Health and medical information

WHAT IS DIABETES?Definition : According to International Expert Committee working under the sponsorship of American Diabetes Association (ADA) 1997, Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose) resulting from defects in insulin secretion, action or both. The chronic hyperglycaemia of diabetes is associated with long term damage, dysfunction of various organs specially the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels.For easy understanding: Diabetes is a state of high blood glucose (blood sugar) due to lack or relative lack of hormone insulin.Whether Blood Glucose or Blood Sugar : So far, you have noticed that I have used the word blood glucose whereas you have heard the doctors, nurses and patients in the clinics talking about ‘Blood sugar’. Scientifically speaking, it is more correct to use glucose since there are many types of sugar of which glucose is just one (the simplest).Fructose, often used as sweetening agent in diabetic food is another sugar which differs from glucose but easily changes into it.Table sugar (sucrose) is a more complicated substance, although it easily changes into glucose in the body. Having said this, one must admit that most doctors talk about blood sugar instead of blood glucose and I shall use the terms ‘blood glucose’ and ‘blood sugar’ interchangeably.Insulin : Insulin is an important polypeptide, anabolic hormone secreted by Beta Cells of pancreatic gland situated in abdomen just behind the stomach. Body fuel (Glucose) and Energy ; Every body needs energy to do work. If we think of the human body, it needs glucose as body fuel while a car needs petrol as fuel and a train engine needs coal as fuel.When we compare a human body with a car, which converts fuel into energy, the car burns petrol to produce energy which turns the wheels, recharges the batteries and keep the inside warm while our bodies burn glucose to power the muscles, heart and brain and keeps the body warm by maintaining a constant body temperature. Both the car and human body*4\329\8*

CHOLESTEROL: THE GOOD AND THE BADLet’s take a closer look at these cholesterol “fractions,” and at what makes HDLs “good” and LDLs “bad.” After you have fasted, a blood test will show three carriers of cholesterol: HDLs, LDLs, and very-low-density lipoproteins, or VLDLs. LDL cholesterol usually makes up about 65 percent of total cholesterol; about 20 percent circulates as HDL, and the remainder of total cholesterol is VLDL.Cholesterol is a white, waxy substance that cannot dissolve in water; neither can it dissolve in blood, which is mostly water. But cholesterol has to get to the cells where it may be needed, so a fleet of special water-soluble carriers called lipoproteins – literally, molecules of fat linked with protein – are used to transport cholesterol and other water-insoluble products (like triglycerides, which are blood fats) throughout the bloodstream. Thus, although HDL and LDL are sometimes respectively thought of as “good” and “bad” cholesterol, they are, more precisely, cholesterol carriers. In fact, the actual cholesterol molecules found in HDL, LDL, and VLDL are really the same. What’s crucial to our understanding of how cholesterol is metabolized is how these lipoproteins do their carrying.First, very-low-density lipoproteins are secreted by the liver into the bloodstream, where they carry triglycerides (which come from the diet or are produced by the liver), primarily to the fat cells. They also carry cholesterol produced in the liver or coming from the diet. The VLDLs actually contain five times more triglycerides than cholesterol, but as they travel through the bloodstream they are broken down by enzymes which release the triglycerides. As the triglyceride is removed from the VLDL particle, the particle becomes concentrated with cholesterol. Eventually some of this VLDL particle is converted to low-density (“bad”) lipoprotein, which delivers cholesterol directly to cells. If the serum level of LDL cholesterol is elevated, some of it will end up in the cells of the arterial walls, where it triggers the growth of atherosclerotic plaque. And if LDL cholesterol remains high for many years, this plaque eventually blocks blood flow and can trigger a heart attack or stroke.By contrast, HDLs, or “good” cholesterol, appear to act as scavengers that seek out excess cellular cholesterol and usher it away from tissues and arteries and back to the liver, where it enters the liver’s cholesterol pool and can be used for bile acids.So, while HDLs appear to play a beneficial role in partially counteracting the harmful effects of too much LDL, the public is receiving a distorted message about these “good” high-density lipoproteins. The facts are that HDL levels are determined primarily by genetic factors; that the only safe ways to increase them are to quit smoking, lose weight, and exercise; and that high-fat diets are associated with increased levels of both HDL and total cholesterol, resulting in more deaths from atherosclerosis. What’s best is to have low total cholesterol and the lowest possible level of LDLs as well. Once you achieve this, you won’t have to worry about not having enough “good” cholesterol, because when your total cholesterol is 160 mg/dl or less, and/or your LDLs are below 100 mg/dl, a somewhat lower HDL figure loses most of its risk significance. In this “cholesterol safety zone,” minimal risk is associated with lower than average HDLs. This stands to reason, because if you don’t have excess cholesterol in your bloodstream and tissues, you don’t have as much need for the scavenging efforts of HDLs.*9/345/5*

WHEN CANCER SPREADS: SECOND STORYWhen Dick, aged forty-five, found a lump on his chest, he was not especially concerned. It was not examined until nine months later when he went for a health check on his company’s private health scheme. The report said it was of no consequence and was probably fibrous tissue. Several months later Dick mentioned the lump in passing to his doctor, who decided that it needed to be biopsied-immediately. Events escalated, and it was decided to remove the lump. A letter arrived giving a date for ten days’ stay in hospital. Up to, and including, this moment nobody had mentioned the words breast cancer to Dick, and he had absolutely no idea that men could be afflicted with this disease. It was the ten-day hospital stay that finally alerted him to the fact that this was more than just a routine procedure.     He had a mastectomy, and what then followed was a trek from oncologist to oncologist to find someone who knew anything about the problems of male breast cancer – time after time the doctors had never dealt with it. Nobody seemed to have a clear idea of how best to treat the problem, but finally Dick found a physician who had researched male breast cancer extensively and it was agreed that he should have chemotherapy and he later had radiotherapy and was put on Tamoxifen.     His wife, Linda, became fascinated by nutrition and cajoled Dick into investigating the possibilities. After a visit to the nutritionist and a two-week period of avoiding dairy products, Dick’s chronic, lifetime, asthma totally disappeared, never to return. The assumption has to be that this step, as well as being a preventive measure against breast cancer, also supported his immune system as a whole. Dick also decided it made sense to take an array of supplements during his chemotherapy regime to minimize side-effects, though he has now cut back to around seven capsules a day. He has no doubt that these supplements carried him through the experience and nine years on, he still swears by them.*42\240\2*

Knowing the origin of the trouble, we can successfully fight back if we use lactic acid. Women afflicted by this condition would do well to use Molkosan (whey concentrate), since its natural lactic acid content has indeed proved its worth as a disinfectant and antiseptic douche. Douching with an infusion of camomile and 3—4 soupspoons of Molkosan added to every litre (2 pints) of liquid, has given good results. The natural lactic acid in Molkosan is able to replace the lactic acid the mucous membranes are lacking. The treatment with Molkosan is therefore a biological method. Since the patient usually has a deficiency of calcium salts as well, it would also be wise to take the biological calcium preparation Urticalcin.

Another essential feature of the treatment of leucorrhoea is to take regular sitz baths prepared with herbs; the baths should last between half an hour to an hour, with the water being kept at a constant temperature of 37 °C (98.6 °F) adding hot water from time to time. Patients who follow this treatment will feel much better after a relatively short time. So take a sitz bath prepared with thyme or juniper, using Juniperosan, two or three times a week. These sitz baths will stimulate the circulation in the abdo­men, which is an important factor in their effectiveness.

Also effective are the homoeopathic remedies Sepia 4x-6x, Calc. carb., Pulsatilla, Ferr. phos., Kali sulph. and Calc. phos., in addition to the biological calcium preparation Urticalcin.
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Leucorrhoea is the result of catarrh (inflammation of the mucous membranes) and, as such, we should make every effort to cure it properly. This is of great importance because it is an uncomfortable condition and weakens the body. As with any other inflammation of the mucous membranes, we should persevere in the treatment until it has completely cleared up. Indeed, we should never neglect to treat the mucous membranes whenever there is something wrong with them. They are under constant threat from external influences and bacterial infections and a constant fight is called for. The mucous membranes are only able to withstand the attacks of invad­ing harmful bacteria by calling the friendly ones to the rescue. The harmful bacteria must be killed, if at all possible. That is why we have mouth bacteria, for example, which are there to attack harm­ful invaders.

The mucous membranes of the genital organs in a healthy woman normally secrete lactic acid, which prevents the develop­ment of harmful bacteria. But if the production of lactic acid is insufficient, resistance against micro-organisms is considerably diminished, and it is easy for an inflammation to develop.

In this respect it is important to watch your diet, since inadequate nutrition may slow down and weaken the growth of lactic acid bacteria. As a result, invading bacteria soon gain a foothold and the body has to adopt a different defence strategy. It will secrete mucus and dispatch leucocytes and lymphocytes to combat the foreign invaders, all in an effort to expel them from the body. And that is the so-called ‘whites’, a white or yellowish discharge of mucous material from the vagina.
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When to see your doctor

Many parents will want to see the doctor early on when their baby begins to get restless and grizzly. The doctor will perform a careful physical and neurological examination to rule out any medical causes, and may also be able to offer practical advice to the parents. If the strategies above fail to improve the symptoms, if the baby develops any other problems, if you are afraid you might hurt your baby, or if you are worried for any other reason, see your doctor.

Prevention

Because ‘colic’ seems to be a maturational phase that most babies go through, it is difficult to prevent. Parents can minimise the amount of stress and tension in the home by preparing themselves for the arrival of their baby, and by having realistic expectations of what a newborn baby means in terms of workload and changes to lifestyle.

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OUR MARITAL HEALTH/SEX AND PROBLEMS OF DAILY LIVING: THE IDEAS TO CONFRONT THE PROBLEM OF PARENTING PARENTS

The couples used the following ideas to confront the problem of parenting parents:

1. The only approach to resolving the multigenerational family is a systems approach. One sibling cannot do the job. Even in the case of an only child, some type of support system is needed. Nobody can do double-duty daddy-ing or multiple mothering for long.

2. The marriage must deal with the parenting-parents issue. If one spouse takes on the responsibility, then the other will end up in resentment or isolation. Talk the issue over and approach it together. The argument that “Well, it’s your mother or it’s your father” never works. Marriage changes the whole deal. Both spouses owe caring to both sets of parents to a degree of balance that both spouses can agree upon. A key point I have stressed throughout this book is that sexual health, all health, depends on our understanding our lives as inseparable, holistic systems, and the system includes everyone everywhere.

3. Remember that your children can help by “childing” your parents. Get them involved through chores such as driving, calling, visiting, and supporting as their own development needs will allow. Teaching your children to love yîur parents and t0 act on that love is an important sex- and love-6 “^n lesson -

4- You cannot provide total health and financial care for your parents and still raise and develop your own family. Unless you are very well off financially, you will have to spend time planning with someone who knows the laws, insurance, Social Security, legal rights of the aged, and related issues. Time spa” in such planning is as much a part of showing love for your parent as actually providing direct help yourself. It has been said that anyone who has Plough money is not taking good care of his or her family, and parenting parents illustrates the validity of that statement.

5. Finally (here is no amount of caring or helping or loving that will ever prevent you from feeling you could have done more. All children feel some guilt when they lose a parent. It is a natural part of grieving. Don’t work yourself and your marriage to the bone trying to do everything humanly P^ble so that you will have “a clean conscience.” If you love your parent or parents, do what you can do for them and with them, and then invest your love and energy in your own marriage and family. You have given your parents the greatest gift of all, the gift of passing on the love they gave you.

Clarence Darrow wrote, “The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.” In our present society, life is no longer so divided, and parenting parents is a major challenge of living today. Bette Davis reminded us, “If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.” Remember that the reverse of her statement is equally true.

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Few of us really know much about the sex life of our parents, but we all have formed an opinion, a “sex theory” about it. Even if we find it impossible to believe that our parents are sexual now, we know they have been sexual. What do you remember about your parents’ sexuality as you grew up? What is your sexual theory about your parents’ sexual interaction pattern?

“I would guess maybe they did it when my father was drunk. I could hear it, I think, although I’m not sure. They would fight so much that I was too little to tell if they were fighting or actually doing it, having sex. They never hugged, never kissed. We kids were hugged all the time, but they never hugged each other. I would guess their sex was a biological release, mostly for my father.”

This husband’s report contained several “leftovers” in his own sexual life that related to his memories. He now feared what he thought was too much drinking on his wife’s part. He was so alert to his wife’s sexual needs and the danger that she, too, would accommodate him as his mother might have accommodated his father that he now had sexual problems of his own within his sexual system. He was unable to ejaculate, stating, “I think so much about what’s happening for her, I just can’t let go for me.”

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