are suffering from the aching miseries. There are lots of difficult and involved reasons for this horrible experience. One of the most powerful seems to be that the parents had the baby in the first place so that it could love them. Another is that they don’t understand why their baby cries and the crying makes them angry. Another could be that they’re completely out of gear because they haven’t had enough sleep for far too long. A baby who cries night after night for months on end can reduce even the most patient mother to a shred of her former self, and break down even the most loving self control. I don’t believe premenstrual tension causes women to batter their children, but the miseries could be the final straw that makes you take violent action.

If you find that you are far more severe, or even unkind, with your children during the days when your period is on the way, you really do need an extra pair of hands to help you.

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Despite the availability of vaccines that effectively protect children against diseases that can be killers, surveys repeatedly indicate that many Australian children are inadequately protected against these diseases.

The seven potentially devastating diseases against which all children can and should be properly immunized are: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio, measles, mumps, and German measles (rubella).

There are two reasons why so many children go unprotected against these diseases. First, many parents believe that polio, diphtheria, and whooping cough no longer exist. Second, people don’t realize how dangerous these and the other four diseases are. Children die or are permanently disabled each year as a result of these preventable diseases. The statistics prove that children are in danger from these diseases, and without immunization your child is also at risk.

Doctors use two types of immunization:

Active (live) immunization is done by injecting a weakened or killed virus or bacterium into the body. This stimulates the body’s natural defense system. The body produces substances known as antibodies, carried in the bloodstream, which are tailor-made to fight the invading organisms. The antibodies remain in the body for years, sometimes a lifetime, to protect it against that particular disease.

Passive (dead) immunization involves injecting ready-made antibodies – usually extracted from the blood of animals that have been immunized for the purpose of producing antibodies to be used in passive immunization. Passive immunization is only temporary but serves to protect a person who may already be infected until the body has time to create its own antibodies.

The following sections explain how you can protect your child against these diseases.

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Home care

An anorexic child should be under a doctor’s care. The doctor will tell you how to take care of the child at home.

Precaution

If the condition is not controlled, the anorexic may starve herself to death.

Medical treatment

The doctor will first attempt to rule out any physical cause of the child’s extreme weight loss, such as cancer, infectious disease, disorders in the digestive organs, or problems in absorbing the nutrients from food. If the patient has lost more than 25 percent of her original body weight, if she displays the classic behavior, and if the onset of symptoms occurs before the age of 25, a diagnosis of anorexia is usually warranted.

An anorexic may require hospitalization and forced feeding if her disease has led to severe malnutrition. However, most anorexics can be treated on an outpatient basis by a family physician, a psychiatrist, or a specialist in eating disorders.

The psychological problems that underlie the anorexic behavior should be exposed and resolved. In the meantime, however, the youngster must be convinced that she must gain weight and reassured that her doctor and parents will not allow her to become overweight. Healthy attitudes toward body weight and normal eating patterns must be restored.

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Does diabetes affect your sex life?

The short answer to this is no, it need not do so, and certainly not when you are young. Sex development in both boys and girls, men and women, is not affected by diabetes. Sexual feelings are just the same whether you have diabetes or not. The ability to enjoy sexual relationships and to have children is the same for people with diabetes also. The risk of pregnancy after intercourse is just the same as for people without diabetes, and those with diabetes need to take the same responsibility and precautions to prevent unwanted pregnancy as other people.

Young men may hear that impotence can be a problem for people with diabetes in later life. Impotence means difficulty or inability for a man to have or to maintain an erection. This may occur in some people after many years and may be a greater risk if diabetic control is poor. There are a number of possible causes for this apart from it being a complication of diabetes, and there are forms of treatment that may help if it does occur. It is another good reason of course to aim for careful control of your diabetes if you are a boy.

Can I have the pill?

Yes, but you should of course discuss this with your physician. There is no evidence that the contraceptive pill causes more problems in women with diabetes than in others, and the pill should not upset diabetic control. You will of course have a low-dose pill and have regular checks with your doctor while you are having it.

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Contrary to what you might think, life expectancy charts don’t tell you much about how long you, specifically, have to live. They predict how long you, your next-door neighbor, the president, Larry Bird, and a million other men have to live-72.4 years-but that’s only on average.

Your life span, meanwhile, is how long you actually live-and that could be anywhere from 60 to 120 years. And if you’re in much better physical shape than the average Joe your age, chances are that your life span will be higher than the life expectancy. “The life span of an individual may turn out to be very different from the life expectancy. You may die tomorrow, or you could live to be more than 100 years old,” says Dr. David Smith of Northwestern University Medical School. “At times when life spans are changing rapidly, life expectancies have little predictive value for the life span of an individual. Life expectancies are a prediction of what is to occur in the distant future yet are based on data from people who have recently died, so they are not very relevant to people living or being born today,” explains Dr. Smith. In other words, just because the chart says 72 doesn’t mean that you should schedule yourself to die then.

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Aspirin is a non-steroidal ant-inflammatory drug. It is in a class of drugs called salicylates, and works by inhibiting the release of chemicals in the body that cause pain aid inflammation. In addition to its use for acute conditions such as headache, fever or period pain, small doses of aspirin are often used to prevent heart attacks and strokes in high risk individuals. Aspirin has a blood thinning effect, and in this way may reduce the chance of a blood clot blocking a blood vessel and causing a heart attack or stroke. For this purpose aspirin is taken in a smaller dose, usually l00 mg. Popular brands include Astrix, Cartia and Cardiprin.

However, aspirin is not without potential side effects, and there are questions as to whether it really reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke at all. Possible side effects of aspirin include upset stomach, abdominal cramps, skin rash, allergic skin reactions, and it contributes to the development of leaky gut syndrome; making food allergies more likely to develop. A potential serious side effect of aspirin is gastrointestinal bleeding. According to Dr John Reckless, chairman of Heart UK, “If you put the average older patient on aspirin in one year, one person in 262 would have a significant gastrointestinal bleed in that one year”. One possible symptom of gastrointestinal bleeding is black or bloody stools. If you experience this symptom it is vital you see your doctor as soon as possible.

The Women’s Health Study, which ran for ten years found that regular use of low dose aspirin does not prevent first heart attacks in women younger than 65. The group of women who took 100 milligrams of aspirin every other day was no less likely to have a heart attack than the group taking a placebo. Each group had approximately 20, 000 participants. Most previous studies showing aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes were done on men. The women in the study who took aspirin had a forty percent greater chance of suffering severe gastrointestinal bleeding, and they also experienced more minor bleeding and bruising. Interestingly, the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke was greater in the women who took aspirin. This is the type of stroke caused by bleeding, not blockage due to a blood clot. This makes sense since aspirin reduces the ability of the blood to clot. Therefore, if you are a woman without significant risk of heart disease, it is not recommended you take aspirin as a preventative.

An interesting study called “The warfarin/aspirin study in heart failure” was published in the American Heart Journal. Patients with congestive heart failure are considered to be at increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. This particular study involved 279 patients who were diagnosed with heart failure that required medication with diuretics. The patients were divided into three groups, aspirin therapy, warfarin therapy, and no blood thinning therapy. The results of the study showed no health benefits from aspirin or warfarin to these patients; there was no difference in deaths, or non-fatal heart attacks or strokes. Significantly more patients taking aspirin were hospitalized because of worsening heart failure. The conclusion of this study was “Antithrombotic therapy in patients with heart failure is not evidence based but commonly contributes to polypharmacy “. This means that there are no proven benefits to taking blood thinning medications in patients with heart failure, and they increase the risk of side effects from adverse drug interactions.

A daily aspirin may reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in some individuals. However there are much safer and healthier ways to thin your blood. The omega 3 fats found in fish oil, flaxseed oil and walnuts have a powerful blood thinning effect. All antioxidants help to thin the blood; you can obtain these through regularly consuming raw vegetable juices and garlic, and taking supplements of vitamin E. Do not take vitamin E, garlic or ginkgo biloba supplements if you are on blood thinning medication without consulting your doctor.

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