Weight loss and diet plan for a healthy lifestyle.

Periodontal disease, manifested by gum shrinkage, is the main cause of tooth loss after the age of 40 and is principally due to accumulation of plaque on the roots of the teeth, the U.S. Pharmacist fl0#9:23) reports. Plaque is a sticky, soft material composed of bacteria trapped within a gel-like mixture of mucus, broken-down cells, and debris from food. Left undisturbed, it gradually builds up and hardens, irritating and displacing the gums so that they shrink back from the teeth. Ultimately, this results in cavities, loosening and loss of teeth.

Apart from brushing after meals and using dental floss, procedures that cannot reach all of the bacteria that form plaque, most of us do nothing more to prevent plaque buildup than visiting our dentists for a tooth cleaning session about once a year.

Plaque formation can be much more effectively prevented if, in addition to doing all of the above, one uses a mouthwash containing chemicals such as cetylpyridinium and alcohol that inhibit growth of plaque-producing bacteria. One should rinse the mouth with about two tablespoonfuls of the liquid twice a day for about 30 seconds, swishing it around between the teeth before spitting it out. After rinsing, do not eat or drink for 30 minutes. Mouthwash is most effective when used immediately after brushing and, if used regularly, reduces plaque formation by about 70 percent.

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Symptoms: pain; swollen neck glands; difficulty in swallowing

Home care:

Have the child gargle with salt water and drink extra fluids.

Give aspirin or paracetamol to relieve pain.

Keep the child isolated until the cause of the sore throat is diagnosed.

Precautions

-    A child with a sore throat accompanied by any of the following symptoms should be seen by a doctor:

    swollen or tender neck glands

    persistent difficulty swallowing

    pus-like discharge from eyes or nose

    earache

    sinus pain

    breathing difficulty

    chest pain

    rash

    stiff neck

    weakness or exhaustion

    confusion

    prolonged vomiting

-    Any child with a sore throat and fever that are still getting worse after 24 to 36 hours should be seen by a doctor.

-    A child with a sore throat should be kept away from other children, particularly infants, until a diagnosis has been made.

In theory, and in the medical school classroom, a sore throat is one of the simplest childhood problems to diagnose and to treat. Medical textbooks state that a sore throat is usually caused by a virus and, therefore, does not require treatment with antibiotics because viruses do not respond to medication. A sore throat that is not caused by a virus is generally due to streptococcus bacteria. These organisms can be identified by culturing throat secretions, and a strep throat can be treated with penicillin or, if the child is allergic to penicillin, with erythromycin.

In practice, however, the diagnosis and treatment of a sore throat is not so straightforward. Viral infections sometimes are complicated by streptococcal infections. A throat culture may isolate streptococci organisms even though the illness is not being caused by these organisms, and about 5 percent of throat cultures will not show streptococci even when they are present and are, in fact, the cause of the sore throat. Some bacterial illnesses that cause a sore throat will respond to antibiotics, but the infecting bacteria cannot be identified through an ordinary throat culture.

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The Diagnosis of Mold Allergy

Diagnosis of mold allergy rests on an allergic history followed by intracutaneous testing.

Scratch tests are not to be used for molds because they are not reliable. The reading of the test is usually done fifteen minutes after performing it; however, molds are known to cause delayed reactions which show up one or two days after the test. The number of tests necessary to diagnose a mold allergy varies with the training and experience of the allergist who is performing them.

The Treatment of Mold Allergy

Treatment consists of weekly injections of a weak solution of mixed mold extract, to be increased in potency until a maximum tolerated dosage is reached after four to five months. Once that dosage is reached, the period between injections is prolonged until only one injection per month is given for a period of two to three years. These injections provide relief from allergy symptoms in about 80 percent of the mold-sensitive children thus treated. Even in institutes which specialize in mold allergy, the results are not superior.

The list below contains commercial products useful in preventing mold growth in a basement or in other damp areas.

Bye-Mold: Sold by Allergy-Free Products for the Home, Springfield, Missouri. Impregon: Made by Fleming Company, St. Louis. Ammonium compounds: Zephiran Chloride, Roccal, and other chlorine solutions, found in drugstores all over the country. Paraformaldehyde crystals: Two ounces left in an open jar for several days in a room that is well ventilated prior to reuse.

Formalin (37 percent formaldehyde): The liquid is to be poured into a wide-mouth container until about one-half inch deep. The number of containers used varies with the size of the basement, and it is most important that the basement be thoroughly aired out before use.

Lysol solution: To use in cleaning the walls and floor of the room.

Electrostatic air purifiers.

Dehumidifiers and desiccants: For example a cloth sack containing two to three pounds of calcium chloride suspended above a pail to collect the drippings.

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This involves a single sperm being injected directly into the egg to fertilise it. The embryo is then implanted in the womb.

ICSI developed out of a technique called SUZI (Sub-zonal insemination), where five to ten sperm were injected just underneath the layer of cells, the zona pellucida, that surrounds the egg.

Who Should Have It?

ICSI can be used if your partner’s sperm count is so low that IVF is not possible, if he cannot ejaculate, or if he has an obstruction stopping his sperm being released.

What Happens?

You will have to undergo the same preparations with drug treatment and procedures as for IVF.

The human egg is invisible to the naked eye and sperm are minute in comparison to an egg, so ICSI is a very delicate procedure.

For men who can’t ejaculate or whose sperm are obstructed, the sperm samples can be drawn off directly from the testes or epididymis. If this does not work then a biopsy is performed, in which fingernail-size pieces are taken from the testes through a tiny incision. The sperm retrieved in this way are not fully developed and may not move.

Success Rate

The success rate for ICSI, 20-25 per cent, is slightly higher than for IVF. This is probably due to the fact that the sperm is injected directly into the egg so the technique is not dependent on how well fertilisation takes place.

Risks

In IVF a number of sperm are put in with the egg, which seems to be able to favour healthy sperm over those that may be defective. In ICSI the egg has no ‘choice’ because only one sperm is used and inserted directly. Because of this, and the fact that often immature sperm or even sperm cells are used, there have been concerns that ICSI could result in babies being born with chromosome defects or having genetic problems later in life.

Researchers have found that babies born after ICSI are twice as likely to have a major birth defect and 50 per cent more likely to have a minor defect.

It has been suggested that men go for karyotyping (chromosome evaluation) before they embark on ICSI so that any genetic causes of their infertility can be ruled out. If there is a genetic cause for the man’s infertility, the man and his partner should be counseled as to whether it is right for ICSI to proceed because of the possibility of passing on problems to the baby. Boys born following ICSI might, for instance, be infertile and need ICSI themselves in order to conceive.

It is important to know why the man is infertile, especially if he is producing no sperm. If there are chromosome problems in the man then it is also likely that the miscarriage rate could be high after ICSI.

Sometimes we can’t conceive because nature has a fail-safe mechanism to protect the survival of the fittest. Even though we now have the technology to override this, there are some situations where the consequences for the baby should be thought through carefully.

*95/73/5*

What are they?

At one end of the spectrum there is complete blindness-a condition affecting some 16 million people around the world. There are several causes, including detachment of the retina, amblyopia, glaucoma, congenital blindness, trauma to the eye, diabetic retinopathy and various infections. The common conditions affecting the eyes (and sometimes leading to blindness) in western countries are considered under the headings glaucoma, diabetes and cataract.

Short sight, long sight and presbyopia (old sight) affect most of us to some degree, with more than half of all North Americans and British between the ages of 6 and 74 wearing glasses or contact lenses all or some of the time. Unfortunately, the problem seems to get worse with age. Fewer than 12 per cent of 6-11-year-olds need correction yet about 95 per cent of those aged 65-74 do. Whether or not such deterioration in vision is inevitable is open to debate. Research over recent years suggests that much could be prevented.

What causes them?

• Poor nutrition.

• Poor lighting.

• Mental strain.

• Wearing spectacles.

• Too little exercise of the eyes.

Prevention

The eye is an extremely sensitive barometer of diet. When the eye’s diameter changes by even as little as a millimeter it makes a big difference to vision. At one end of the poor-nutrition scale, a quarter of a million Asian children go blind each year from malnutrition. Xerophthalmia, the main cause of such blindness, is a result of generally poor nutrition and in particular of a lack of vitamin A. Few westerners, however, are at risk of losing their sight due to a faulty diet. Many, though, have far worse sight than they should have.

An early sign of vitamin A deficiency is poor vision in dim light. One study of 100 people taken at random found that twenty-six of them had at least some degree of night blindness. The prevention for this is to eat foods rich in vitamin A. Liver is the best source but fruits and green leafy vegetables are good sources. Zinc too has been found to be vital for night vision. Studies of people with the condition who did not respond to vitamin A supplements have found that adding zinc made the difference. Zinc is now known to play a vital role in the conversion of vitamin A to its active form, retinol-dehyde, in the retina. Vitamin  and folate in particular are now being studied in the context of healthy vision.

It appears that green and yellow vegetables are vital if one is to maintain healthy vision. Some food additives, particularly monosodium glutamate (MSG), have a particularly bad effect on the eyes, according to one US researcher. When added to commercial foods in large amounts it damages the nerves. He feels that MSG should not be given to children, though he is less cautious about adults as they have a natural barrier to the toxic effects of the substance.

Although short-sightedness is not mainly caused by diet certain research seems to show that a poor diet worsens it. One study found that myopic people, who ate too much sugar and protein, were deficient in chromium and didn’t metabolize calcium properly. There are now numerous studies linking poor nutrition to eye problems and vitamin E is an exciting area of research. Highly vitamin E-deficient animals go blind in time. The human retina, it appears, is susceptible to oxidation-unless protected by an anti-oxidant such as vitamin E. Research in rats has found that a diet poor in vitamins E and A results in permanent damage to nearly half the animal’s visual cells in eight months. There is little doubt that a whole food, unrefined diet is the best starting point to improving poor sight.

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Guilt

Many women complain about feeling guilty or that they are made to feel guilty about why they developed the disease. Some may even feel that it is a type of punishment that they alone must endure.

For years endometriosis was tagged the ‘career woman’s disease’. This was based on the unfounded idea that women who delay having children are more at risk of developing endometriosis. Women are made to feel guilty that delaying marriage and having children until after they have established a career has been the cause. You ask yourself if you had started your family earlier would you have developed the disease. Would infertility have been a problem?

What must be remembered is that it is not known if delaying childbirth has any connection with the development of endometriosis. Also remember that many women actually get endometriosis after they have had children.

Other women complain that they feel guilty because they may not have been assertive enough in getting a diagnosis. Having been told by one doctor that nothing was wrong they simply suffered in silence and put up with their pain and symptoms.

Sometimes the assumption is made that stress causes the disease. This may make some women think that if they did not have such a stressful job, did not work so hard or didn’t have a difficult family life, they may not have developed the disease.

It does appear that the symptoms of endometriosis may be aggravated when a person is suffering from stress, but it does not mean that it actually develops because of stress.

Women may feel guilty because they cannot cope in certain situations whereas others cope well.

For those who have had an abortion, used contraception such as the Pill or an IUD, used tampons or had sexual intercourse at an early age, there can be the mistaken belief that this has contributed to them getting the disease.

Depression

Most endometriosis sufferers have felt depressed at some stage for one reason or another. Suddenly you have to come to terms with having a chronic illness. There is the constant tiredness and the frustration of feeling lethargic. Sexual relations are put under enormous stress if you suffer pain during intercourse. Pain may also interrupt your lifestyle.

Treatment may not be effective and you worry about what alternatives you may be faced with. So many of your questions seem to go unanswered and at times you really feel as though you are unable to get on with your life.

For those who have fertility problems there is the concern that perhaps you may never have a child. And if you are lucky enough to get pregnant will you miscarry? Will the disease hinder a normal delivery?

Many of us become depressed thinking about the future management of the disease. Will you be faced with more hormone treatment? Will you require more surgery?

*85/41/5*

Shed, garage and workshop

• Use the right tool – don’t make do.

• Use ramps for cars, not piles of bricks.

• Keep garden tools hanging safely on walls.

• Keep weed killer and other chemicals high up and out of reach. Never use domestic

containers (e.g. lemonade bottles) for weed killer etc.

• Check children’s bikes for safety at least twice a year.

• Wear safety goggles or glasses when sanding or grinding.

• Wear a mask when spraying and ventilate the area.

• Work in a good light.

• Petrol must be kept in metal cans only (plastic degenerates and leaks). No more than 4

gallons may be stored at home.

• Keep children away when you are doing something dangerous-in one third of DIY accidents

it is the watching child who is hurt.

• Never run an engine in a closed garage.

Gardens

• Make sure ladders have a firm footing.

• Don’t be overprotective to older children.

• Supervise small children all the time on swings.

• Keep ponds fenced or covered if you have young children.

• Make water butts safe.

• Make sure paths and steps are even, especially for the elderly.

• Teach children to recognize poisonous trees and shrubs.

• Teach everybody to respect swimming pools.

• Put out fires before going to bed.

• Never throw inflammable liquids or aerosol cans on to fires.

• Wear stout shoes or boots when mowing.

• Clear lawns of stones and toys before mowing.

• Never leave a mower unattended when the engine is running or, in the case of an electric

mower, still plugged in.

• When using power hedge clippers, keep the flex over your shoulder out of your way.

• Don’t leave garden tools lying around-they are a danger to everyone.

• Keep septic tanks properly covered.

• Check deckchairs and garden furniture for safety after the winter.

• Never adjust your mower or hedge trimmer while it is running.

*74/72/5*

The sensation of feeling faint and/or dizzy can be a result of either not eating, depersonalisation or hyperventilation, or a combination of all three! The nausea many people feel can result in them not eating. Not just occasionally missing meals, but simply not eating. This is turn will cause feelings of faintness or dizziness, shaking and an overall sense of weakness.

We forget these sensations are a natural result of not eating and put them down to the anxiety, which in turn adds to the cycle. If we don’t eat we can become more vulnerable to dissociation. Attention to diet is extremely important. If you are experiencing difficulty in being able to eat it is important that you speak with your doctor.

If dizziness or feeling faint is a result of dissociation, we can break the dissociated state, or if it is a result of hyperventilation we can adjust our breathing.

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Although tranquillisers were one of the first defences against anxiety, the growing controversy over their use for some of the anxiety disorders means this type of treatment is slowly being withdrawn. The current trend is not to prescribe tranquillisers for anxiety disorders. If they are prescribed, then it is only for a two to four week period (Brayley et al. 1991). While this will lower the risk of possible addiction, it does not solve the original difficulties caused through the limited understanding, treatment facilities and resources for people with anxiety disorders.

We are all aware of the millions of prescriptions written each year for tranquillisers, which in itself should be enough to highlight this problem in the community. It hasn’t. The controversy over tranquillisers should have added further emphasis. It hasn’t. We need to be taught management skills from the beginning. This would enable us to take control of our disorder from the outset.

People who have been taking tranquillisers over a long period of time are in a similar situation. Although there are withdrawal programs, there is still only limited help available. Again, management skills need to be taught and they can be of great assistance during any withdrawal process.

*39\94\8*

The what ifs

Getting a diagnosis with an inadequate, or no explanation, brings feelings of unease and disquiet. From these, the ‘what ifs’ are born. ‘What if the doctor has made a mistake?’ ‘What if there is really something wrong which has been overlooked?’. Our fear pushes the anxiety level higher and we do have another panic attack. The cycle of panic and anxiety has begun. We can’t imagine why, if we are only suffering from stress or anxiety, we can’t ‘pull ourselves together’. In fact, the harder we try, the worse we become.

The lack of understanding

The various treatments we try are either partially effective or completely ineffective. The responsibility is thrown onto us. We are not trying to ‘pull ourselves together’, we are ‘obviously getting something out of being this way’, we are ‘weak and have no will power’ or ‘no strength of character’.

Ineffective treatment does not mean we are ineffective people. The lack of understanding and inadequate treatment does make it appear to everyone, including family, friends and doctors that we can’t ‘pull ourselves together’. But what everyone doesn’t realise is that if it were so easy, we would have ‘pulled ourselves together’ long before now. Many of us are living with anxiety and panic attacks as constant companions, and the fear of what is happening to us can’t be brushed aside or dismissed so easily.

Without adequate understanding and treatment we do not know how to effectively control what is happening to us, so we use other forms of control in an effort to ease our situation. Ironically and tragically, many of the controls we use actually become the secondary conditions and help to compound and perpetuate the disorder. This in turn perpetuates and compounds the myth that we are not doing anything to help ourselves.

*20\94\8*