Author Archives: admin

THE SICK BABY AND CHILD: APPARENT LIFE THREATENING EPISODES (ALTE)

A number of babies have these episodes, which in the past have sometimes been called ‘near miss SIDS’. The baby is found limp, sometimes blue, sometimes unconscious or unresponsive and not breathing. Varying degrees of stimulation seem necessary to revive him, ranging from noise or gentle movement of a limb to full blown resuscitation including [...]

PREGNANCY/EVERY DAY LIFE: ANTENATAL CARE AND DIAGNOSIS

We strongly advise that throughout the course of your pregnancy you have regular antenatal (before birth) check-ups, to monitor that all is going well. These are usually routine and involve physical examination as well as blood and urine tests and ultrasound. The advantage of regular check-ups is that if any problems arise during the pregnancy, [...]

YOUR MARITAL HEALTH/SEX AND PROBLEMS OF DAILY LIVING: INSTITUTIONAL INSANITY: THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF SEX

Well, as far as I’m concerned, we will never have sex again. You know why? Because we aren’t. I mean, we don’t exist. There’s no us. The insurance company says so. I wrote to them and they said we never were insured with them. I guess I have been sending bills to outer space for [...]

SURGERY AIMED AT PREVENTING OR RELIEVING SYMPTOMS – LIFE THREATENING

Secondly, some of these situations are life threatening, for example, the bowel obstruction. In these situations the operation achieves two things—as well as temporarily getting rid of some symptoms it may also temporarily prolong your life. This is not necessarily a good thing, given that the operation does nothing to change the extent of your [...]

HYPERTENSION – GENERAL INFORMATION

A stethoscope is placed over the artery at the elbow. As the pressure in the cuff is reduced, it will fall below that in the artery and a sound as the blood pulses through is heard through the stethoscope.

This records the systolic pressure. The same measurement can be taken by feeling the pulse at the [...]

ALCOHOL – GENES

So what do we do? Throw up our hands and say it is designed by fate?

No. Not every man, whose father gave him a certain set of genes, will develop alcoholism and neither does every child who inherits an allergic tendency develop asthma.

Some alcoholics drink that way right from the beginning and get into trouble [...]

ENDOMETRIOSIS: EXPOSING THE HIDDEN DISEASE

Endometriosis has been studied by scientists over the years, all of them seeking an absolute answer to the question every sufferer of the disease asks her doctor: Why me? One theory, proposed by a Dr. Sampson in the 1920s, is still widely accepted by the medical community; it is discussed fully in the upcoming chapter. [...]

PSYCHE AND THE SKIN TREATMENT: DRUGS

The only accurate record of the amount spent on drugs to induce relaxation is kept by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Research Department. During the financial year 1978-79 Australians spent 17-75 million dollars on tranquillizers, sedatives, and hypnotics. The cost to the Government in rebates was 19-7 million dollars.

Unfortunately patients and many doctors have come to [...]

RECOMMENDED FAT REDUCTIONS

Most recent research now shows the importance of dietary fat in causing increases in body fat. National health targets recommend a reduction in the contribution of fat as a proportion of daily energy intake in adults to 30 per cent. This is a conservative recommendation and takes into consideration what is realistic for individuals to [...]

TREATMENTS TO HELP MANAGE PAIN: VISUALISATION — IMAGERY

Visualisation will not get rid of your pain completely or permanently but it should give you a ‘time out’ period where you can use your imagination to create mental images that blot out your pain.

You may focus on your pain by imagining that you are in an open field on a warm sunny day. Just [...]