Miss Directed. Weight Loss

Poliomyelitis is a sinister disease, yet on the whole quite brief. The polio virus is highly infectious and its virulent toxins, if concentrated, are able to attack and destroy the nerve cells, leading to paralysis. The illness itself ordinarily lasts only about 2-3 weeks. The paralysis that follows is actually the disease’s aftermath. It is therefore most important to treat the disease thoroughly and with the minimum of delay. Judging by the letters I keep receiving, it is once more necessary to remind lay people as well as professionals of the fundamental rules regarding the treatment of polio.

Some time ago, a man from central Switzerland told me that his son, a strong and healthy boy, was hospitalised for tests and observation because it was thought he might have polio. Day after day passed without the doctor in charge attempting any treatment, until the first signs of paralysis appeared in the lungs. The boy was then placed in an iron lung, but he died within a few weeks, despite having been so strong and healthy. Let me add that this incident occurred many years ago and would be most unlikely to happen with the modern approach to the disease.

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For conception to happen naturally, an egg (ovum) has to be released from the woman’s ovary. It then travels into the Fallopian tube where it meets up with the man’s sperm, which is deposited into the vagina during intercourse. Fertilization takes place if one of the two to three hundred million sperm released is able to penetrate the egg, and the cells multiply to form an embryo. Once the embryo reaches the uterus, it takes another few days to implant itself into the lining of the uterus. So to achieve a pregnancy it takes a sexually functioning man with a good sperm count, and a woman with the right hormonal balance, functioning ovaries, open tubes and a healthy uterus. On top of all that, intercourse needs to take place during the fertile time of the month. This last point might seem to be stating the obvious but more than once couples have sought help for apparent infertility when they just don’t have intercourse often enough or at the right time of the month to get pregnant.

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Some of the many doctors who find skin tests to be unreliable in revealing food allergy use fasting – no eating for a few days – as a test. After all, the simplest way to find out if you’re allergic to food is to not eat any and see what happens. Usually, if symptoms are due to a food allergy of any kind they get worse during the first, second or third day without food, but disappear by the fourth or fifth. Then eating is resumed.

During a fast, drinking plenty of water is essential. The body can live off its fat reserves for several days, but it needs water daily. Distilled water is best during a fast, since a few people are sensitive to ingredients in tap water.

Still, going without food is stressful, and most physicians who use fasting as a diagnostic tool do not recommend that people try it on their own, especially if they have diabetes, hypoglycemia, are underweight or suffer any chronic illness. Ideally, a person on an allergy fast should be away from the home, school or work environment to avoid allergens which may be reinforcing (or confusing) any reactions to food. In some cases, that calls for hospital-controlled fasting.

Because of both the inconvenience and stress on the body, allergy doctors feel that fasting is best reserved for highly allergic people.

As an alternative to a total fast, some doctors will allow an individual just one food at each meal during the test period (three to five days). That’s monotonous, but less gruelling.

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It can be particularly difficult for someone who has been in a relationship for many years. A woman in her late fifties said, ‘My husband left over five years ago and I have been on my own ever since. Earlier this year I met a man through some mutual friends and we started seeing each other regularly. It may seem a bit silly at my age but I am thinking about having sex with him. I know he is interested. Obviously I don’t need to worry about contraception anymore but I have heard about it being important to use condoms these days. Trouble is, I have never seen one and I am too embarrassed to go into a shop and buy them.”

Thinking about new relationships after years with the one partner can be nervewracking. It’s not just the safer sex issues but the etiquettes of dating, and the skills that go with getting to know another person intimately. People in this situation know how Rip Van Winkle must have felt. Facing decisions and social situations for the first time in decades would be like emerging from a time machine.

This can be doubly difficult if you don’t have a trusted and respected friend or family member to talk to. For both men and women it is hard to admit to ignorance or relative inexperience.

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Some people still consider whooping cough to be a minor ailment, giving little thought to the distressing, hacking cough. It is, however, very important to give special attention to whooping cough, since it can cause serious complications if it is not treated properly, and may lead to permanent damage. There are a number of herbal and homoeopathic remedies for whooping cough and parents should not fail to make use of these natural treatments. Although no specific medicine exists that arrests and cures the illness completely in a given time, these remedies can reduce the intensity and duration of the attacks. First, the toxins of the pathogenic organisms have to be eliminated, as in all infectious diseases. It is also useful to do something about the patient’s physical weakness so as not to encourage other infections. Whooping cough is usually followed by another illness, which is why it is important to build up the patient’s general state of health as a prevention. In milder cases, the spasms will disappear after a few days.

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Children with a weak constitution who have inherited a disposition for tuberculosis and suffer from swollen glands should be treated with the following prophylactic medicines:

Calc phos. 4x alternated with 6x: 2 tablets, three times daily.

Urticalcin. This is even more effective and, if given for several months, can work wonders.

Ars. iod. 4x. This is indicated for thin children who grow fast. It should be taken over a period of several months in alternation with Urticalcin.

Kali phos. 6x. This should be given when the lungs and bron-chials are affected.

Sulph. 4x. This is indicated when, in spite of packs, the rash is slow in breaking out and very mild.

When the disease has subsided the child should not be allowed outside in the cold air right away. Especially in winter, the child should be kept in bed for another week or in a warm but well-ventilated room. Such care is particularly essential for delicate children who could otherwise suffer from complications.

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The following remedies should be given:

Aconitum 4x: 5 drops every half an hour. When perspiration has been induced and the temperature falls, it may be given less frequently.

Ferr. phos. 6x (for babies use 12x): 1 tablet every hour.

Belladonna 4x: 5 drops every hour. Use when the blood rushes to the head, or with croup, conjunctivitis and ear complications.

Antimonium sulph. 4x or 6x: initially 1 tablet every 2 hours; after about three days, 2 tablets three times daily. This should be given by itself, without additional medication, when the fever has subsided. It will be sufficient to complete the cure if no complications occur.

Nephrosolid: add to the fruit juice, 5 drops each time. This fresh plant preparation will help to eliminate toxins through the kidneys.

Cuprum acet. 4x and Antimonium sulph. 4x. These should be given alternately when a hacking or whooping cough seems to be coming on.

Coccus cacti 4x and especially Thydroca are most effective for whooping cough, if given at once when the first symptoms appear after the measles. Whooping cough can often be arrested with these remedies, without any side effects.

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Another case where a secondary relationship can develop is when one partner becomes seriously ill or permanently disabled to the point where a sexual relationship is no longer possible, as in the case of advanced AIDS-related illness. The other partner takes on the role of carer and may remain deeply committed but establishes a separate sexual relationship.

A secondary relationship may also reflect a person’s lack of self-confidence — asking themselves if they are still sexually attractive — but it can also be a sign of a relationship in trouble. If a person is considering leaving their partner, they may well be looking to establish another relationship before they finish it. You could call it the ‘Tarzan Tactic’. Imagine Tarzan swinging through the trees from vine to vine. He won’t let go of the last vine until he has a firm hold on the next.

There is no question that the disclosure of a secondary relationship can leave a partner feeling shocked, betrayed, jealous, angry and hurt. It is frequently the cited cause of relationships breaking up but does this necessarily need to be so? It can be a good time to reassess the whole relationship.

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Even though in many lands this is a harmless infectious disease of childhood, in areas where it has only recently become known, for example among some American Indian tribes, the affected children often die. The causative agent is a virus, one of the submicroscopic entities that have been discovered only in more recent times. These viruses are even smaller than bacteria and cannot be seen under a normal microscope simply by colouring as can bacteria; only with the aid of modern electronic microscopes have scientists been able to study them. Even so, measles has always been considered an infectious disease because of the course the illness takes and the fact that children catch it so easily.

Most parents are familiar with the rash of pink-brownish blotches, accompanied by a high temperature. And yet, you might be uncertain as to the nature of the child’s illness in its early stages, unless you check the inner cheeks in the region of the molars. In a case of measles these areas are red, and a day or two before the rash breaks out red spots with tiny white spots in the middle of them, 2-3 mm in diameter, (so-called Koplik’s spots), will appear.

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However, in most sexual relationships sex interacts with all other aspects of your life. Sex can be used as a weapon to manipulate a partner, surreptitiously or even overtly — for example, when one partner deliberately withholds sex as a punishment for something the other person did, rather than talking the problem out.

On the other hand, some couples can get into a situation called the ‘Fight and Fuck Syndrome’. While it is understandable that making up after a fight is a natural resolution and in some respects a reassurance that you still love each other, for some people the high emotional charge of a good screaming match loads up your sexual energy at the same time. This in itself is not a problem. In fact having sex after a fight is a practical way of releasing the tension that has been built up. It’s a different matter if it gets to the point where you need to fight to get sexually excited. In this case a counsellor would advise that you dissociate the sexual climax from the emotion of the fight, by avoiding sex after fighting for a while, and connect it with a more gentle build-up.

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